English for the Eleven Plus and Common Entrance Exams
The 11+ English and Common Entrance exams cover most of the content of the KS2 curriculum. These exams will vary depending on the school or LA you’re applying to but the key areas of testing will generally be made up of the following:
- Grammar and Punctuation where pupils show their understanding of the written English language
- Reading & Comprehension where pupils read pieces of text and answer questions on them
- Spelling where children show they can correct spelling mistakes
- Writing Task where pupils have to write a story or a diary entry
- Some exams, such as the Tiffin School tests, will have verbal reasoning elements to their English tests.
These tests could be in either multiple choice or Standard answer formats:
- Standard format – where pupils write their working out and answers on the actual test paper
- Multiple-choice format – where answers are marked in a separate answer booklet
Eleven Plus English papers are timed and will generally last between 45-60 minutes.
What we do
When preparing our pupils for the Tiffin School tests, Common Entrance exams and CEM exams, our tutors cover the complete KS2 curriculum to a detailed degree over the two years. In addition to the key areas mentioned above, we specifically work on:
- Grammar -eg sentences, clauses.
- Punctuation -eg speech, colons, semicolons, commas.
- Spelling – eg homophones, homographs.
- Vocabulary eg new words and their meanings
- Comprehension – eg reading text, understanding questions, inference.
- Writing – eg planning, paragraphs, making it interesting.
By the end of the course, our pupils are ready for their Tiffin School, CEM or ISEB tests.
How parents can help
There are a few tips for parents to help you in the preparation stages of your children’s 11+ English exams.When your child is still in Year 4 you could check up on basic skills during the summer break by:
- Spending time reading with your child. Ask them to explain what they’ve read so you can assess their comprehension skills. Ask them to list any new or difficult words and find their meanings to build up their vocabulary.
- Improving their creative writing skills by writing a story. This is another opportunity for children to develop their vocabulary and spelling.
- Use a variety of online games or wordsearch/crosswords to further extend learning.
Year 5 is the time to begin regular 11+ revision and practice:
- Ensure regular reading routines and encourage a wide variety of books to ensure your child becomes familiar to a different authors and writing styles.
- Subscribe your child to a children’s newspaper such as First News. This will not only build up their vocabulary and creative writing ability, but it will also keep them abreast of current affairs and enhance their general knowledge.
- You could introduce some Eleven Plus familiarization testsfrom the Easter break. These should be carried out under exam conditions so your child gets used to pacing themselves and working under pressure.
Eleven Plus Centre offer all our Year 4 and Year 5 tutees an Easter and Summer revision pack as part of their Tiffin or Slough School tuition programmes. These packs contain revision material and past exam questions to ensure whatever has been learned is practiced and ‘fresh’ for when the new term begins.
Small group tuition available
