What You Need To Know When Taking Your 11+ Entrance Exam
By now you will have done the leg work of traipsing round schools on open days
, reading prospectuses, and spending endless hours chatting to other parents searching for the 'best' schools in your area but now it's your child's turn to 'seal the deal' by taking the 11+ entrance exam.
Firstly, it should be noted that most school entrance exams occur in January but it is always a good idea to contact the school directly to get exact dates and details. The June Common Entrance paper (www.iseb.co.uk) might even suffice but once again it is a case of contacting schools directly. The process is generally the same in most senior independent schools but there may be some slight changes so the following guidelines should be used as tool to help you plan ahead and not as absolute fact.
Senior schools will contact your child's current school to obtain a reference and an academic transcript which will have current grades and teacher's observations. This will help compliment the academic tests that your child will undertake. The majority of schools will invite your child to take around three tests to access their reading, writing and literacy. An example of an 11+ test process is as follows:
Arithmetic (50 minutes)
English (50 minutes)
Verbal Reasoning (50 minutes)
Recently some schools have also been introducing a Cognitive Processes Test which is an onscreen test designed to identify potential rather than taught achievement. Schools might give you a list of practice materials however you will find that most tests are tailored to discover and assess natural ability and any question that goes beyond the Key Stage 2 national curriculum is therefore intended to assess the child's skills outside of the taught curriculum. Parents should be aware that many schools put practice papers on their website or make them available upon request so it is advisable to contact schools directly to enquire whether this is the case.
Most schools will also interview prospective pupils to formulate a complete picture of the type of student your child is or will be. Interviews are often informal and will be a chat with the head or a senior member of staff. The interview might also involve reading a passage out loud and discussing that passage with the interviewer. Questions are then asked about the candidate's academic and extra curricular interests.
There will be elements that your child can prepare for but do remember that the process is designed to give the school an accurate impression of your child's abilities both inside and outside the classroom. The school wants to get to know your child and the process will help them decide if the school is the right fit. It can be a confusing time, especially for 'first-time buyers' so don't be afraid to ask questions as schools are always happy to help.