Preparation for the 11 Plus is about more than just doing a few test papers and some maths problems. It takes speed, accuracy and a great deal of logical thinking to be successful.
Knowing this and combining it with over 5 years of teaching, trialling and refining has allowed us to develop our own structured teaching system for the 11 Plus. Simply put, we remove the guesswork and teach each element of the test in a carefully thought out manner.
Our experiences have also shown us which aspects of the test students find most difficult and which require more time to teach. This knowledge allows us to teach in an efficient manner, saving both teaching time and money yet still achieving great results.
With all of this in mind, we’ve learnt that it’s typically best to start off the year with Verbal Reasoning, Non Verbal Reasoning and Spatial Reasoning work, covering the different question types that could appear on the tests. These are new concepts for children (and parents alike) but we’ve found our teaching to be very successful in improving students in these areas in the past.
We’ll also be covering maths problem-solving throughout the year but will focus more on this when we feel it’s appropriate for the students. At this stage we’ll make sure to go over the areas of the maths curriculum that we know students find hardest too.
English is mostly covered in the form of comprehension as this is the main skill required for the Kent 11 Plus test. As well as, this we’ll spend time throughout the year covering vocabulary.
Overall our teaching programme ensures that students cover everything they need to know for the test and get plenty of exam practise along the way too.