11 Plus Exams Forum

What is the most extreme form of 11+ preparation that you've seen? Did it work, both in terms of 11+ results and longer-term academic performance? At the opposite end, what has been the most efficient approach (best outcome for the least effort) that you have come across?

(This is intended to be a tongue-in-cheek exercise for a Friday afternoon.)

Most of the people I know went for the gentle DIY approach but I did know of a girl who was doing an hour long paper a night for quite some time before the exam ( she didn't score above the cutoff in the end).

I know another one who complain at the beginning of year 6 that she had had to do a paper every day of the school holidays.

I think we managed an average of one a week in the school holidays

Looking back ..1 child 26, other 22

And after tutoring for a fair few years, my advice would be - don't focus purely on ". THE TEST" make work fun, focus on basics and a bit of technique..

Remember , they are children

It all depends on the child, the liberal approach is to remember they are chikdren,. The other approach is that kids are hungry for success, 6 to 7 hours of study each day in tgecsummer holidays is not uncommon such is the fierce competition for success

6 to 7 hours of study each day in tgecsummer holidays is not uncommon such is the fierce competition for success

sbarnes - I would say that IS very uncommon - I don't know anyone that would subject their child to this regime.

Guest55 wrote:

6 to 7 hours of study each day in tgecsummer holidays is not uncommon such is the fierce competition for success

sbarnes - I would say that IS very uncommon - I don't know anyone that would subject their child to this regime.

I can safely say that any of our offspring would take the attitude that if they really had to do all that to stand a chance of passing the 11+, then there probably wasn't much point in doing it in the first place...

Guest55 wrote:

6 to 7 hours of study each day in tgecsummer holidays is not uncommon such is the fierce competition for success

sbarnes - I would say that IS very uncommon - I don't know anyone that would subject their child to this regime.

It might not be uncommon in some region. Once I went to see a group session, which I was told runs from 8 to 6, and some kids have been there a whole day throughout the summer. Clearly there was a strong competition culture.

I am a strong believer of hard working. Equally I am wondering what could entail a 6-hour study every day? A level at the age of 18, probably yes; a 10-year-old, definitely no.

Just because you don't anyone g55, doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Its very common in fact.

sbarnes wrote:Just because you don't anyone g55, doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Its very common in fact.

Can you give some indication how prevalent this is? Also, what do children do for 6-7 hours every day (doesn't it get very boring for them)? I would imagine there would be diminishing return after a certain point, not to mention dampening a child's natural curiosity and interest in learning.