The Eleven Plus Exams Forum

Do you find your 11 plus journey arduous and lonely? It does not have to be this way.

Every parent who embarks on their 11+ campaign with their child will quickly come to understand that it is quite gruelling and unforgiving.

Unlike other academic examinations such as GCSEs, A-Levels and even degrees where resits are permitted, a student only gets one attempt at securing entry into their choice of grammar school, wherein success is not measured by grade boundaries but by ‘relative-to-cohort’ performance on the day.

Therefore, preparation is the key to success. For the parent, ease of access to quality practice material and pertinent information on the shifting 11+ landscape is paramount to ensuring the best outcome for your child.

That’s where an 11+ forum can often be an invaluable resource. For those who feel adrift in the sea of 11+ information on the internet, a forum will often allow you to communicate directly with other parents anonymously and get tips, guidance, and news related to the exams.

The Eleven Plus Exams forum has just passed a landmark of three-quarters of a million posts discussing over 56,000 11+ topics, created by over 33,000 contributing members across England. The forum is moderated by friendly, experienced and knowledgeable volunteer moderators who also ensure against misinformation. It has become a trusted go-to place for all things 11+.

This in turn eases the stress of the 11+ exam and by giving parents back a sense of control, through preparation and mutual support.

Our Story

Eleven Plus Exams (ElevenPlusExams.co.uk) was founded in 2004 through the efforts of a single-parent, Ilesh ‘Lee’ Kotecha, attempting to circumvent his ex-wife to help his son achieve his dream of attending a highly-regarded north London grammar school. Mindful of his son’s limited preparation time due to a late start and shared residency issues, he established an online learning platform, useful downloads (written by him for his son) and forum for his son to access and communicate with him when not at home.

There were some unintended consequences to the materials published by him online. By the time his son had passed his exam, thousands of parents were utilising some of the same resources that his son had used, and were beginning to actively participate on the discussion forum.

Volunteer moderators also came forward to help with the sheer number of posts that resulted from the active discussions on the forum and to this day give up their time freely to help other parents embarking on this journey.

Ilesh’s intention of closing the forum and other online resources as soon as his son had completed his exams had to be revised, as now numerous parents were anonymously assisting each other through the forum, across the length and breadth of the country. The website therefore stayed open – now its purpose was to be a free public service, requiring no membership to use, until the interest in it waned. A decade later the website is still attracting over hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

The free forum, which at first had solely been used by father and son to debate techniques to approaching different styles of questions, has now become a vibrant discussion group. ElevenPlusExams and its tuition centre, publications and Virtual Learning Environment were all born from the interest, discussions and needs of this forum. 

The forum’s (and company’s) aims now are to lift the veil on all things 11+. Our goal since our inception has been to level the playing field for the masses by demystifying the processes of selective state and independent school entrance exams and by shedding light on the most effective methods of revising, practicing and learning the syllabus.

Features

As the UK’s first website solely dedicated to the 11+ exam, our forum is the most active 11+ forum on the internet. The forum operates independently of the website and is moderated by parent volunteers. It has been clearly separated into sections to make it as easily accessible as possible so that parents can quickly access the subject of their query through the clearly demarcated forum topics.

There are forums for particular regions, making it easy to find discussions relevant to your own area.

There are also forums for particular subjects, so that you can easily access information and resources for the exam topics most relevant to you. If you want to share or find a free worksheet for verbal reasoning, for example, then you can search in the subject section accordingly. 

Under the general section, you will find information regarding independent schools, appeals, 11+ tips, 11+ software and everything else related to primary school education and general Key Stage 1-2 advice.

There is also a Beyond 11 Plus section; here you get an insight into what happens after the 11+ is finally completed. Parents here discuss secondary education and beyond – after all, once your child has gotten into the school of their dreams, their work has only just begun!

Reduce your 11+ anxiety by visiting the free forum today!