11 Plus Exams Forum

My DS will start Y5 in Sep 2015 and sit his 11+ in Sep 2016. Not being from this country, I'm totally new to the whole business. I'm just beginning to look into what will be required and I must admit, I find it all rather daunting...

I've found my way to the online shop here which suggested books to buy to help prepare. However, I was recommended the Schofield and Sims books which are not on there. Has anyone out there used them? Or can anyone comment on the books which are on sale in the shop please? Which ones helped most? Any advice or guidance would be most welcome indeed.

Thanks in advance. x

Hiya, I am a year ahead of you. DD will be sitting in a few months time, gulp. I can't say what really helped until after we know the results. However we've found the ten minute tests from Bond and Letts helpful to work on speed. DD has always had good vocab but for verbal reasoning we found working through them with her was better than a tutor as tutor was actually slowing her down and also just pointing out the answer rather than explaining it. We also did a mock test to help with experiencing the environment of the test. DD has a real appetite for it and is determined so tends to do the tests herself and then we just work through the questions she got wrong. If she didn't want to do it I think I would struggle as a full time working parent to do it without the tutor. Visiting the schools was helpful inspiration for DD, it contributed to her motivation.

I suppose that is a long winded way of saying the books are part of the picture, but motivation, support and understanding how your DC works are just as important. Good luck!

Good luck!

Schofield and sims are available from Amazon or other retail outlets!

We used the maths ones in school, they are excellent at both swift mental maths practice and also the mo complex 'multi-step' questions. In year 5 you'd be looking at book 4 for solid maths worker, book 5 for a mo confident student. The idea is that you should select a book that they cannot get 100% in at first, otherwise they are learning nothing. You can buy answer books seperately if you need to.
They are not necessarily 11+ mock questions, although obviously a big crossover, but they do and will improve maths in your child, if selected at the right level, which will be excellent wherever your child goes.

I found Schofield and Sims good practice for English comprehension.

Other than that, we used all the GL assessment practice papers, the Letts papers and the Bond books to start with.

The test for September 2016 has not yet gone out to tender so far as I know. So it could still be a CEM test this time around. So we need to be ready for both GL and CEM type material?

I am a 2016 sufferer too.

Thank you for your replies!

Pettswoodfiona - Thx for the advice. DS wants this. He instigated the whole idea. However.... he seems to want it all to land in his lap... <insert eye rolling smiley here>

Yasmin 151 - Thx. i do like the Schofield & Sims stuff but then... I don't know the other stuff out there. Thanks for the guidlines. So helpful. x

FortyNinPence - Great, thank you. I will have a look at those. So much to learn... x

Mystery - CEM?? What's that? Sorry I don't know what the GL and CEM types are and how they are different. Oh dear. Now I feel like a Hill Billy...
ETA: I just looked it up and can see it is the publisher. So. Do the tests go out to tender each year?? Do they change style each intake?? Why is the system so complicated??? And I can sense that I haven't even scratched the surface yet! *sigh*

Gl assessment won the contract for the 2014 test. There was an option for kent to extend the contract by a further year without gong out to tender. Kent took up this option for the test in September this year 2015.

They will have to go out to tender again for 2016 test.