In order to get into a grammar school in the UK your child needs to pass an exam known as the 11 plus. The first Grammar school was founded in the 1870′s and now there are over 232 grammar schools throughout the UK. The 11 plus exam is taken during the last year of primary school with the hope of starting the grammar school in year 7.

Grammar schools are ranked very highly in the UK. Many of them often feature in the top 100 secondary schools. There are a reported 15,000 – 20,000 places each and with an estimated 100,000 children taking the exam the competition for a place has never been higher.

In order to give your child the best possible chance of being one of the lucky few to secure a place it is common for the child to undergo preparation for the 11 plus exam. This is often done through a private tutor or more recently via online testing. On-line testing enables the child to take the test anytime and get them marked instantly. It is a lot easier to see where the child is going wrong.

The 11 plus test covers diverse areas including Mathematics, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. A greater percentage of the test focuses on Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning as these are ideal indicators for a child’s logical processing. These thinking skills are not tutored in schools and therefore, are a fair playing ground for those who have attended mediocre schools.

The Maths paper consists of a range of topics covering simple maths a child should have been taught by the time they are in year 6. These topics include interpreting charts and tables, prime and square numbers, area and perimeters and many other topics, all of which can be found at the link below.

The English section covers the most crucial components of the language which makes its skeleton like grammar, spelling, comprehension, essays and writing skills. They are tested through their application on different queries. An instance would be a number of sentences with some error that needs to be corrected and linkages of two phrases. More illustrations and guidelines can be seen from the website given below.

The Verbal Reasoning subheading corresponds to alphabetical and number sequences, anagrams and vocabulary tests. They are built in such a way that the method which a child uses to work out cases and his creativity are tested. Exercising one’s skills in this area beforehand are imperative for a good score in this category.

The Non Verbal Reasoning test consists of logic questions based on shapes, patterns number and sequences. It is designed to test how well you are able to think logically about a problem. This is a good test of one’s natural ability and it is hard to teach someone the ability to spot patterns quickly.

Looking for more information on the 11 plus? Head over to Mike Webster’s site for loads more info.