11+ Preparation

At Falcons School, we are not just preparing our pupils to achieve excellence in their 11+ exams, we are preparing them to thrive at their new setting. Pupils will start lessons in verbal and non-verbal reasoning in Year 3 and by the end of Year 5, pupils have been taught all of the curriculum for primary school. This enables us to revisit the learning, build on pupils’ strengths, target individual areas that need more work and to master the examination process in Year 6. We also offer specialised interview practice, with external interviewers coming in to give pupils an authentic experience of what their 11+ interview may be like. In addition internal interviews are carried out by Falcons’ senior members of staff, offering feedback on interview techniques.

The 11+ process is introduced to parents at a meeting with the Headmistress in the Spring term of Year 4 followed by a social event with Year 5 and 6 parents to give everyone the opportunity to share their experiences. This will be a more in-depth meeting to discuss the senior schools which will best meet your child’s learning needs and future development. During this meeting, we will discuss which schools parents are looking at, and will give advice on the next steps. We do encourage parents to do some research and narrow their options before this meeting.

Throughout Years 5 and 6, we have regular meetings with parents to keep an open dialogue of their decisions for school applications and tailor our teaching and interview preparation for the demands of these schools’ application processes. We work closely with the parents to ensure the right schools are selected that best fit the child.

The majority of Falcons pupils sit the 11+ or Country Boarding 11+ examinations for Year 7 entry.

Once the pupils have accepted their 11+ offers, we run a ‘Post 11+ programme’ which helps to prepare children for their transition to Year 7.