Eleven Plus Choices

A peculiarity of the English system of education is that at the GCSE stage schools can choose which examining board they would like to prepare their children for. This gives individual teachers freedom of choice – and also allows schools to offer this freedom of choice to their children and parents.

Syllabuses can vary from one board to another. A GCSE mathematics examination from one Board, for example, may differ fairly substantially from another board. Types of question can also vary. One school, for example, may want to prepare their children for questions that require attributes that other schools and teachers may not want.

In the world of the Eleven Plus individual school and schools consortia can offer their own examinations. Local Authorities, in many areas however, still dominate.

It may be advantageous for some children to be able to choose which sort of examination they would choose to write. A boy or a girl, for example, could be considerably gifted at writing – and could be denied a grammar school education because their eleven plus did not cater for their needs.