Chance and the Eleven Plus

When an individual joins a new company we presume that some degree of training takes place. We may also presume that the job offer is made after the C.V. and the interview are analysed and discussed. Naturally there will be some exceptions after all there can be no hard fast rules as, most probably, every case will be different.

Once the successful applicant has joined the team, and during and after the training, there will be some form of a job review. If all is going to plan the formal job offer will be made. If, however, it is obvious that the person will not fit the job – or the job will not fit the person – then there has to be a parting of the ways. This is, however, an expensive procedure. It will be expensive to the organisation in terms of the training and the effort that has been made – but also expensive to the individual because he or she will have wasted time and effort. The organisation can, possibly, make up the financial side but the individual will have lost time and effort.

After the interviews, and before the job offers, the organisation may work out that one person would have a 80% chance succeeding in the job – but a different candidate may be given a 50 : 50 chance of succeeding. It is easy to see which candidate would be chosen. For the individual, however, he or she will look at the company and think: “I probably have an 80% chance of succeeding in the job – so I’ll take a gamble and accept the job offer.”

If, however, the applicant thinks that there will only be a 50% chance of succeeding then he or she may as well flip a coin – and accept or reject the job on this basis.

Not all eleven plus children, however, are offered the choice. One set of parents could think: “Our child has an 80% chance of passing the eleven plus – so let us go for it.”

A different parent will say: “Well I’m not sure – my child has a fifty per cent chance of passing I’m not sure what to do. I know, let’s play best of three. Three flips of the coin – and heads or tails will decide.”

In job terms today’s contracting market may make even the most suitable applicant feel to be a failure. A miserable and unhelpful superior may also make life difficult.

Eleven plus children need lots of help and training – not so much in the technique of answering questions (although this is a vital part) – but help with building a positive attitude towards the amount of work involved. Once again a miserably pushy parent may not make quite a much progress with their child as one in the total environment of a supportive and caring family.

There will always be children, who start in the 50:50 category, who will pass the eleven plus. Not all the 80% children will pass.

If only parents could find a test that would tell then before they started on the eleven plus about how hard their child will work, how much the challenge of the eleven plus will be embraced and whether their child will feel successful and positive in the lead up to the examination.