What happens after the 11+ exams? Up this point, children have been tutored either by their parents at home or by a private tutor or some combination. What happens after the 11+ exams? Does the additional support the child has been receiving (whether or not one chooses to call it tutoring) suddenly stop?! What support does this child get at home from Year 6 onwards? I guess KS2 exams are pointless? Year 6 after all is a wasted year! What Year 7 onwards? Would be keen to learn from those parents with children who’ve been through this process and are now at Grammar School. I guess the theory is that grammar schools are excellent state schools, so a child at GS should be receiving all the education they need from their school. Therefore, there’s no need to continue supporting them at home (at least not as intensive as when they were preparing for their 11+ exams)!

Apologies for the long message. Thanks All for your help.

Year 6 is not a wasted year. The 11+ exam is designed to test children's reasoning skills using very specific question types, and most eleven plus tuition aims to teach children to answer those questions within a given time. The actual content of the 11+ maths and English questions doesn't go above what they will have been taught by the end of year 5. They still need to carry on learning during year 6.
Once at Grammar school, they carry on with their subjects the same as children in any other school. Grammar schools are still just schools!
Having taught for many years myself, I would say that children learn better in groups of similar ability rather than mixed ability, and that's what Grammar schools do.
That's why it isn't in a child's best interests to tutor them for years just to get them through the exam. They shouldn't need to keep having tuition once they get in to the school, they should be able to keep up because they have natural ability.
Children will achieve their best when they are taught at the right pace and level for them.

Typed a reply & then lost it!!

It's quite enjoyable not to have any 11+ work to do!

In yr 6 we did school homework. They stepped it up for SATs, some of which we did, some of which we didn't. I think secondary schools use SATS results to assess children's performance / trajectory (but I'm not a teacher). YR 6 brought additional responsibilities at school (like being a buddy) as well the end of year performance in which year 6 lead.

I suspect most parents on this forum will be quite supportive of their children & their learning. DD has settled in well. She gets more homework but she manages it. I check on the homework wall to make sure. DD updates us & we get regular progress reports from school (don't see teachers like we did at primary school). School have suggested some study guides to help with revision but not compulsory. School use a maths app - which has videos in to watch as well her homework. Don't use a tutor & don't plan to. Might if we felt she needed it for GCSE or A level but school would be our first point of call if we couldn't help. We encourage reading & wider learning. We've done things that support the learning at school - like going to see the play she was studying. I don't think I could just 'wash my hands' & leave it to all to school. There's way more to life than just curriculum learning.

Yr 7 has flown & we're heading into yr8. I can't believe it. Just trying to enjoy the time without the pressure of yr 10 / 11.

Hope that helps.

In Kent, the 11+ is in the second week of the School Year! Education is a progression.

Year 6 is not a wasted year. The National Curriculum year 7 syllabus continues on from year 6 work, not year 5. There is a huge amount of content in maths, english and science in year 6.
Adaptation, inheritance and evolution are not taught in other year groups.



The Sats are used to predict outcomes for that pupil and their progress tracked accordingly.

There are also end of year productions and for most schools the residential trip.
The children are also learning to be more independent and are often given responsibilities for younger pupils.

Not all children will pass, or even take, the 11+.

In answer to your question, surely you just continue to support their education?

Any parent who thinks a child will be receiving all their education from the school and they can dust their hands off and go and focus on something else, may need to think again!!

School - any school - is a 3 way process and requires the parents, child and school staff to work together - the staff may deliver the formal education but the parent needs to ensure the child is where they shold be when they should be and is doing what is expected of them - and not support the child ad infinitum, whether they are right or wrong - I'm sorry but for example, if your child has homework, it's their homwork to do to their best ability (not the parents) - but it is up to the parent to make sure they do it - I have seen parents tell teachers that they don't believe in homework - that may be so - but if your child is given it - that isn't your call!

In GS there are children every year who struggle - and I mean really struggle - either they have plateaued in their learning or were early achievers or, may have been tutored heavily to get in. But every year there are children that all the kids know are in the wrong place for them - if that is your child - help them - it may be they need to move school - our sons have both lost very good friends at 6th form as they did not make the grade - most of them were identified failry early on that they were unlikely to make the grade, so always knew they needed to look elsewhere - but quite likely could have been very happy at the top of another school. If a child needs to be continually tutored in a GS then I would absolutely suggest that is not the school for them.

All - Thanks for your advice. Very much appreciated!

For us year 6 maths and English were a waste of time, she didn’t learn anything new that hadn’t been covered by 11+ prep. 11+ in our area is definitely of a much higher standard than year 5 and at the end of year 6 she received the top SATs marks.
However in terms of other things it was a great year....choir competition, music festival, super maths day, visit to a temple, playing Fagin in the end of year 6 production....to name but a few.
In terms of continued support, yes we will encourage and help but definitely no tutoring...if she needs that then I’d question our decision to send her to grammar school.

We did not bother with year 6 in school. My son was de-registered and home-educated instead. In that year he was able to explore many other things that would have not been studied at school. We are so glad we did. He has now started yr8 at a super-selective and had a great year 7, so there were no gaps in his learning.

What about his social development? It sounds a bit extreme removing him from school.

We home educated for last term of Y6, it was a bit isolating for DD but it was just a term and she had clubs, cousins and neighbours to spend time with other children. A whole year would have been very challenging for us but possibly different if you are part of a large family. It certainly isn’t for everyone.

The big plus was looking at learning in a completely different way and taking those odd weekends to museums to a whole new level. She met lots of extended family and friends who got involved in days out and talked about their careers and hobbies. Lots of blue badge walks in London including things like Brunel tunnel walks etc. Using local woodlands and parks and finding lots of other families doing the same. It was liberating not being tied to a classroom. The emphasis that learning is in her control and not just what the teachers tell her has held her in good stead. I work full time but bought an extra week of leave from work and did four and a half days a week for that term rather than five - we switched some learning days to weekends so I could help out more too. DD also continued with her self learning she had learnt from 11+.