Hi Everyone,

Are children allowed to sit the exam early (i.e. a year ahead of time)? Assuming they are, will they be able to re-sit the following year (i.e. if their mark wasn't sufficiently high for desired schools etc)? Finally, might there be variation in such rules from one local authority to another, or is this something that would be uniform across the UK?

Thanks in advance,

Tamim.

The policy varies from place to place, so it’s best to check the schools/LAs you are interested in.

The usual advice is not to enter early if possible.

Usually they stipulate that the child can only enter if they are currently in year 6. So if they take it one year early, they will only be able to retake the following year if they haven’t moved to year 7. This means holding them back a year, which may not be a good thing either.
Some will not allow a retake at all.

As a general rule, where under-age candidates are allowed to sit the exam, it is usually on the condition that they are registered in the school year above their chronological age (i.e. they are on the school roll as being in year 6, even though they were not yet 10 at the beginning of that year). And no, having sat the exam early, they won't normally get another chance to sit the exam with their own year group.

(Cross-posted with Tinkers )

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

Echoing what others have said at DD’s school you have to be in Y6 at point of taking exam and the rules stipulate you can only take it once.

School is so much more than just books and academics - learning amongst your peers of a similar age teaches other life lessons and being taught outside your age group can create its own social and emotional challenges.

In our local area the state schools that offer selection are very clear that the 11 plus exam can only be taken once.

So if a student takes the exam a year above their age year group they will not be able to retake it the following year. DG

Ditto our area (Warks). Our eldest was put up a year in his state primary school as they felt that was the only way they could challenge him - we looked into him taking the 11 + with the higher year but were told very clearly he would then be excluded from taking it with his correct year (if he didn't succeed in gaining a place the first time round). It is a one chance only test. We decided that actually we didn't want him educated with the year above all the way through secondary as well, as children change so much over secondary. You have to remember that your child would then not be able to drive when his mates can or go to the pub etc etc with them and it can be very lonely being a whole year younger. Primary schools should be encouraged to remember that they are required to stretch children and there are plenty of expansion activities they can easily do with a bright child rather than just shoving them up a year. Our eldest effectively repeated Y6 with his correct year but we flexi schooled him with the LEA/schools support and that was far more beneficial than racing through.