11 Plus Exams Forum

hi all I'm new to this page. Were looking for some advice my son is coming to the end of year 4 so with year 5 fast approaching we are thinking ahead at our options. our local high school is not up to standard therefore we are looking out of the area there are 2 other schools were thinking off but there is also the Urmston grammar but my concern is whether my son capable enough to do it? is their a way of testing his ability to pass the exam? we have been in to speak to his teachers and they think he is capable with a couple of areas he could improve on.
he's way ahead in maths and loves science hes always reading his reading level is way above where it should be he lacks confidence when it comes to creative writing and doesn't always go back to check his comprehension answers the teacher thinks its down to confidence and not that he cant do it, So with this we don't know what is best to do. Do we get him a tutor to pass the exam or do we get him to try it on his own ability? also whats the likelihood anyone would get into Urmston grammar not being within the catchment area?

any advice would be great.

you might get a quicker response posting in one of the location specific sections

thank you

I don't think there are any papers / materials that can give you an indication of whether your child will pass unfortunately, I think teachers are probably the best guide.

Have a look on Urmston Grammar's website under the admissions policy - they offer the highest scoring 20 children a place irrespective of where they live so that might be an option? There is a booklet on Trafford's website called "Transferring to Secondary School" and at the very back, they have a table which shows how far away places were offered (I think the information may be for 2014). It says they offered the last place to someone living 4.94 miles away from the school (it would be measured in a straight line door to door). Do you know how far away you are?

A good tutor will carry out a Pre-tuition assessment and give you an honest opinion as to whether it would be worth your while and money pursuing entrance exam tuition. The one we used compares your child's pre-tuition assessment scores against those for previous students who have gone on to pass the Entrance Exams so you get a clear picture of where your child sits.
I found this very helpful and I know other parents who did too.

Are there any 10+ mocks available in your area? We signed up our DS for a 10+ mock which he sat in the summer after year 4, just to see how he compared to other children of his age. He had no preparation for the mock, it was purely to see what he was capable of. His results were encouraging, so we decided to go for 11+ and it worked out well.

Thank you for all your replies that's really helpful we shall look into your suggestions.

Homebird wrote:A good tutor will carry out a Pre-tuition assessment and give you an honest opinion as to whether it would be worth your while and money pursuing entrance exam tuition. The one we used compares your child's pre-tuition assessment scores against those for previous students who have gone on to pass the Entrance Exams so you get a clear picture of where your child sits.
I found this very helpful and I know other parents who did too.

I don't suppose you know of a good tutor in the area who we can contact to have a look into this.

Mandy21 wrote: It says they offered the last place to someone living 4.94 miles away from the school (it would be measured in a straight line door to door). Do you know how far away you are?

we are 1.91miles away in a straight line but 5.24miles if we were to drive.

rj1995 I will send you a PM with a recommendation

rj1995 wrote:... my concern is whether my son capable enough to do it? is their a way of testing his ability to pass the exam? we have been in to speak to his teachers and they think he is capable with a couple of areas he could improve on. he's way ahead in maths and loves science hes always reading his reading level is way above where it should be he lacks confidence when it comes to creative writing and doesn't always go back to check his comprehension answers the teacher thinks its down to confidence and not that he cant do it, So with this we don't know what is best to do. Do we get him a tutor to pass the exam or do we get him to try it on his own ability? also whats the likelihood anyone would get into Urmston grammar not being within the catchment area? any advice would be great.

The way I see it, with preparation, he can surely pass the grammar test. Try downloading test papers from the internet and give him a go (just google "11+ math pdf", "11+ English pdf", VR, NVR etc. you'll find loads of sample test papers in pdf. Unless you have truckloads of review materials and most importantly your time to tutor your DS, you can do the DIY route otherwise it's best to get him a tutor. NEVER try it on his own ability, he'll certainly fail. My DS was level 6 in math and 5's in all other subjects and a participant in inter-school Math challege but I must admit that he nearly cry when I first tested him with the proper 11+ test and he had no clue how to do most of the VR and NVR part of the test. Revision is quite a long process as you have so much to tackle but the good news is "all them can be learned".
Details for Urmston Grammar can be found here - http://trafford.gov.uk/residents/school ... policy.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Goodluck to your DS.