According to The Telegraph more children are getting tutored

to get into grammar schools as demand for places rises.

Parents with children as young as three are looking for

tutors to coach their off spring, worrying that with only eight years until they

have to sit the exam they have left it too late!  A head teacher told The Telegraph that whilst

Tutoring can often ‘dramatically improve children’s chance of passing the test,

‘drilling’ pupils at such a young age can create too much pressure and damage

their long term development’

Recent figures have shown a rise in demand for academically

selective state schools this year and figures obtained by the Daily Telegraph

suggested more children sat the grammar school entrance exam this term for

entry in September 2011. With only 164 grammar schools in England there are, in

some places, up to ten children competing for each place at the most popular

schools. 

10,947 children sat the 11-plus in Kent this term for

admissions in September 2011. But as the Kent County Council website reminds

us, ‘passing the Kent test does not guarantee that your child will be offered a

grammar school place.’

So what do our children have to endure in order to win one

of these coveted places? The Kent County Council website explains that children

have to sit one verbal and one non verbal reasoning paper and one maths and

writing paper.  The verbal reasoning

paper takes 50 minutes, the non-verbal 40 minutes. The maths and writing papers

both take one hour each. The answer sheets for all but the writing are multiple

choice.

How is the test marked? Your child’s multiple choice test

papers are marked by an automated marking machine. The pass mark is different

every year. It is set depending upon the range of results children get.  This year a child needed to score a total of

360 or more in the tests, with no single score lower than 117. This threshold

is the same as last year's.