11 Plus Exams Forum

Just that really - My DC in year 5 has fairly neat handwriting but which does not always join. English teacher believes this is not an issue but I am concerned that she may lose marks to those with consistently joined writing. DC is aiming for London Consortium school entry. Many thanks.

The English teacher is right - it won't make a difference. Handwriting is not marked in these tests. It has to be legible and in my experience, those who do have a cursive script are faster than those who do not join. A cursive script gives a better impression as letters which are not joined can look a bit 'babyish.' But if your DD is in Year 5, there is still plenty of time for her to work on it.

Thank you Kingfisher. You have exactly described my dilemma as I have also thought that DC's writing can look babyish compared to peer group despite being strong subject. Teacher is adamant that handwriting should not be worked on so no support from there. Any suggestions as to how to improve without stifling creativity/having to go right back to basics or should I just leave ?

Hi are you very confident that your dd has all the basics covered in all subject areas? I would make sure this was the case before putting additional pressure on her regarding her writing. There's no point sitting an exam and feeling confident you have neat writing but unable to answer any questions. As already said the teacher is right. The don't test for writing skills. If her writing is already neat and you just want it to look less babyish concentrate on this after the exams. The exams are stressful enough without unnecessarily worrying and putting dc's under additional pressure in areas they aren't even tested on. Best of luck

I agree with Copella. If you do a search on North London Consortium you will see some say posts from members who had been very confident that their dd will gain a place at their chosen school but find themselves with a devasted dd who does not even get through to interview. It is a very brutal numbers game and you need to make sure that you are doing everything possible to get your dd through the exam stage. Are you at a state school? Do you have upto date Sats levels for her? Have you got her signed up for any mocks? Is she used to doing exams? Do you know the applicants to places offered ratio for the schools you are interested in? These things are what you need to focus on. So long as her handwriting is legible what she writes is much more important than what it looks like. You can pm me if it helps. DG

Many thanks Copella and Daogroupie. This site is great for getting objective feedback and helpful advice. Daogroupie I will pm you thank you.

Content will win out every time. [Edited by moderator]

Does your child use Nelson Handwriting at school? It's a long course consisting of, I dunno, 10 books? But just use some of them. I don't think it will be a problem but if you insist, then Nelson Handwriting is ideal.

Is the Nelson handwriting any useful? I also think that content matters most