Description: Thanu, an alumnus of Latymer Upper School shares his top 5 tips on how to prepare for the 11+ common entrance examination and interview.
When first faced with the prospect of your 11-year-old child taking an exam to gain admittance to a school such as Latymer Upper, it can seem a little daunting.
Although it may feel like it was yesterday when you were walking them into their primary school for the very first time – soon they’ll be trudging through those tall, gleaming, black gates that are common among all secondary schools.
Latymer Upper is an exceptional example of a competitive environment that constantly pushes you to do better. The high standard which they teach at encourages the student to be learning every step of the way whilst enjoying themselves too. As a result, in the year 2019, 70% of the grades at A Level were at A*/A, and 92% of the grades at GCSE level were 9/8/7.
Upon reflection, it’s clear why the entrance examinations are challenging as the rewards for being granted admission are high. Here are my top 5 tips on how to obtain entry to Latymer Upper School.
Tip #1: Read more and write more
Reading books and writing stories is your bread and butter to improve as much as possible in English. Not only will it help with your comprehension skills, but it will greatly improve your writing abilities too.
A few novels which I recommend are “War Horse” by Michael Morpurgo, “Minders” by Diana Hendry and the “CHERUB” series by Robert Muchamore. In addition to this, reading and writing will heighten your creative skills which would also be greatly beneficial in an interview environment too.
Tip #2: Practise Past Papers
Practise. Practise as much as you can. Practise as many questions for English and Maths from bond assessment books, other secondary school sample and past papers. A wise man once said, “practise makes perfect” whilst another wise man stated “There’s no such thing as perfection.”
As a result, we can conclude that the more practise which is done by the student, the greater their ability in answering questions for the entrance exams.
This should also always be done under timed conditions. 11+ entrance exams are known for their time pressure and so practising under timed conditions should be a priority when working through practise questions.
It is also important to constantly be going over the topics which you make mistakes in, when answering questions. If you do find yourself struggling in a topic, keep practising those type of questions, learn from your mistakes and understand why you are making those mistakes.
This includes timing. If your child is struggling to answer questions in time, it is always a good idea to encourage them to keep attempting questions which they take a large amount of time to do.
This way, the more they attempt these certain types of questions, the quicker they will be at answering them. This method for targeting timing issues and weaker topics is key to covering any gaps in your knowledge and provides the student with a solid foundation. As perfection can never be reached, too much practise will never be a bad thing.
Tip#3: Sample papers
Looking over sample papers and attempting those questions at an early stage through your preparation of 11+, is extremely useful for the student.
This gives you an overview of the topics which you need to target when preparing for your exam. Once you understand these topics and you are answering questions at a “Latymer Upper” sample paper standard, it is advisable to push your child further and have them attempt harder questions.
This prepares them greatly for the exam as they are not thrown off by any potentially difficult questions which they are given. When attempting the Latymer Upper sample papers for maths, it is essential to be very efficient with your timing. Since it is easy to spend too much time on a question, it is a good idea to skip questions and come back to them if you feel you are spending longer a longer time on it than necessary.
The entrance exam paper for Maths is split into 2 sections: Section A and Section B. You are suggested to spend 20 minutes on Section A and 40 minutes section B on the instruction page of the sample paper.
However, it is always best to try complete the paper in 45 minutes (15 minutes on section A and 30 minutes on section B) so you have 15 minutes to check all your answers.
Section A is comprised of 20 questions which are all worth one mark, there is little space for working and no marks for it but it is definitely a good idea to show your working when u can(because you are less likely to make a mistake). In Section B, there are 10 questions (not including the multiple parts of each question).
These are questions are worth multiple marks and award marks for working out too. Here, it is also a good idea to show every step of your working as you may gain marks for it, even if you fail to attain the right answer.
Tip #4: Prepare As Early As Possible
One of the best advice that you can be given when preparing for 11+ entrance exams is to start as early as you can (2 years prior to the exam). This doesn’t have to consist of a strict schedule but starting as early as you can and gradually doing more and more can go a very long way.
The reason for this is because familiarity with the content and timing are such key features of the exams. If you can master this, it will have a big impact on the outcome of your exam and your probability of being offered a place at Latymer Upper School.
Tip #5: Prepare For The Interview
When in interviews, make sure to speak clearly, not too quickly and take your time. Since some of the questions are meant to be too hard for the student to answer, interviewers really want to gain an insight to the way that the student thinks, so it is important that you can explain how you approach a question and come to a specific solution.
The path that you take to get to your answer is as important (if not more) as the answer itself. Another technique which helps in interviews, is to take a take breath and think before answering any questions. This is to make sure your thoughts are collected, and you are able to deliver them in a clear and structured manner. This will help the quality of the answer while presenting the student as a person of coherence.
Interested in working with Thanu or preparing for an 11+ exam for independent schools and grammar schools? Contact Us here.