Are you making any of these 11 plus exam preparation mistakes?

If you are currently supporting a child with 11 Plus preparation – or you are planning to start soon – you may already know that it can be very hard, stressful and overwhelming work!

There are approximately 100,000 children who take the 11 Plus exam each year, with only about 15,000 places offered. So competition can be high.

It is difficult to know what to do, when to do it and how to fit it into an already busy schedule.

Stress and tension can build, and you may feel like throwing the towel in, but at the end of the day, it’s important to remind yourself that you have good intentions and are trying your best.

You want your child to feel confident, prepared and ready to smash the tests when the time comes. But are you inadvertently making any of these common 11 Plus exam preparation mistakes?

By the end of this post, you will be aware of a tonne of blunders that are often made so that you can steer well clear of them!

Note: I’ve used the word ‘parent’ throughout this post to mean any adult who is supporting a child in their 11 Plus preparation journey.

How many of these 11 Plus exam preparation mistakes are you making?

Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are common mistakes that you will want to avoid.

Mistake 01: Letting a healthily balanced life go out of the window

Don’t let test prep take over completely. If you start to overlook the importance of good nutrition, hydration, sleep, exercise, fresh air, free time and downtime, all of your hard work will be in vain because your child simply won’t be able to learn.

Mistake 02: Preparing for the wrong exam board, subjects or format

Check and double-check all the important details! Is the exam board GL, or CEM or do the school set their own paper? Do you need to prepare for English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, or just a couple of subjects? Is it multiple choice or standard (written) answer format?

Mistake 03: The parent doesn’t fully understand what the 11 Plus exam is

Make sure that you get to grips with how much is involved in the entrance process. 

Not sure what to expect? This post explains everything:

• What is the 11 Plus Exam? 

Mistake 04: The child really doesn’t want to go to grammar school

Make sure that your child is involved in the process of choosing a secondary school. It’s so important for kids to learn in an environment they feel comfortable, safe and happy.

Mistake 05: The parent wants their child to go to grammar school for the wrong reasons

Explore your reasons for wanting your child to attend a particular school. Are you trying to squeeze your child into a mould that doesn’t fit? Will they struggle once they are there? Are you keen to keep up with the Jones’? Is there a stigma attached to your other options? Do you want them to have opportunities that you never had?

Mistake 06: Spending too much time preparing or having overly long learning sessions

We can only fully concentrate for a short time. Little and often is the best approach.

Mistake 07: Trying to build advanced skills on a weak foundation

Basic skills must be secure before you begin working on more complex concepts and topics. For example, in Maths, quick and reliable recall of all times tables and secure calculation methods in all four operations must be solid before you even start 11 Plus related work.

Mistake 08: Making assumptions about the child’s understanding of a topic

Just because they ‘got it’ when the topic was explained and then answered some questions correctly, that doesn’t mean that they will a few weeks or months down the line, let alone on exam day.

Mistake 09: Spending more time on practice tests than on learning and securing understanding

This happens ALL THE TIME! You might want to start with a test to find out areas where they need support, but doing test after test is a big mistake if their knowledge isn’t secure.

Mistake 10: Spending a fortune on ‘all the things’

Throwing money at tutors, tuition centres, stacks of books and signing up for every online course out there does not guarantee results of any kind.

Mistake 11: Overlooking the value of reading for pleasure and reading daily

Kids sitting 11 Plus exams need a pretty advanced vocabulary and strong reading comprehension skills. The text extracts used in the exams tend to be very traditional or taken from classics. Most kids I know don’t enjoy reading classics one bit, so don’t try to get your reluctant reader to struggle through something they will hate. Reading ANYTHING is better than nothing – including comics.

Mistake 12: Prioritising test speed over accuracy

Working at speed is important and on exam day your child will need to work quickly, but it is better to focus on getting answers correct first before adding the extra pressure of working against the clock.

Mistake 13: Starting exam preparation too early

It makes me so sad when I read posts on Facebook groups with parents of children as young as six asking what prep they should already be doing. There is no need to start before Year 4 apart from working on strong foundations and regular reading. If a child needs that much additional preparation, consider how they will cope with the demands of grammar school.

I frequently get requests from parents of children in years 1 and 2 wanting to book online lessons with me – I don’t offer tuition to KS1

Mistake 14: Focussing too much on one subject

It’s normal to be weaker in some subjects than others, but be careful not to neglect the others completely or run out of time.

Mistake 15: Going beyond what is necessary

I see this happen quite often, usually in maths. The content of the 11 Plus exams shouldn’t extend beyond the year 6 curriculum. There’s no need to do any preparation beyond key stage 2 topics.

Mistake 16: The parent lacks confidence in their ability to support effectively

Unless you’ve trained to be a teacher or have extensive knowledge of the curriculum, you might doubt how well you can help. And that’s ok! It’s healthy for your child to see you as a learner too. No one is an expert in everything. Try to find a little time before your study sessions to look up what you are about to work on and take some notes in preparation. 

Mistake 17: The parent is accidentally teaching concepts or methods ‘incorrectly’

Even with the very best intentions, it can be very easy to confuse kids and stress them out by using, for example, the maths methods that we were taught in school. Whilst these methods aren’t ‘wrong’, they can cause misunderstanding and frustration.

Mistake 18: Providing the ‘wrong’ kind of support

Everyone has different learning preferences and 11 Plus exam preparation is not a one-size-fits-all journey. The wrong support could be anything from a tutor who doesn’t ‘click’ with the child to preparing just by working through books and the child getting bored and demotivated as a result.

Mistake 19: Only covering the basics

The amount of topics that need to be learned, especially if you are preparing for four subjects, is huge. Be aware of the scope of work that needs to be covered so that you have time to get beyond working on foundational skills.

Mistake 20: Viewing tuition as a magic wand

Hiring a suitable tutor can be the perfect option for many families, but it’s important not to step back completely. Many children work with their tutors for just one session per week. It’s unlikely that this alone will be sufficient in most cases. Being involved in supporting exam preparation yourself is important. Not sure what to do? Focus on reading widely and building vocabulary along with the foundation skills mentioned earlier.

Mistake 21: Not covering the entire syllabus

This can be tricky because exam boards are secretive about the contents of their papers. You can get a good idea of what needs to be learned by looking at the national curriculum, or the contents pages in 11 Plus study books, such as those that you find in WHSmiths or Amazon. 

You can find national curricum documents below:

• • English Curriculum for Key Stage 1 and 2
  • Maths Curriculum for Key Stage 1 and 2

Mistake 22: Marking tests but not learning from them

Each time they do a test, mark it together, celebrate their successes and look at mistakes. Work together to help them see where they went wrong. Test results can be great learning opportunities.

Mistake 23: Not doing any practice tests

Although I talked about focussing on tests too much in mistake 09, that does not mean that you shouldn’t do any test practice. It’s crucial that children are familiar with the format of each exam and that they experience working accurately and quickly without any help.

Mistake 24: Starting preparations too late

On the off chance that you have an exceptionally bright child, you might be able to get away with minimal preparation and practice. In most cases though, try to plan ahead and take into account significant things like family holidays away or work commitments that you may have. Having a timescale and a rough plan can help keep everything calm and organised.

Mistake 25: Spending time in (some) 11 Plus parents’ groups on Facebook

Don’t get me wrong, some FB groups are full of supportive people and helpful information. However, many are quite toxic with ultra-competitive, pushy parents one-upping each other. No one needs that stress!

Take home message

Give yourself a pat on the back! Because now that you know these 25 mistakes and how to avoid them, you’ll be miles ahead of all the other people who’re embarking on 11 Plus exam preparation. A lot of precious time, energy and money can go into 11 Plus exam preparation – the last thing you want to do is waste those valuable resources! 

Did you spot any mistakes that you’ve made? Or any that you didn’t realise could be detrimental? Don’t worry! I see you! You and I know that your intentions are good and you are trying your best. Always remember to be kind to yourself.

There’s a lot to digest in this post, but even if you only take a couple of tips from this post, remember these golden nuggets:

• 11 Plus preparation is a marathon, not a sprint
• Knowledge comes before testing
• Know exactly what you need to cover
• Steer clear of toxic FB groups!

Should you decide that you’d like support from a tutor, don’t hesitate to get in touch, book a free consultation and find out if I have any availability. 

If you feel you’ve got a pretty good handle on what you’re doing, but need a helping hand to support verbal reasoning preparation, I’ve got something exciting in the works for you! Make sure that you are a subscriber to be the first to hear about it 😉.

Whichever route you are taking, good luck! Remember that I’m here if you need me.