Eleven plus

Chocolatelovinggran
The last few pages of the non verbal test were a total mystery to me. 😁 Practice makes perfect!

No 11+ here although I know some areas still have it, my DGN go to selective schools.

Oh Allira, I was utterly bewildered- and I had the answer book....

I do remember the book we had to work through to get us up to speed for the exam. It was called ‘First Aid to English’. I remember lists to of collective nouns and proverbs. Not very useful in late life to know a murmur of starlings or that a rolling stone gathers no moss!

I have two of those books. I loved them. Lists of homes were my favourites

Thanks FGT. I think my other envelope was about fire enveloping a building!! Over active imagination?

Gin

I do remember the book we had to work through to get us up to speed for the exam. It was called ‘First Aid to English’. I remember lists to of collective nouns and proverbs. Not very useful in late life to know a murmur of starlings or that a rolling stone gathers no moss!

I still have a copy. My HT found it in my cupboard and threw it in the bin. I fished it out of the bin!

Years later, she did an about turn and bought a copy for each member of the teaching staff. Some of the younger staff had no knowledge of correct grammar.

NotSpaghetti

I'm vague about the exam but Ashcombe is right... It's hard going from being a "big fish" in a small pond to realising you are very ordinary in a bigger pond!

I had to put a lot more effort in at my grammar school. Can't say I always did though!

It's even harder going from being a small fish in a small pond to being and even smaller fish in a big pond.

“First Aid in English” was a Friday morning treat after the week’s arithmetic tests and I actually looked forward to it - a sad reflection on the child I was. I spent two years in the top junior class, having been accelerated to make space, and remember that time with happiness. Mr Shapcott was firm but fair and introduced us to all sorts of interesting things like identifying birds and the novels of Sir Walter Scott. Our local authority did not allow early taking of the 11+, hence two years in the same class.

It was called the 'Qualifying Exam', AKA 'the qually'. As far as I remember, the papers were taken in class time. There was an 'intelligence test' which, I think, was taken in Primary 6 before the Maths and English ('verbal reasoning'} in Primary 7. The teacher put the fear of God into my mother by claiming that if I didn't improve my maths, I wouldn't get into the A stream in the secondary school. As it happened, I didn't find the maths very hard - though I may have missed something there! And, with at least six of my classmates, I did end up in the A stream, which was the only class that learned Latin and I've always wondered why it was necessary to pass the maths test for that!

I failed my 11+ but that didn’t mean a thing I went to further education and got a my degree in my late 40s, don’t let anyone tell you you’re too old to learn, every days a school day.

My memory about this is not that brilliant, but I do remember I passed one of the two parts and consequently went to the A stream in the secondary modern school
My poor brother was not fortunate, he scraped by and got into the grammar school, had an absolutely terrible time. He was not up to it in any way at all and he suffered a lot at school…😥

I took the 11Plus in 1972 we weren’t told in advance, and we were just presented with the “booklet” type affair.

Anything that pertained to mathematics more complex than multiplication tables (we all learnt them by rote)
I would have given up on and those questions such as “If it takes a man a week to walk a fortnight; how long is a piece of string”

I didn’t pass our trendy male teacher said at the time “ to those who didn’t “pass” -it doesn’t matter -you will be fine.

I went on to a small private school anyway. We were much more challenged and tested there and they had very high expectations.

Henetha, I remember my Mum saying that I was “borderline” too, in 1955, but have no idea just what that meant. I know I had to go the Grammar School and be interviewed by the Headmistress, Miss Woodhead (!) and did get accepted. Not sure if everyone did or just we borderline cases.

My parents were told by my junior school that I was very unlikely to pass my 11 plus so they were ready to send me to a boarding school rather than the local comprehensive.It turns out that the school was wrong as I not only passed but must have had a very high mark as we were streamed on arrival at grammar school and I was put in the A stream.Sadly from there it was all downhill as I never settled in or enjoyed that school and have wondered whether I psychologically felt that I shouldn't be there after knowing that I was expected to fail the 11+.

Ah yes It would have been 1955 when I took mine. English in the morning. Maths and intelligence tests pm. Our headmaster later revealed to the whole class who had passed. There were four who passed muster. Then there were two who got halfway. One (me) had passed English and a lad had passed maths. Mr.Clift, our rather terrifying headmaster laughed at us and remarked that perhaps we could get a place between us. The apparently brainy ones went to grammar school and the rest of us to the local secondary modern.

I took my scholarship exam on my own in County Hall in April 1954.A strict looking man sat there and looked at me all the time.

I had been in hospital for six weeks and missed a lot of school work,when I returned my teacher gave me a lot of extra tuition.

I opened the exam paper and found it was identical to the one I had the extra tuition on.The teacher thought I would get a different paper ! I made a couple of mistakes on the paper and passed with flying colours.

I sat and passed the 11+ a couple of ninths before my 11th birthday. The letter arrived through the post. My parents were delighted, I was the first in the wider family to pass. As many have said it was a major struggle for my parents to buy the very strictly policed uniform. I went off with my best friend full of nerves which didn’t leave me for the whole time. Not a natural academic I often wonder if I’d have been happier and less stressed at the local, very supportive, comprehensive school.

I passed to go to the grammar school, but I didn’t want to go as none of my friends had passed. Needless to say, I was made to go and made new friends.

JackyB - I'm amazed you can remember such detail, I wouldn't have a clue what day or date I sat my 11 plus exam or any of the many that followed.
The only thing I remember about it is being taken into a classroom, told where we were going to sit and then told to go and play for a while until the exam was to start. I remember this because i had dreadful stomach ache which disappeared the minute we were let out to play and realised for the first time that I was nervous.

I don't remember a thing about the actual 11plus exam, but my mother, a primary school teacher got quite upset about parents who promised their child a reward if the 'passed'. She said it wasn't fair on the child because no amount of 'rewards' would enable a child to pass if they didn't have the ability to do so and they would just feel like failure.

Being a teacher she also knew the deadly secret which was that girls always did better over all than boys on the exam but the numbers of each that passed had to be even, so some boys got into grammar school on a lower mark than the girls and some girls with better marks were excluded because the girl's 'quota' had been filled.

It saddens me that that some of you say that not passing made you feel a failure, sometimes for a long time. You more than likely weren't...🙁

It was 1955 when I took what was then called "the scholarship". It was English in the morning then maths and what must have been intelligence tests after lunch. We were informed by the headmaster, a Mr Clift, who was fairly terrifying. Four had passed and two got halfway. One lad passed maths and I had passed English. Mr Clift laughed and remarked that we could perhaps get a place between us.

I took my 11 plus on my 11th birthday in 1959. I remember wring a short story, as well as English comprehension,which was about understanding English grammar, parts of speech etc. There was a Maths paper, adding up, taking away, division and multiplication and also about fractions, percentages and the names of different parts of numbers, i.e integers and such like. There was also a paper on problems of shapes, rather like the Mensa.

I went to a small village school and don't actually remember taking the exam, but I do remember my name being called out in class as one who had passed. My brother and sister also passed.. I can remember the 6 mile journey to school though, on the segregated school buses and the cliques that formed on them.. The only time we mixed with the Boy's school was for a sixth form dance and obviously at the bus station..

knspol

JackyB - I'm amazed you can remember such detail, I wouldn't have a clue what day or date I sat my 11 plus exam or any of the many that followed.
The only thing I remember about it is being taken into a classroom, told where we were going to sit and then told to go and play for a while until the exam was to start. I remember this because i had dreadful stomach ache which disappeared the minute we were let out to play and realised for the first time that I was nervous.

I am also amazed at the detail with which people who sat the exam, often over half a century ago, can remember the day.

Perhaps, as most GNs seem to have passed, often with flying colours, the day stands out for them and is remembered proudly and fondly.

Indigo8

knspol

JackyB - I'm amazed you can remember such detail, I wouldn't have a clue what day or date I sat my 11 plus exam or any of the many that followed.
The only thing I remember about it is being taken into a classroom, told where we were going to sit and then told to go and play for a while until the exam was to start. I remember this because i had dreadful stomach ache which disappeared the minute we were let out to play and realised for the first time that I was nervous.

I am also amazed at the detail with which people who sat the exam, often over half a century ago, can remember the day.

Perhaps, as most GNs seem to have passed, often with flying colours, the day stands out for them and is remembered proudly and fondly.

No, it was just the pudding I remembered; we took the scholarship, as it was called, at the Girls' Secondary Modern school so I never got to taste that pudding again.