The 11 Plus exam in Essex by Mark Chatterton of MW Educational

For many years the 11 plus exam in Essex consisted of a 100 question Verbal Reasoning set by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). This was taken by the child in his/her primary school in the Spring term. The child's primary school also graded the child according to his/her ability. So the test mark coupled with the school's grade had a bearing upon the result.

Then in 1996 The Consortium of Essex Grammar schools was formed to take over the running of the exam from the Essex County Council and the 11 plus exam was transformed into the exam that we have today. The VR test still remains in its traditional form (with 100 questions to be attempted in 50 minutes), but there is also Mathematics and an English test. The Maths exam consists of 20 plus questions of different Mathematical concepts such as fractions, time, percentages and the four rules. The child has 35 minutes to complete this test with extra marks being available for showing workings. The English exam consists of a lengthy extract from a classic children's story - recent exams have featured passages from Jane Eyre and Mr Kipps. The child then has to answer a selection of around 20 questions based on this passage, such as giving alternative meanings of words in the passage, what happens to various characters and the candidates own opinion on sections of the passage. 40 minutes is the time limit for this test. The VR test is worth 50% of the marks, whilst the English and Maths tests both make up 25% of the marks.

The day of the 11 plus test was traditionally on the third Saturday in January, but since last year the test date is now the final Saturday in November. This is because the government decided that 1 st March would be the day when Secondary school places for the following September would be announced, so more time was needed for marking and preparing the results. Each of the grammar schools in Essex accept approximately 100 children into their Year 7 each September, who have been successful in the 11 Plus exam. The pass mark cut off line is usually the top 25% of candidates, though for children taking the exam from outside the school's catchment area this is reduced to approximately the top 5-10%.

The child's primary school will give out to each child in Essex in September a special information pack giving details of all the secondary schools for which their child may apply to, both grammar and comprehensive. The parents and child will then be able to visit these schools in September/October before they make their final choice. The form then has to be returned to the appropriate education office before the end of October. Those applying to a grammar school must make sure that they put this choice as number 1 (and 2) in their application form, as this is the school where their child will sit the examination in November. In 2005 this is on Saturday 26 th November. (There is an alternative date for those who are ill or cannot take the test on a Saturday for religious reasons).

NB: This information applies to the various grammar schools in Colchester, Chelmsford and Southend. For schools in the Greater London area within Essex, different rules and procedures apply.

For more details visit the Essex Selective Schools Consortium.

They operate a help line for parents on 01245 348257 ( 9.00am to 4.30pm) Monday to Friday in term time only.