We don’t usually publish our results. Every child is different, and a grammar school place is only one measure of a good education. But this year’s 11 Plus results were exceptional, and we’d like to share them, along with what they tell us about how we prepare children.
The headlines
- A Satchel child was ranked 1st in the whole of Calderdale
- 6 of our children were in Calderdale’s top 30, and 8 in the top 100
- So far, 13 Satchel children have met the Heckmondwike standard, with more results still to come in
- At least 33 Satchel children met the grammar school standard this year
Well done to every one of them, and to every child who sat the test. Preparing for the 11 Plus takes a lot of hard work, and they should all be proud of themselves.
Our mock tests got it right
Over the summer our children sit a series of full mock tests written in the style of the real FSCE papers. When the real results came in, we compared them with the mocks. The match was very close: the children at the top of our mocks were the children at the top of the real rankings.
Our mocks are also deliberately harder than the real test. Some children who scored only 50–60% in our mocks went on to meet the standard on the day. So if your child finds our mock tests hard, that’s by design. A tough mock in August makes the real paper in September feel manageable.
Why the writing paper is so hard to predict
Maths and reading questions have one right answer. A piece of writing doesn’t. It’s marked by a person, making a judgement about a short piece written in just 15 minutes, and two good markers can see the same piece quite differently.
We saw that clearly this year. Several children who wrote well in our mocks didn’t meet the writing standard in one test, then met it in the other, written by the same exam provider. Meanwhile, some children whose mock writing was less consistent passed comfortably. That isn’t a reflection on the children or their teachers. It’s simply the nature of marking writing.
We can’t control how a piece is marked on the day. What we can do is make sure every child’s writing is comfortably above the line, rather than close to it, so that a strict marker or an unusual question doesn’t make the difference.
What we’re doing about it
- Writing from the start. Creative writing is part of our 11 Plus preparation from the first weeks, not something added near the test.
- Real test conditions. Children practise the real format: five minutes planning, fifteen minutes writing.
- A range of writing types. Story and description are the most common, but this year’s papers also included a newspaper report and a diary. Children who have tried a range of forms aren’t thrown by an unfamiliar task.
- Clear, specific feedback. Each piece is marked against what the examiners look for, with one or two things to work on next time.
Thinking about the 11 Plus?
Most families start with us in Year 4 or Year 5, which gives children time to build their skills steadily rather than cramming. Our free guide to the 11 Plus explains how the test works. If you’d like to talk about your child, please get in touch.
