How much do I need to study?

By far the biggest reason children do not get a grammar school place is underestimating the amount of extra study that is required. There really is a lot to learn and practice: advanced vocabulary, working under timed conditions, and how to decode multi-step mathematical problems.

A good place to start is 2-3 hours of extra work a week in normal school time, and in the run up to the exam this will increase. These hours can be split between a tutor, some '10-minute test' books, and the usual 11+ practice books.

You may have heard reports of successful Pate's School candidates doing more than 2 hours' of work a day, and sadly this is true. Up until now, the 11+ has been more a test of how studious your child is rather than how creative and problem-solving they are. Supposedly this will change with the new test provider FCSE but only time will tell.

Up until now, there has simply been no way to compete with a child who knows 1,000 more words, a child who has memorised their square and cube numbers, a child who has practiced their semi-colons and creative writing every week for the past 2 years. Again, this might change with the new test provider.

I haven't written this to scare or discourage you, rather, to reinforce the message that it is all about studying and it can be done in a straightforward fashion by following a routine and using excellent test preparation materials.