Did you fail your 11+ exam?

Never took it, it had been abolished in my area. My mother was called into the school after my brother took it as he was a border line pass. The head persuaded my mother that he should go to a secondary modern as it's better to be a big fish in a small pond. I read recently that the children of professional people were more likely to get a place with borderline results at the time. Can you imagine a doctor or MP accepting that?

I failed it, mum was mortified as I had always been in the top 3 in my class all through primary school. She was so confident I'd pass that she had bought the uniform for the girls grammar school. Obviously that was taken back to the outfitters...

Another problem was she'd been in denial, even had a stewards enquiry to find out I'd 'only just' failed. She then decided it'd be better for me to be in the top stream at the comp than drag along at the bottom at the grammar school. Such confidence in me!
The late call to realisation meant that there was no uniform left at the outfitters in my size, (average 11 year old girl) so I started Comp school in a Navy skirt( bought from M and S or BHS) so defo non regulation- Mum wrote a note to explain why) and my brothers tie- he'd just left the school in the July as I started in the September.

Not the best start! Yet I sat my O levels, then transferred to the VI Form at the co-ed grammar school, passed my A levels, went to uni, did my degree, and ultimately had a long career in teaching- finally retiring as a long serving DHT- I didn't want to become a HT- although thought as an odd decision it was because most HT posts were none teaching and it was the children which kept me going especially during the Gove years , but that's another story!

In later years when I discussed this with Mum she conveniently couldn't remember any of it and only Dad ever told me he was proud of my achievements.

I passed, but 60 years later I still feel for the girl in my form who turned over 2 pages of the question paper by mistake, and didn’t realise until it was too late.
She ended up at the very worst school, that nobody chose to go to.

That story was my Awful Warning to dds before any exam - check, check and check again!

I sat the first part of the 11+ but was ill after appendicitis for the second , apparently I had done well enough in the first part to pass
I think it was just the second or third year of its inception
I went a convent school as a day pupil , my cousins were all boarders and too posh to speak to me !

Amazingly I passed. No-one, including myself, expected me to. So I had the wonderful experience of going to an excellent grammar school with an inspiring head mistress.

I object to the 11+. I think that it tests only certain aspects of intelligence - namely quick-thinking and the ability to make a decision of something being right or wrong, i.e. black and white thinking - no shades of grey. There are other exams that are similar - including the civil service ones. In my opinion, the greatest minds are often not those that can quickly respond to a yes or no answer but who consider all possibilities and then weigh up the options. That gets you nowhere in an 11+-style exam. To my mind, it also accounts for the fact that many of our leaders in this country are not as good as they should be at thinking around problems and coming up with solutions. So, if you failed your 11+, I suspect you are just more creative than most and actually more intelligent in a rounded sense than those who passed (although some of those who passed may be good at both). Our educational system fails so many creative, talented and thoughtful children. One day, perhaps, we will become sufficiently 'developed' as humans and educationalists to recognise this and our society will be so much the better for it.

No I passed with flying colours and was in the A stream of a grammar school, not many girls in class. Went on to university. My sister failed and she felt awful was not helped by grandmother saying she was the beauty and I was the brains Which upset the both of us.

Blackcat3

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

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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,

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.