Did you fail your 11+ exam?

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.

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..

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 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!

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 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.

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.

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.

ninathenana “ failing your eleven plus isn’t the end of the world” exactly what our rather trendy male teacher said to us after the results letters were handed to us in our last few weeks at primary school. This was 1972. Sir obviously didn’t approve of the whole thing plus it was the time of “we’ll all be wearing silver ?‍? space suits, swallowing capsules for our dinners” and why do we need 12 times tables now we have gone decimal, or feet and inches or history ? What a mess! The teachers at my junior school it seems now, all followed their own individual curriculum. Thankfully I could read and write well if nothing else. The exam itself was like a sort of tick the box/circle the answer from what I recall, questions like “ If it takes a man a week to walk a fortnight then how long is a piece of string?” There was some practice for a period leading up to the BIG DAY using I presume previous years test papers. But at no time was it stated that this was for the 11 plus exam. We kids assumed it must be but it was never mentioned by parents either - perhaps so we didn’t panic. Any how it turned out we were amongst the last lot to take it and a year or so later it was abolished anyway and the large “rough” mixed secondary school merged with the the top choice girls grammar school. ? my Mother was so concerned because I didn’t pass that I was sent to a small private school.

I passed, my abiding memory is not of the exam, or any reactions except Mum and Dad let me take a friend out to a Chinese restaurant to celebrate. My younger sister went to a private school and my even younger brother to a school run by Jesuits, all the schools were single sex.

Well done Maywalk . you're 6-7 years older than me.
It's important to keep things in perspective because who knows if recent economic luxuries could suddenly become a thing of the past.

No I never failed my !!+ but I could not go to Grammar School because my parents had neither the money nor the clothing coupons for the uniform.
This was way back in 1941 when the war was raging. I left school in 1944 when I was 14 to start work in the local newspaper mills.

YES I am that old and at 91 years of age I am a very lucky lady to still be here and have my thinking faculties still in place.

I and a boy in my class were both 'borderline' when we took our 11 plus in 1970. I guess they must have reviewed the papers, or looked at other work. I ended up passing and going to the grammar school, and he failed.
My parents were really pleased as when I had moved to the primary school 3 years earlier, the teacher told them I "didn't have a snowball's chance in hell" of passing! That phrase has always stuck with me.

I felt that too AGAA4, My friends passed , I did’nt - opposite situation to you ! but the feeling was the same. It divided us into those who were successful and those that were’t. I agree it is not the end of the world , but that does not compensate for being labelled a failure at the tender age of 11!! I am sure the teaching was of a poor standard too, teachers did not expect us to do well , the result was we didn’t do well.

I passed my 11+ but none of my friends did. They all went to the secondary modern and I went to the grammar school for girls. How lonely I was that first term with none of my friends.

there is a fascinating thread over on MN about things people didn't realise, mostly about how other people lived.
some of it touches on these issues. and these are mostly among much younger people.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4304394-How-the-other-half-lives-what-and-when-you-learned?msgid=109383211

I agree that the 11+ was an unfair test. I passed, as did my brother and sister, and we went to the girls' and boy's grammar schools. There was only one for each sex.
I can clearly remember the humiliating way we were told. The teacher just pointed to each of us, saying, You've passed, you haven't.' I think about half the class passed.

The 11+ system only spanned about 25 years. As a child, I had assumed that the system was normal and had always been the same.

I was acutely aware that I wasn't at the top of the cleverness stakes when I went to the grammar school. But, the teaching was good, the teachers amazingly strict in comparison with today, and most people came out with a good clutch of O and A levels.

Framilode makes the point well.
think of all that wasted potential, lost to the economy. all those from poorer backgrounds who never got a chance to be barristers etc.
to contribute their abilities to their clients or to serve justice.
for example.

the uniform was very expensive, designed to be so, and all other equipment, sports kit, etc.
also the cost of travel as being fewer, more travelling was often involved.
and the expectation of staying on to take exams. many families struggled and needed that wage as soon as possible at age 15.

I never took it but my husband passed but his parents couldn't afford the uniform, travelling costs etc and expected him to go to work at 15. He took a clerical job and went to night school 3 nights a week to get his qualifications that led to a successful career.
My brother failed but my parents could afford private school. He went on to become a barrister and eventually a QC. He had an economic advantage over my husband which made it far easier for him to become successful.
I think the exam in the 50's and 60's was unfair, just a snapshot of someone on a particular day. In the 90's when we lived in Gloucestershire they still had grammar schools but did a fairer assessment of pupils, exams plus their coursework which seems a far better system.

I ' failed' the 11+ . My parents were very kind and understanding - thankfully. However the shame is long lasting. I studied as an adult and gained a first class degree and taught adults with learning difficulties. Part of my degree involved the purpose and value of assessment and the issue surrounding the 11+ was discussed. It was interesting to hear a tutor say that girls were disadvantaged at the age of 11 in the post war period. Particularly girls in the north of England , after the war the mills and factories needed re - establishing and girls were earmarked to do this. While boys were chosen to take on professional positions. Failing that examination had a lasting and profound effect on me , my self confidence was nill. Hearing that from a lecturer did make me feel a little better!! I felt so bad about failing but had wonderful parents , it must have been dreadful for those children whose parents were so disappointed and not as kind as mine. The 11+ was a massive injustice!

Gwyneth I have heard many people say their parents made sacrifices for them to get them to achieve their potential and in no way wish to deride this or your parents ambitions for you, only it puzzles me because to my knowledge the Grammar schools were free to attend if you passed the 11 plus ( although admittedly the uniforms were an expense) so may I enquire what the particular sacrifices were and how did they enable you?

I wasn't middle class and I passed, went on to a co-ed grammar school. My father and his sibling had in the '30s . Quite a few cousins did as well.
When you got there there was a difference made to the children of Dr's and Managers by some teachers who always said we were miners children even when we weren't as if that made us second class. .I enjoyed my time but it did make me class conscious and set me up for the class divide when I went on to teaching college in the North East.

the policy planning was for only 25-30% to go to grammar school. so in most classes, only 3 -4 pupils could go, and more boys than girls overall.
so even if the whole class seemingly passed, the acceptable mark would have to be moved up that year.

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

Where I lived, we had a choice of grammar schools, assuming we passed. I did, and my parents listed their preferences in order, three choices. I got my first choice.