As a parent – would you be able to pass the 11 Plus exam if you took it?
We challenged parents to try out some example questions that thousands of children across the country face in entrance exams, and the results showed that grammar was a particular sticking pointâŠ
Truly understanding the types of questions your child will face in their upcoming 11 Plus exam will definitely help you to communicate and support your child in their preparations.
What do parents find tricky to explain to their children?
Relative clauses tend to be the biggest puzzle for parents, with more than half (59%) of parents getting this question wrong:
Identify the part of the sentence that contains a relative clause:
On Saturday the car broke down, which distressed Viktor as he was late for the match.
Relative clauses start with a relative pronoun such as who, that, which, whose, where or when.
Pronouns also proved a stumbling block, as 53% of parents couldnât identify the pronoun in the following sentence:
âDo you like strawberry and vanilla ice cream?â enquired Katie.
Does it all add up to you?
When it came to maths, a similar number of parents struggled to correctly identify angles in a shape. Just under half (49%) got this question wrong:
What is the size of angle x in the triangle below?
Moreover, only 66% of parents were able to solve this maths problem:
Cara is saving her paper round earnings to buy a new bicycle. She earns ÂŁ6, seven days a week. The bicycle costs ÂŁ462, how many weeks will it take her to save enough money to buy the bike?
Let’s hear from an 11 Plus expert
Charlotte Gater, Head of Curriculum at Explore Learning, says: âThe curriculum has changed so much since parents were at school and some of these terms and questions that parents are now up against will be entirely new concepts. Even if the concepts are not new, if parents havenât actively used these skills since school, they can be hard to remember.
Now you know what it’s like – how can you support your child with their revision?
Celebrate the effort
One of the main worries children can have is that they will let you down. This can become a serious distraction for children, which can have a negative impact on their performance.
A good way of avoiding this kind of worry is by focusing on the effort and practice that your child is doing. Celebrate the successes they achieve during their focused revision and remind them if they canât do something â âthey just canât do it yetâ.
Let them know how proud you are of the progress they are making. This encourages children to work as hard as they can in preparation, but doesnât overwhelm them with talk of the end results. Exams are a chance for children to show off how much they know, and often talking about it in that way can ease some of the pressure they may be feeling.
Often, with a child under pressure and a parent wanting the absolute best for them, tempers can flare and arguments can happen! If you feel your child isnât doing enough, itâs often because they feel lost and donât know where to start. Help them to break everything into small tasks so they can start seeing small successes and boost confidence.
Avoid using accusatory, overly-critical language like, âIf you donât work harder, you are going to failâ. Try approaching with questions to encourage your child to see the problem by themselves.
âHow is your revision going?â
âWhat are your tricky spots?â
âIf you have 30 minutes to look at something today, what do you think would make the most difference?â
â these are all good questions to ask.
Could you score better than 61%? Take our quiz to try out real questions from past papers â itâs a great way to get a feel for whatâs expected of children when it comes to sitting the exam.
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