selective school

selective school Introduction

You have probably already heard a lot about the selective school tests that you can take for entry to selective schools. With more and more parents deciding that a grammar school education will provide the best opportunities for their child in an environment in which the pursuit of scholarship is paramount, competition is steadily rising for these coveted selective places.

Because standardised scores depend upon a pupil's raw score and age, a standardisation table is called a ‘two-way entry table’. In a column at the left-hand side of the table are the raw scores. Along the top of the table are the different ages - for example, 10:11 means 10 years and 11 months. As an illustration, a pupil aged 10:07 with a raw score of 23 will have a standardised score of 106 on this example test.

Each area may have a different selection process to another as there is no real national standard exam, however, the selective school exam typically covers up to 4 areas:

Where to Start

Don’t panic! Although the whole process can seem like a test for the parents, not the children, it can be straightforward. Firstly, do your homework!

Your local educational authority will be able to give you a list of selective schools in your area for selective school . Request prospectuses, make visits (schools hold impressive open days but personal visits can sometimes give you a better insight to the true day to day running), talk to both teachers, pupils and other parents and you should get a ‘gut’ feeling for a school that might suit the individual needs of your child. Areas to focus on are: support and guidance for pupils' welfare, quality of teaching, attitudes and behaviour, leadership, staffing and resources, attainment and progress, links with the wider community, activities beyond the school day, etc. Information can be found about league table positions on BBC websites and standards from OFSTED reports. Backgound information on selective school testing can be found here.

In many cases, there is a pre-determined number of selective places, and these are largely filled from an order of merit. Your location relative to the school can also play a part. If your child is out of the immediate catchment area you may find it harder to obtain a place.

Taking the Selective Route

Once you have decided to take the selective route, you may wish to find a local tutor (see our growing list of recommended tutors – if you find a good one, let us know). Do not assume that the national curriculum will automatically cover all learning required for the selective school exam, it probably won’t. Above all start early! Experience tells us that pupils should start to study as soon possible prior to sitting the exam – the earlier the better – but its never too late for some last minute practice. Obtaining old exam papers can be a minefield, with schools constantly changing their formats, and every day spent looking for selective school resources is another day lost.

The selective school Advantage

This website will give your child an advantage and confidence when sitting the selective school exam. Your child can actually take the tests interactively online – a great fun incentive for the type of child who enjoys computers or needs that extra motivation to study. This interactive practice is tracked so that the child can see the progress made and of course doesn’t require hours of marking by the parents!

The standardisation treats boys and girls in exactly the same way. It used to be the case in educational testing some years ago that separate standardisations were conducted for boys and girls, but this has not been the case for a number of years under equal opportunities legislation.

selective school Club Membership

To get the best from the website you will need to join our selective school club. Membership is available at 3 levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold with a duration ranging from 3 to 12 months. Each level of membership allows you to download the papers for viewing and printing with the option of taking the test online. All selective school papers taken online are in multiple choice format. The questions are the same irrespective of format. Papers can be downloaded in the following formats:

• Maths - Multiple Choice & Standard
• English - Multiple Choice
• Verbal Reasoning - Multiple Choice & Standard
• Non Verbal Reasoning - Multiple Choice

Eleven plus test scores are published by the school or education authority in the form of standardised scores. If more than one test is administered, the scores may be given for each test separately, or it may be that only a composite score is given. If a composite is given, it will be either the total standardised score or the average (mean) of the standardised scores.

selective school Bronze

Two papers available in Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non Verbal Reasoning - a total of 8 test papers.

selective school Silver

Four papers available in Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non Verbal Reasoning - a total of 16 test papers.

selective school Gold

Five papers available in Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non Verbal Reasoning - a total of 20 test papers.

Parents notes, comprehensive hints and tips.

Off air...

For a step by step approach to getting started click here. Why not sign up today! Full membership pricing can be found here.

Online Testing

Downloads

All papers can be downloaded where they can be viewed or printed from your web browser (if you do not have access to a printer we provide a print, pack and post service at an additional charge). Each paper is printed on a high quality laser printer and comes complete with answers and answer sheet and protected by a colourful plastic wallet.