The 11+ Exam

The 11+ Exam

 

The 11+ exam (officially called the Secondary Transfer Test) is currently set by GL Assessment on behalf of the Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools.

The exam now covers five subjects: English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, Spatial Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The children sit two papers on the same day with a short gap in between. One paper will include English, Technical English and Verbal Reasoning; the other will include maths, Non-Verbal and Spatial Reasoning. All the questions have multiple-choice answer options which are provided on a separate sheet. Each paper is 45 minutes long.

The English component contains a comprehension with around 15 questions. The text can be fiction or non-fiction. The comprehension questions aim to test the children’s ability to understand a text, identify meanings of words and parts of speech, and to grasp inference (what the author is implying). The English paper also includes some technical English questions covering spelling, punctuation and the use of correct English. Normally, there will just be two of these three types of question in the test, though of course the children need to be used to tackling all three.

Verbal Reasoning questions mainly test children’s vocabulary, spelling and understanding of English through a variety of problems. For example, the task may be to move one letter from one word into another word so that both words make two new real words without having changed the order of letters. The two words might be 'metal' and 'though'. By moving the letter 't', you can make 'meal' and 'thought'. There are 21 types of Verbal Reasoning questions which GL use and any of them may come up in the actual exam, so children need to be able to tackle them all. Parents should note that the GL Verbal Reasoning question types also include code breaking and, to a lesser extent, some maths reasoning questions.

Most of the maths questions in the maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning/Spatial paper are 'word problems' – that is, the questions are phrased in words, not as mathematical formulae. So a question might be: 'A jug holds 1 litre of water. If Ali uses the water in the jug to fill a jar that can take 625ml, how much water is left in the jug?'

Non-Verbal Reasoning questions ask children to identify similarities, differences and sequences in patterns and shapes. Spatial reasoning is similar though here the questions are designed, for example, to test whether the children can work out how shapes fit together. Increasingly, GL Assessment combines Spatial Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning questions into one section.

This is a very wide-ranging syllabus and, to make it more testing, children are not given much time to puzzle out the answers to the questions; the Secondary Transfer Test is a test of speed as well as ability. It is a very rare child who can pass the Buckinghamshire 11+ exam without having had substantial tuition.

You will see from the above information that three-quarters of the exam requires an advanced ability in English, so children who are aiming to take the 11+ exam should be encouraged to read extensively and often. MasterClass gives pupils a very comprehensive reading list, broken into genres, so that whatever type of book a child likes, they will be able to find similar ones to read.

More information about the Secondary Transfer Test can be found on the Buckinghamshire Grammar Schools' own website - www.thebucksgrammarschools.org. This includes a link to GL Assessment’s website which contains familiarisation materials, so parents can get a sense of what the exam will contain. Please be aware that these materials are designed for pupils who are ready to sit the exam; children who are still in the early stages of the MasterClass course should not be exposed to them yet!

Eileen Stockil has been running MasterClass for nearly 20 years, and she has unrivalled experience of personally tutoring children to pass the 11+ exam in Buckinghamshire.