I am genuinely interested in why people put their children in for 11+. I'm slightly concerned about writing this as it's the most serious forum I've ever been on.
Is it because of the qudos of grammar, local schools are bad or something else. I have put my youngest through it but didn't put my eldest. I'm not judgemental just interested

Bucks is opt-out because it's a selective LA. Nearly everyone does the Transfer Test ... it's some years ago now for DS though.

I feel very naive when it comes to 11+. I didn't realise some were opt out. Does that add to the pressure?

I put my dd in for it because, of all the 8 or so schools we visited, some of which were selective, some not, but all of which she had a reasonable chance of getting into, one particular school stood out head and shoulders above the rest as the one she would be happiest at. It happened to be selective and therefore she had to sit the exam. We were lucky - she got in and has been extremely happy there.
It would be disingenuous of me to say that it's selective nature had no impact - it obviously has an effect on what the school is like - but I genuinely wasn't looking for selective schools for their own sake, just schools where I could imagine my children being most comfortable.

Same as Guest55. Little choice in the matter unless we were prepared to move out of the county (Bucks). Opting out is still selection because if one opts out of the Bucks secondary transfer test, one is selecting an upper school.

As for it adding to the pressure, I don't know because I haven't raised children anywhere else. I suspect it's a different pressure. In parts of Bucks, particularly in the larger towns, the upper schools face many challenges and have varying degrees of success. That makes many parents work hard to secure a grammar school place, not so much because they're GS advocates but more to avoid the upper schools. The qualification rate is higher than in other counties, with around a third of entrants securing a qualifying score, so perhaps that is less pressured than schools and areas that are much more selective. The difference with those other areas is that quite often they are isolated grammars in a comprehensive system where the alternative to grammar school is a good one.

In summary, I guess the pressure is the same, it's just that it's different types of pressure arising from different factors.

Essex (CSSE) here. Some of our reasons include the grammars being better schools in terms of results, the appeal of single sex education, the locality (one grammar is walking distance) but also because if you don’t give it a go your chances are the same as not passing so you might as well try!

I’ll be controversial and say there is a social divide in the kids I know who’ve taken it v those who haven’t and I would say that there’s a slight air of snobbery from the parents of those who pass.

Hi

Out of all the schools we looked at it, it was the one we felt was best for DD. It was also the one she liked the most & felt she could see herself at the most.

Because our local comprehensives have been impacted by the existence of grammars. We’ve looked around half a dozen and found one that is of a good standard. Not much choice other than to enter the children for the 11+ really, much as we disagree with the system.

Because all the very good local comprehensive schools near us are faith schools and we are of the wrong faith so no chance of a place. Non faith schools are not great and not a good fit for either DS1 or DS2.

Why didn’t you start with your reasons Onedayonechance? Why did you put your child in? I suspect your reasons will be in line with others.