Did you fail your 11+ exam?

I was on the border line so had to take another exam, which I failed. I was pleased as I then found myself in the top half of secondary modern rather than in the bottom half of grammar school. I became company accountant, so all good.

In the small town where I was brought up there was a grammar school for boys with a 4 form entry and a grammar school for girls with a 3 form entry. No one questioned it in the early 1960.

I failed too. Went to a secondary modern which became a comprehensive, where I got 6 O-levels and a CSE.
But that sense of failure has never really left me.
I went to college to do A levels. Failed those.
Failed my driving test twice before passing first time.
Did a p/t course at university as a mature student (first year of degree over 2 years part-time). Failed the end of year exams. Resat those I'd failed and failed again.

But, one of the tutors suggested that I ask at the local poly to see if I could use the exams I had passed (3 out of 5...) in lieu of the A levels I don't have. So I went to see the admissions tutor, and was told no again.
Instead, I was told that they would take those exams I had passed and as long as I passed one of their first-year degree courses, I could proceed directly to the second year of their degree programme.
Which I did and graduated 2 years later with a BA (Hons) in English with History and a 2.1 pass.
This was a flash in the pan, because I never completed my MA, nor was I able to take up my offered place to do a PGCE - both of these were due to external circumstances but they still felt like failure.

I now have an undergraduate diploma in theology, which (much to my surprise) I passed...

I think I'm good at failing things, but it still hurts as much as it did in 1970, when I failed the 11-plus. It has fuelled my deep down sense of being utterly useless as a human being and I wouldn't wish this feeling on anyone.

1960s

Granmabatty Yes Scotland abolished it in 1965. England last entrants were 2008 I believe.

Failed 11+ as my dad died 2 weeks before. Then a cruel teacher told me I was expected to pass. (Just retired from nhs after 30 years nursing)

Thank goodness that horrible exam has gone! I was lucky - I passed but I have friends who, sixty years later, are still carrying the hurt they felt by being judged lacking.

My class had an absolute horror of a teacher at the time. Only one boy in our class hadn’t passed so our teacher stuck an L plate to the back of his chair. Cruel doesn’t begin to cover an act like that. He also took delight in tormenting one poor girl whose postman hadn't delivered her exam results before she left for school. He told her that was probably because she had failed. He ignored her pleas to check with the headteacher saying

"Miss Wyneken is much too busy to be bothered with silly little girls."

She had passed but she didn't know until the afternoon and she spent the whole day crying instead of playing happily with her friends.

When we took our 11+ we didn’t have a clue what it was for . We hadn’t covered the whole curriculum, not done decimals , so we’re told to just leave those questions out . Despite this I passed with flying colours and went to one of the top grammar schools in my city . I hated every minute because we were so poor that I went to school with holes in my shoes and I thought all the rich girls looked down on me . In my opinion they must have all been the clever ones so I didn’t apply myself and came out with just 3 o levels .
Years later I did an entrance test for nursing from which I was told I had an IQ of over 130 !
I became a nurse and had a good life despite wasting the opportunity I had when only 10 years old .

I never sat it. It would have been in the academic year 64-65, but the town I lived in must have been one of the first to go ‘comprehensive’. We never lost out, though, because if you wanted to stay on after 15 to do ‘O’ levels, you went to what had been the Grammar School.

I passed mine, but decided to go to our local High School instead of the Grammar because I think I would of struggled there. I stayed in the top form, "A" stream, the whole of my school years and I know if I'd of gone to the Grammar I'd of stayed in the lowest classes and would of been unhappy. I'm also thankful that my parents let me decide for myself what to do for the best.

Went to a Scottish private school, so we did the preparation papers for the 11+ as classwork, but sat the old qualifying exam in all school subjects instead of the 11+

It determined whether you took Latin or cookery in Senior school. Never was lower than third in the class so the thought of an exam didn't bother me.

Leaving school with a string of O -levels and Highers I was quite sad at the thought of not having more exams to sit!

Was in the Latin class and had a dreadful job convincing my mother to teach me to cook. She maintained I would be awful at it, and was not best pleased when I turned into a good cook.

I realised later that my mother had an inferiority complex never having been good at school, so the things she was good at, cooking, swimming, riding a bike or driving a car, she found tons of excuses and reasons for my not learning.

Yes, I passed, but my best friend failed. However, she took it again the following year and passed, so we were back together again.
I was never aware of boys passing at a lower mark than girls. That seems very unfair.

I too failed the 11+. Dreadful shock for parents as my dad was a teacher. However, went on to obtain a BSc through the Open University.

My great uncle failed his 11 plus. But his parents were able to pay the grammar school to take him. I really dont know how that worked. He died 20 years ago.

I failed but was still able to go to grammar school as a fee paying pupil - this was in N.ireland where they still have grammar schools and do something called a transfer test instead of 11+. It's a very unfare system and children in final year in primary school are under a lot of pressure.

Oops- unfair not unfair! So much for grammar school education!

Unfair not unfare!!!! Auto correct corrected second time!

I failed my 11+ but went to Uni at 55. Later taught in Adult Ed.

I was a 'borderline' pass and was given an interview which resulted in my being accepted at grammar school. My sister, two years younger, failed hers, went to a secondary modern, and later went to a girls' grammar to take her A levels. So the system worked! At this point it seems I must add that we lived in a council house.
I remember also that quite a few new faces appeared at my school after GCE O levels, and surprise, surprise, they all came from the local secondary modern because their results indicated that they too could further improve by taking A levels. So despite the negative comments about 11+ it did seem to me, and to quite a few others, that these youngsters weren't written off, they had the opportunity to progress.

I passed mine when I was 9, then 10, then finally 11 which is when they allowed me to go to grammar school.

i passed my 11+ in 1957 and went to thr girls' grammar school.
i was in the "lower" section of my year and found some lessons difficult.
my english teacher told me i had "a snowball's chance in hell" of passing my english lit and lang but surprised her when i passed both!
school washed thair hands of me when i announced (together with a friend) that i wanted to go to the technical college to learn shorthand and typing.
i did very well at college and started work at 17 as a secretary.
towards the end of the 90s after getting married and having two children i enrolled at my local university and studied for my BA in business studies. i graduated in 1997 (i think) although unfortunately i didn't do my honours year.
but i'm very proud of my degree!!

I passed, even though we had to take a Welsh paper, as l was in a primary school in Wales. How l passed that l do not know, l had moved from England and started learning Welsh at school only that year!
I went to an independent girls’ school afterwards, had to take an entrance exam to be accepted for there too.
Most of my friends had gone to the local grammar school, l wasn’t best pleased not to go either.

I too failed the 11+ in 1959 - I went to the local Girls Secondary Modern and left at 15 , no O levels obtained.
10 years later after I had my children, I went back to further education, going to University and getting a
a 2.1 degree in Law and now still work as a solicitor.
Some children are late developers and just should not to be written off at such a young age.

There was no pressure, Mum just said she wanted us to do our best and would not be cross with us if we failed but she would be annoyed if we didn't try. She'd passed but couldn't go to grammar school as they couldn't afford the uniform and it was thought not worth educating a girl.

None of our immediate family passed so we all went to secondary school. I remember the test had questions the like of which I'd never seen during lessons, using phrases which I found mysterious. There was even a puzzle using a code which I only managed to work out when it was time to put pens down.

We were therefore at a disadvantage. Surely a test should reflect the curriculum? I think the children who had ambitious and well-heeled parents were given extra tuition.

My long term teenage boyfriend failed the 11+, went at 13 to the secondary technical school, on to a degree and then a doctorate because the stepping stones were there and using them didn’t entail having money, just brains and application.

I went to the local girls’ grammar school, left after my mother’s sudden death to do a secretarial course, did a BEd as the mother of two young children, and an MBA at 50 because I wanted to.

There are still lots of routes to academic and professional success and that has to be a good thing.