Eleven Plus Papers

There is more to preparing for the Eleven Plus than working through a range of Eleven Plus papers. We need to draw a little picture. We have a boy who is the `top’ groups at school. He is well liked by everyone in the class, good at games and enjoys work. He tells his parents that he wants to go to grammar school.

The family go out to buy the latest Eleven Plus papers. They also download lots of free papers. They lay the papers out all over the floor and try to get a picture of just how much has to be done. They down load a copy of the prospectus from the internet.

The next morning the family drive to the nearest grammar school and walk as far as they can around the perimeter. They sit in the shadow of a big tree and pass pages of the prospectus around. The family then find the nearest bus stop and work out the logistics of school journeys.

This then is evidence of good preparation – possibly even establishing an Eleven Plus framework. But when the hammer beats down how will our Eleven Plus candidate react?

He will need to be able to cope with lots of verbal information. He will need to learn facts, make generalisations and, at times, think!

He will need to be able to demonstrate that he has high level intellectual skills. It is a temptation to call a person an `intellectual’ when they are given the opportunity to be able to demonstrate their wide vocabulary.

He will need to have the right attitude. He must be able to listen – and reflect. He must be willing to learn. He must want to `get to grammar’.

Finally, he must want to work through a selection of Eleven Plus papers.