What The Fluff Wednesday: The Best Chance of a Grammar School Place for Your Child
It’s What The Fluff Wednesday and that means I can write about whatever I want to. This week it’s time for shameless self-promotion!
If you are the lucky parent of a talented and intelligent child around the age of 9 or 10, you might be thinking about what school you would like them to go to when they finish junior school. There’s the regular comprehensive school option and the grammar school option.
What’s the Difference Between Comprehensive and Grammar Schools?
Comprehensive schools accept students between the ages of 11 and 16 (or 18 if they include a 6th form) from their local area, without any requirements for academic ability. This is considered the general, "normal”, secondary school route for most students.
Grammar schools only accept students that meet certain academic requirements, which vary between superior (much better than the average student) and exceptional (extremely advanced compared to the average student). This is the route that many parents prefer for very intelligent children with good academic scores.
How Does My Child Get into a Grammar School?
This is where the 11+ exam comes in. To get accepted into an English grammar school in the UK, your child must pass the 11+ entrance exam.
What’s In the 11+?
There are multiple subjects tested in the 11+ and they break down into these four areas:
English - reading comprehension and writing.
Maths - assessment of mathematical ability.
Verbal Reasoning - ability to use language to solve puzzles and problems.
Non-Verbal Reasoning - ability to solve puzzles and problems without language, using shapes, colours, patterns and positions.
How Can Wright English Help My Child?
If you book your child in for 11+ preparation classes, we will work together to assess your child’s strengths and the areas they need a little support in. We will practice reading, writing, advanced vocabulary, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, including practice materials and past papers. By the time they take their test, they will be well prepared and confident that they can do their best on the day.
Must My Gifted Child Go to a Grammar School?
In all honesty, no. When I was around the correct age to start preparing for my 11+, my parents offered me the choice to try and get into a grammar school or to go into the mainstream (standard) comprehensive school. I chose to go to comprehensive, and never took the test. That might sound like a strange choice, but there are different social environments at grammar schools and comprehensive schools. I thought I would be more comfortable in the mainstream, especially as a particularly energetic young person who got into strange situations like climbing the school building. I left my secondary school with excellent grades and got into a good university, so it’s not necessary to go to a grammar school. If you and your child want them to go to an extremely prestigious university college like Cambridge or Oxford, however, going to a grammar school is likely to make this a lot easier in the future.
Summing Up
So, in summary, to get into a grammar school for gifted children your child needs to take the 11+ entrance exam. The best chance your child has of passing that exam is by taking good preparation lessons with time to master the questions and become confident with what is expected of them. Just remember, this is not necessary, and your gifted child will do just fine in life by attending a comprehensive school - there are positives and negatives to both secondary options.
