11+ process for entry in September 2018
The 11+ testing process, for consideration for Year 7 entry into one of Warwickshire’s six selective schools in September 2018, is now underway. Over 2000 families have registered their child to sit the test with us this year, with the main testing session scheduled to take place on the morning of Saturday 9 September 2017.
Candidates will sit two test papers on the same morning, each lasting just over an hour. Each paper will contain a mixture of Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning questions.
Information regarding venue details, times, what to bring, etc. will be sent to candidates at least two weeks prior to the test day. They will also need to have a photograph of the child validated: we would be grateful if current class/head teachers could assist with this.
Where candidates have requested access arrangements – due to medical issues or special educational needs – these have now been considered by a specialist panel and parents will now be notified of which provisions, if any, will be put in place for their child for this year’s Warwickshire 11+ test. Please bear in mind that the access arrangements which will be put in place for 11+ testing may not necessarily correlate with any provisions which the child receives in school on a regular basis, or with any special testing arrangements which schools may be considering for the end of Key Stage 2 assessments. This is because the SATs papers and the 11+ test are very different and are not comparable in format, style or content.
Schools are reminded that no tutoring or coaching is required for the Warwickshire 11+ tests, and no practice papers or past papers are made available. The testing is designed to assess a child’s innate ability and, thus, cannot be prepared for.
Results from the 11+ testing will be sent out to families in mid-October. This will be via email, in most cases. An offer of a grammar school place is not made at that stage, and there is no guarantee that a grammar school offer will be made on national offer day in March, regardless of the score achieved by the child in the 11+ test. However, parents should be able to use the information which we will provide to them at that time to assess whether they would like to name one (or more) of the grammar schools on the secondary school application. Please note that the test results will not be distributed to primary and junior schools.
Parents must submit one application only to their home authority, naming all of the schools they are interested in applying for on that one application. This includes any grammar school choices they may be interested in, but does not include schools in the independent sector. If a parent wishes to enquire, and/or apply, for a private school then they are advised to contact that school for further information about their independent admissions process.
Parents should also be aware that different authorities offer a different maximum number of choices which can be named on the application for a school place. Warwickshire residents can name up to six school choices on their application, but they do not have to use all 6 if they do not wish to apply for that many schools. However, we would advise naming more than just one choice, and would also recommend that families name their catchment school as one of their choices as if they do not, and none of their other school choices can be offered, then there is no guarantee that they will then be offered their closest/catchment school.
The national closing date for secondary school applications to be submitted is Tuesday 31 October 2017 (5pm). Applications made after this date may be classed as late and will not then be considered for places until after national offer day – 1 March 2018. We would therefore encourage all primary and junior schools within the county to reiterate this deadline to families, and assist parents with completing their application for a secondary school place, if it is felt that this may be required in certain cases.