11 Plus Exams Trafford
Administration
The examination is administered by Trafford Local Education Authority (LEA)
Qualifying Age
Children entered for the test should have been born between 31st August 1995 and 1st September 1996. If a child is in Year 6 and is either under or over age then the parents should contact the grammar school for permission to take the tests.
11 Plus Exam Dates for September 2007 Entry
The Trafford Local Education Authority advises that the examination is to be held on Saturday 7 October 2006.
A letter will be sent to all parents and carers who have requested their child to be included in the 11 plus tests. The letter will be sent on Friday 8th September 2006 and will advise you of the test centre your child will be attending.
The three 11 plus tests held are:
- Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice – 55 minutes
- Non-Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice – 32 minutes
- Maths Multiple Choice – 45 minutes
NFER publish practice packs which are sold in many bookshops. Although similar in format to the tests used by Trafford the questions are not necessarily of a similar level of difficulty.
Deferring the 11 Plus Test
No child should sit the tests if she is unwell or affected by any personal circumstances that may influence her performance. Parents should telephone the School either before the test or on the morning of the test itself. Provided there are special circumstances such as bereavement, or illness supported with medical evidence or other religious observations which prohibit your child from attending then arrangements can be made to defer the test. An alternative exam date will be set, usually before 31 December 2006. Any later assessments will take place after the National Allocation Date of 1st March 2007.
Parents should request a deferment by returning an application for deferment form with any supporting documents, as soon as possible and in any event no later than 27th October 2006 to the School Admissions.
The Trafford Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice Tests
The Verbal Reasoning Test will last for 55 minutes, the first 10 minutes of the test being a “mock” test for practice. The questions are set by NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research).
The questions typically ask the candidate to elect one answer from five options but they have sometimes sought two answers from five or six. The answer sheet is self-explanatory (supplied with familiarisation pack – see below) and requires the child to mark a horizontal pencil line, a bit like an A4 page version of the National Lottery slips. The answer sheets will be marked electronically.
The appropriate familiarisation pack for this exam is:
NFER Nelson Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice Practice Tests Pack
NFER only publish four verbal reasoning familiarisation papers therefore these papers should be used sparingly and it would be prudent to save some of these for the final build up of the examinations. This pack contains all four.
Children usually show the greatest improvement between the first and second or first and third verbal reasoning papers they attempt.
The verbal reasoning questions test intelligence, speed and accuracy through a series of questions based on vocabulary, sequences, patterns and decoding.
These exams are based on 15 types of verbal reasoning questions .
You can see get a feel for these types of questions by looking at the interactive Eleven Plus Exams Verbal Reasoning Volume 1 CD demo and reviewing the first 15 types.
Essentially verbal reasoning exams breakdown to two key tasks: mastering the techniques for these question types and possessing a strong vocabulary, rumoured to be around 2,500 to 3,000 words.
Practice material comes in all shapes and forms: practice papers, e-papers (pay and download 11plus practice papers), interactive CDs, lessons in the post, websites that coach your child online. Though final examination is a pencil and paper examination many children respond to other forms, such as the interactive CDs. Ultimately your objective as parents is to master techniques and build the vocabulary for this exam.
Our recommended acquisition list for verbal reasoning would include:
- NFER Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice Practice Papers
- Vocabulary list from The Tutors (FREE)
- IPS Verbal Reasoning Method and Technique Guide (in this book types HIKNOS not critical)
- Verbal Reasoning CDs (in Volume 1 types 16-21 not critical)
- Dynamite Educational Series
- Athey Educational Verbal Reasoning Practice Packs 1-3 Multiple Choice
- AFN Publications
There is a lot of practice material available in verbal reasoning, most of it relevant in that it build up your child’s mental agility and more critically their vocabulary.
The Trafford Non-Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice Tests
The Non-Verbal Reasoning Test consists of four 8 minute sections of 17 questions each. Before each section there will be a short practice section.
The appropriate familiarisation pack for this exam is:
NFER Nelson Non-Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice Practice Tests Pack
NFER only publish four Non-Verbal Reasoning familiarisation papers therefore these papers should be used sparingly and it would be prudent to save some of these for the final build up of the examinations. This pack contains all four.
Practice material comes in all shapes and forms: practice papers, e-papers (pay and download 11plus practice papers), interactive CDs (coming soon on this website), lessons in the post, websites that coach your child online. Though final examination is a pencil and paper examination.
Our recommended acquisition list for Non-Verbal Reasoning would include:
NFER Non-Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice Practice Papers
Bond Assessment 11Plus Practice Papers in Non-Verbal Reasoning, Multiple Choice
Athey Educational Non-Verbal Reasoning Packs 4 & 7
AFN Non-Verbal Reasoning Practice Papers A-D, Multiple Choice
Learning Together Verbal Reasoning Preparation Books 1 & 2
The Trafford Maths Multiple Choice Tests
The Maths test, which is based on the National Curriculum, will not include any practice questions and will last for 45 minutes.
As with verbal reasoning and non verbal reasoning, the test is multiple choice and set by NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research). The questions typically ask the candidate to elect one answer from five options but they have sometimes sought two answers from five or six. The answer sheet is self-explanatory (supplied with familiarisation pack – see below) and requires the child to mark a horizontal pencil line, a bit like an A4 page version of the National Lottery slips. The answer sheets will be marked electronically.
The appropriate familiarisation pack for this exam is:
NFER Nelson Mathematics Multiple Choice Practice Tests Pack
NFER only publish four mathematics familiarisation papers therefore these papers should be used sparingly and it would be prudent to save some of these for the final build up of the examinations. This pack contains all four. Another reason for holding back on these papers is that if you are starting preparation early your child would not have covered the entire syllabus.
Essentially mathematics exams breakdown to two key tasks: covering the syllabus thoroughly so that your child is not phased by any question and being super efficient at mental arithmetic (thus agile).
Practice material comes in all shapes and forms: practice papers, e-papers (pay and download 11plus practice papers), interactive CDs, lessons in the post, websites that coach your child online. Though final examination is a pencil and paper examination many children respond to other forms, such as the interactive CDs. Ultimately your objective as parents is to cover the syllabus and build mental agility in mental arithmetic for this exam.
You can get an idea of the typical eleven plus mathematics syllabus from looking at this page .
Our recommended acquisition list for mathematics would include:
NFER Mathematics Multiple Choice Practice Papers
Peter Robson Maths for Practice and Revision Books 1-5 & Answer Book . These books represent exceptional value (at £2.95 each) in covering the syllabus and providing thousands of practice questions.
Bond Assessment 11Plus Practice Papers in Mathematics, Multiple Choice
Athey Educational Mathematics Packs 5 & 8
Scofield & Sims Mental Arithmetic Books
Learning Together Preparation for 11+/12+/Common Entrance Mathematics
Tutors
Parents usually employ a professional tutor for the preparation of these examinations however that is not strictly necessary. The fact that some parents do raises the bar for the others also attempting these 11 plus exams.
Selection Procedure for Trafford Grammar Schools
The scores attained in the verbal reasoning, non verbal reasoning mathematics tests are standardised to make allowances for the child’s age in relation to the ages of the other children and to give the three tests equal weighting to one another. The standardisation is carried out by statisticians at the National Foundation for Educational Research. The three standardised scores are then put together to produce a final result.
The standardised scores for each of the tests will range from a minimum of 69 points to a maximum of 141 and the requirement for academic qualification for grammar school will be a minimum total score on the three test papers of 353 (or 405 for under-age pupils). There is no minimum score requirement on any of the individual test papers for grammar school qualification.
Only those pupils who achieve a test total of 353 and above (or 405 and above for under-age pupils), or whose parents successfully appeal against their child’s non-assessment for grammar school, will be considered for admission to Sale, Stretford or Urmston Grammar Schools. All other pupils will be considered for admission to any of the high schools for which their parents express a preference on the official Trafford Secondary School Preference Form.
The results are confidential and will be sent to parent’s home address by first class post on Friday 10th November 2006.
Allocation of Places
All available places at schools are offered in the initial allocation process on 1st March 2007.
Where a school is oversubscribed it is not possible to guarantee places and “admissions authority” has to adopt criteria for deciding which children are to be offered the available places.
Your home address
The criteria used by Trafford Community Secondary Schools to determine admission refer in every case to the child’s home address. This means the address where the child normally and permanently lives on a full-time basis, not the address of any child-minder or relative. In the case of parents who are separated and where child-care arrangements are shared between two addresses, the average of the distances of the two addresses from the school will be used to calculate the child’s priority for a particular school. You may be required to provide proof of residency. Failure to do so may result in the offer of a place being withdrawn.
If false information is provided an offer may be withdrawn and offered to another child.
Review of Allocations
Once initial allocations to schools have been decided and advised to parents a number of vacancies in schools may arise due to changed circumstances. If you wish your original, unsuccessful application for a Trafford school to be re-considered or you wish to apply for an alternative school, the letter which you receive in March will tell you how to request this. Any allocation decisions in the review process will be made following the same criteria as used for the initial allocation.
Applying from within Trafford
Parents of children living in Trafford should apply in the normal way using the common preference form which can be obtained from their child’s primary school, or direct from the Trafford Local Education Authority. The deadline for residents in Trafford is 1 September 2006. Applications received after the date cannot be accepted for the 11 plus test on 7 October 2006. However, it may still be possible to have other assessment dates scheduled where there is a lengthy waiting list and demand is high.
Applying from outside Trafford
Candidates from other counties should apply via their own LEA’s own common application form giving the Trafford School as a preference.
Applications received after the date cannot be accepted for the 11 plus test on 7 October 2006. However, it may still be possible to have other assessment dates scheduled where there is a lengthy waiting list and demand is high.
NFER Standardisation
The answer sheets are marked electronically to produce the raw scores (e.g. 40 out of 50). The scores are then standardised and produces a result that takes into account the child’s age. For instance with almost 70% of verbal reasoning papers based on vocabulary it is clear that a child that is say 11 at the time the examination would be expected to have an advantage over a child that is 10 years old at the time of taking the examination, hence there is an adjustment process. This elder child’s score is scaled down whilst the younger child’s score is scaled up. The standardised score is expressed as a number out of 141 and ranges from 70-141 per paper.
National Allocation Day
Initial Offers for Grammar School and Upper school Places will be issued on 1 March 2007. There is a transfer appeals process, should your child not receive the school of your choice, however, you can only appeal for a grammar school, at this stage, if your child was successful in the 11 plus or at a selection appeal.
Trafford Grammar Schools
Entrance to the following schools is determined by the 11 plus test:
- Sale Grammar School
- Stretford Grammar School
- Urmston Grammar School
The other Grammar Schools in Trafford (below) have their own entrance examination for which the 11 plus tests have no bearing:
- Altrincham Grammar School for Boys
- Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
- Loreto Grammar School
- St. Ambrose College
| School Name | Address | Telephone |
|---|---|---|
| Sale Grammar School | Marsland Road SALE Cheshire M33 3NH |
Tel 0161 973 3217 Fax 0161 976 4904 |
| Stretford Grammar School | Edge Lane Stretford MANCHESTER M32 8JB |
Tel 0161 865 2293 Fax 0161 866 9938 |
| Urmston Grammar School | Newton Road Urmston MANCHESTER M41 5UG |
Tel 0161 748 2875 Fax 0161 747 2504 |
| Altrincham Grammar School for Boys | Marlborough Road Bowdon ALTRINCHAM Cheshire WA14 2RS |
Tel 0161 928 0858 Fax 0161 929 5137 Email: agsbadmin@agsb.co.uk |
| Altrincham Grammar School for Girls | Cavendish Road Bowdon ALTRINCHAM Cheshire WA14 2NL |
Tel 0161 928 0827 Fax 0161 941 7400 Email:admin@aggs.trafford.sch.uk |
| Loreto Grammar School | Dunham Road ALTRINCHAM Cheshire WA14 4AH |
Tel 0161 928 3703 Fax 0161 928 7659 Email:info@loretogrammar.co.uk |
| St. Ambrose College | Wicker Lane Hale Barns Cheshire WA15 0HF |
Tel 0161 980 2711 Fax 0161 980 2323 |
Further information
Whilst we take great care to ensure that the above general information is a true reflection of the current regime for 11 plus exams in Trafford we would strongly recommend that you contact:
School Admissions
Children and Young People’s Service
4th Floor
Waterside House
Sale
M33 7ZF
Email: school.admissions@trafford.gov.uk
Telephone: 0161 912 5007/5012/5047/5080/5081/5084/5085
Fax: 0161 912 5083
