Mastering the 11+ Exam: 11 Plus Tips & Tricks for Success

What is the 11 plus exam?

If you are considering sending your child to a Grammar or an Independent school, you might have already been doing some research on how to pass the 11 Plus exam. This test is the means by which some of the UK’s highest achieving secondary schools decide which Year 6 children they will accept as students. For many parents, this leads to a burning question: what tips or tricks can help my child perform their best in the 11 plus entrance exam papers?

It goes without saying that there exists no magic wand or genie lamp which can automatically make your child pass the 11+ entrance test. That being said, there are a number of extremely helpful and effective strategies which can yield amazing benefits. In this article, we’ll walk you through our top recommended 11 plus tips and tricks which might just help your child to pass the 11Plus exam with flying colours.

.

Check Which Exam Board Is Running the 11+ Test

Our first 11+ exam tip is an essential step: we thoroughly recommend that you start out by looking into which 11 plus exam board is administering your son or daughter’s 11+ test. The two most prominent bodies which administer 11Plus assessments in the UK are CEM and GL, and it’s quite likely that your child will be sitting an exam set by one of these two boards. 

Knowing which exam board is running your child’s 11 plus test will be extremely beneficial because 11+ tests have a number of significant differences in terms of paper format, exam timings and question types. Knowing the exam board is therefore extremely useful as it will allow you to support your child with the preparation that is tailored accordingly. 

Begin to Prepare for the 11+ Test As Soon As Possible

This might sound an obvious tip- but it’s an important one nevertheless. Decades of extensive educational research has overwhelmingly demonstrated that last-minute cramming before a test is ineffective, stressful and might even be counterproductive when it comes to performing well on exam day. 

By contrast, one of the biggest advantages you can give your child is an early start in their 11+ exam preparation: find out the 11+ exam date and make use of all the time leading up to it. This can give your child enough time to develop a confident and familiar grasp of what the 11 plus test will involve, which in turn will increase their chances of displaying their knowledge and abilities to full advantage on the day.

Prepare For Every Key Area of the 11+ Exam

The exam format of the 11Plus test can vary significantly based on the provider. However, all 11+ tests are ultimately designed to assess children’s abilities across the same key areas- namely,  Maths, English,  Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Therefore, we recommend that you prepare your child by focusing on each of these key elements.

If your child is less confident in Maths, we recommend using Maths Skillwise questions to build up their knowledge and skills in key 11+ Numeracy topics such as Numbers, Algebra, Ratios, Geometry, Measurements, Statistics and Timetables, and more.

If your child finds English challenging, you could check out a range of actual 11+ Past Papers to improve their understanding of the questions they need to practice answering. More broadly, you might find it helpful to give your child plenty of chances to become a more confident writer (which is a very useful skill for 11+) by using resources designed to develop their creative writing skills. 

We also recommend focusing on your child’s breadth of 11+ English vocabulary and their grasp of Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar- a confident and exacting level of ability in these areas will almost certainly benefit them on 11+ exam day.

Get Familiar With Both 11Plus Question Formats

In 11Plus papers, there are two broad categories that questions can fall into a standard format (which requires a written response) and a multiple-choice format (which provides several possible answers, one or more of which must be selected). It’s very likely that your child’s 11Plus will contain some combination of these two formats- we therefore strongly recommend that you give him or her plenty of opportunities to practice both.

Extra Tip: It’s easy to assume that the standard format is more difficult and should therefore be prioritised; however, multiple-choice questions are designed to assess a very different set of skills and can often prove just as significantly challenging to students.

Take Advantage of 11Plus Practice Papers 

If you recall our advice about the exam boards earlier, you’ll know that it’s important to be aware of which 11+ test your child is sitting on. Once you’ve found out, you can tailor your approach accordingly.

For example, if you’re equipped with the knowledge that your child will be sitting the CEM 11+ test, you can choose CEM-specific practice papers, which cover Maths and English in a style similar to real CEM papers.

If, by contrast, you discover your child will be sitting the GL 11Plus assessment, you’ll want to look into GL-style practice papers which are tailored to reflect the style of Maths and English questions favoured by the GL board.

Regardless of the exam board, any child sitting an 11Plus will also benefit from using 11+ Maths Past papers, 11 plus English Past Papers, Creative Writing, Vocabulary, Spelling Punctuation and Grammar,  Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning papers to boost their knowledge, understanding and experience of the types of skills required in each of these key 11Plus areas.

Foster a Calm, Positive, Practical Approach to the 11+ Test

All tests can be nerve-wracking for your child; the 11Plus test is no different. It’s important to bear this in mind when helping them to prepare- not least because anxiety can negatively impact on their ability to let their knowledge, understanding and skills shine. 

One way to avoid this is to help them establish calm, practical habits in their preparation. For example, teach them about the importance of sensible time management by encouraging them to move on from questions they get stuck on instead of becoming worried or stressed and losing valuable minutes which could be used on answers they do know.

More broadly, encourage them in developing a “little-and-often” approach to preparing for the 11Plus: for example, you can break their study schedule into realistic, manageable chunks by using daily question challenges which help them acclimatise gradually to the approaching challenges of the 11+ test. You could make regular use of 11+ video courses which can help them revise a wide range of topics. It is further recommended to practice 11+ Mock exams to learn how to perform under time pressure.

Think About Hiring an 11+ Tutor

If you’ve reached this far in our list and are still feeling a little overwhelmed by the challenges of preparing your child to pass their 11+ exam, our final tip is to consider hiring a professional 11+ tutor. 

An 11Plus tutor can be a wonderful investment. Their expertise allows them to guide your child through practice papers, focus on key areas which your child finds challenging, and help them build up their confidence, knowledge and exam technique in the process. 

Tutors can also work on a basis that suits you and your family’s needs- so whether you’d just like your child to benefit from an hour’s 11Plus guidance each week, or if you’d like to set up a more frequent schedule of support, this can be a very worthwhile option to consider. 

Along with an 11+ private tutor, there are several online 11+ courses that can help your child master 11+ exam concepts and skills.  These courses are designed to focus on teaching 11+ exam techniques and boost your child’s confidence in handling 11 plus exam questions.