Did you fail your 11+ exam?

ElderlyPerson

Germanshepherdsmum

No, I got a good pass as I had first choice in my school of which of the three (all girls) local grammar schools I attended.

That is interesting. A choice of grammar school. In this area there was only one, so the notion of choice was never part of it all.

Choice of three all girls' grammar schools for me, too.
Inner London 1962.

I passed by the skin of my teeth. I wasn’t particularly happy at grammar school. Always in the bottom class because although I worked hard I wasn’t clever enough to do better.
Both my sons failed. Both now have very good well paid jobs. It isn’t the end of the world. Many children come into their own later in life.

I was at an Army school in Singapore that I joined in the summer term. A few weeks in a teacher put his head round the door and said 'Anyone not taken their Murray House?' I put my hand up and asked 'What is the Murray House? He just said come with me and I was taken to a room with half a dozen others and told I would be doing some tests, 4 in all, each 30-45 minutes long: verbal reasoning, English and 2 maths papers. All done by lunchtime.

No preparation, no worries because I knew nothing about it. A few weeks later my parents got a letter to say that in the autumn I would be going to the grammar school. The same school bus went round all the schools, so I just got off at a different stop to my younger sister.

The Murray House was an 11+ equivalent for, mainly, British children in forces schools overseas, plus diplomatic families and others similarly situated. When we returned to England every education authority was expected to treat us like any other child who passed their 11+ in the UK and then moved to live in another part of the country.

Regarding a choice of grammar schools, we had a choice between Barnsley girls high school and Ecclesfield mixed grammar school, as we lived more or less midway between the 2. My mother wanted Barnsley, but there were no places left, so I went to Ecclesfield. Then later, after moving home, I went to Rochdale High School for girls. I hated school, wanted to leave a 15, but my grandma who I lived with, didn`t want to pay the £10 penalty fee, so I had to stay until I was 16. I honestly couldn`t understand why some girls were crying on leaving day (July 1959), I couldn`t wait to walk through those gates for the last time!

I was moved to a private school at 8 years old, I think because of the merciless bullying at the state primary. We all took the 11 plus, the school was a Direct Grant, taking those who passed their 11 plus as free pupils, as well as the fee payers. I think the plan was that I would pass the 11 plus as my brother had done, and my parents would only have to pay for three years. However the school gave us no preparation or practice for it, and I failed. With help from my grandparents, I was funded through the school, but it must have been a bitter blow when I failed. I never could get the hang of maths!

lots of my family didn't even take the 11+ and had to leave school at 14 and go into the workplace for the rest of their lives

I think I remember it being in two parts and I passed one part and failed the other part so ended up in the A stream in the secondary school.My poor brother though did pass for grammar school and he was not up to it at all, just not academic, and when he left school he was told you had better be a chef Jimmy because there’s nothing else you’ll be able to do!!!absolutely awful ,I can see him now lugging a huge satchel of books,he was very small with glasses and it breaks my heart to think of him now,he was very unhappy at school.He passed away in 2003 at the age of 49.. and he did become a chef which was one of the most stressful jobs as he was head chef..

My DDiL failed her 11+ and became the first pupil from her secondary modern to go onto university. She trained as a secretary to earn her living and then did her A levels at the local Technical College and went to university when she was 21.

Since then she has done very well, has nearly completed her PhD and is now an academic.

grandmarderby In answer to your question re sacrifices my parents made. Yes the uniform was very expensive. Only one shop stocked it so there was no competition. We also had to provide our own books for example, atlas, Bible, dictionary, geometry set, pencil case and fountain pen etc. I don’t recall my parents ever having new clothes or going out or basically anything which involved any expense apart from the absolute essentials. We had no holidays. My father worked two jobs. After coming off a night shift he would often work for our local coalman delivering coal and was able to buy a set of encyclopaedias for us which my brother has still got. My mother cleaned for other people. So yes we owe them a lot.

I got an A for my 11+ but there was a carrot at the end of a stick in the shape of a new bike bought by an aunt. I had only ever had a second hand bike so I was determined to have my own brand new one.

I passed my 11+ and went to the same all girl's grammar school my Mother had attended. The constant threat was if you don't do well, you will be kept down a year, and looking back, the teaching left a lot to be desired. I worked very, very hard.

It seems that most GNetters are a clever lot and mostly passed, but like Shinamae I passed the first part and failed the second so ended up in the A stream at Secondary School. No one from our little country primary passed. Only 10% of children went to Grammar School my year. I could have taken the 12+ but my parents decided against it as I was (and still am!) an only child so would have been rather lonely in the holidays since the grammar school was boarding.

I lost out big time as girls didn't do maths or science after the first year. We did business arithmetic and human biology. Our lot in life was office clerk or nursing. No chance of becoming the architect I wanted to be. Not without basic maths or physics. The inequality was just accepted back then.

I failed in 1960 and was devastated. My parents were indifferent.
However my Secondary Modern School years were happy, the staff were excellent and dedicated & I didn’t do too bad in my final year exams.
The irony is/was I ended up in the Civil Service & successfully held down jobs that others with degrees also did alongside me. Made me quietly proud that my intellect was as good as theirs & I could certainly hold my own at some quite high level meetings.
The 11+ was divisive and in my experience not an indication of future success for those who passed.

grandmarderby Can I add to my previous post. When we all passed the 11 plus my parents did not put any pressure on us to attend grammar school it was our choice which they supported. To answer your last question how did it enable us? We all went on to University and found careers that were fulfilling. For poor families who had bright children a grammar school education give us educational opportunities that were only available to those wealthier families who could send their children to private schools.

I failed my 11+ in 1960.. - absolutely no support at home for it. I felt, again I had let my mother down by failing. I remember the letter coming on a Saturday morning to tell my parents I had failed - and let them down yet again.

Almost sixty two years later I can remember sitting having lunch with parents and brothers and sister that day and putting my head on the table as I literally cried my eyes out for the shame of letting everyone down. Not once did either parent even put an arm around me, or offered any comfort. I was made to feel yet another failure and disappointment.

To try and make amends to my mother I used my meagre pocket money for bus fares, or walked two miles when I did not have the money as I did not want to admit that I was going to a Secondary Modern school.

Even typing that made me cry again.

My grandson is having extra tuition for his 11+ next month and know for a fact he will never be made to feel the way I did.

I passed and went to an all girls grammar, I didn’t fit in very well, very aware of and embarrassed by the fact that I lived in a very poor area (houses were demolished in the 70s slum clearance). I am actually embarrassed now by how I felt at the time, now I am proud of my working class roots. It must have been a struggle for dad to provide my uniform, but he was proud of the fact that I went to grammar school.
Most of my friends left at 16, some without a single O-level which is outrageous! Sixth form was difficult, very middle class but I was determined to pass my A-levels to get to teacher training college, which I did.
I find it sad that so many children were labelled as failures aged 11 as they didn’t pass the 11 plus.
I achieved qualifications from the grammar but nothing else, it was quite restrictive, you could only join the choir if you were a good singer, could only go to netball club if you were a good player & in the team.
I spent my teaching career working in Comprehensive schools that were much more inclusive. The fabulous head of music would let all ages and all abilities play in the orchestra & sing in the choir. The PE staff had their teams but all children could go to the sports clubs. We also worked very hard to get every child the best possible qualifications for their ability.

MONica, I did the Murray House too, at an army school in KL. Passed and went to army boarding school where I was always near the bottom. Came back to UK and went to grammar school.

Getting a watch was often a "prize" for passing 11+ I remember!

It actually made no difference to outcomes for girls in my area.

Both schools offered O and A level. The secondary in fact offered 3 routes. Academic, from where girls went on to university, or teaching or entered a profession requiring As at the time. - pre-nursing which worked with a local hospital and girls guaranteed a nursing training course at the end of their As and what was termed a commercial course where girls were taught shorthand and typing to a high standard, alongside their o and a level courses that concentrated on the commercial world. Girls following this route entered the commercial world with skills and knowledge of how the commercial world worked from banking to the stock exchange, from export to retail etc. They were highly valued and expected good salaries. There was of course the less academic route where girls were taught extremely practical skills, like childcare, domestic science, art of various kinds like pottery, basket making etc.. Don’t forget we are talking the50s here, so no traditional boys stuff taught.

The grammar was more traditional and less imaginative in its courses. It was academia or simply leaving with Os or As to a job. I think the girls were short changed.

So really you might argue that for a career in the late 50s you were much better off going to the secondary modern.
That in fact the outcomes were better.
I failed my 11 plus but went on to university nevertheless.

The headmistress of our school was outstanding with the imagination and flair that made 100% difference to girls lives.

That is why, in my view grammar schools offered too narrow an outcome with limited choice, certainly in our area, and knowing friends from both schools it appears that the ex-secondary schools girls had both more interesting and varied careers,

The headmistress also invited ex- pupils back on prizegiving day to mingle with the girls and gives chats about their chosen career.

I remember the nurses with their pretty headgear and starched uniforms and capes.

I passed to a girls' grammar school, much to my mother's delight. She had desperately wanted to go in 1920, but it was then fee-paying, and there were only six scholarship places available; she was number seven. My own daughter refused to sit the entrance exam, different area, different system dominated by middle schools; it was the 12 plus and she was already established in the local co-educational comprehensive and didn't want to leave. However, she transferred to the sixth form of the girls' Grammar because of her choice of A levels and on the first day discovered it was 'cool to be clever'; later she said it was the best thing she had done.

Both my children went to a comprehensive - there are no grammars.

Both did very well in their chosen careers having achieved education to the highest level.

Grandchildren both again went to a local comprehensive.

One now studying electrical engineering at university, a four year course, the other just finished his Os.

Grammars make little or no difference to a persons outcomes.

I am unclear as to why one would necessarily choose one above the other.

I passed - but only much later did I learn about the gross unfairness of it all. Most kids 'failed' (about three quarters) and yes, the pass mark for boys was much lower.

There was also a '13 plus' second chance for boys only - to top up the grammar school numbers. The whole tripartite system, started in the 1940s, was based on the false belief that kids were either academic, technical/scientific - or practical - in abilities - all nonsense.

I passed and two friends of mine did too,but there was only one place left at the grammer school and i didn`t get it.
It`s never bothered me.

Well I failed….but I now have a doctorate from Oxford…..