An Eleven Plus Recipe

There must be some correlation between the ability of the teacher or tutor and your child’s ability to pass the eleven plus. Surely, however, you don’t need a gifted teacher in order to work with a very bright child. This would preclude many of us from feeling that we can help the children in our care.

We know that tests of ability, like verbal reasoning tests, do not necessarily mange to select children from very poor homes. Factors such as language and opportunity must come into play.

Every time a teacher is asked the question: “But will my child pass the eleven plus?”, then the teacher has to think of many factors:

Home back ground
Physical abilities
Emotional status
Social development
Interests

The key twin factors of ability and desire to pass the examination will no doubt flash through a teacher’s mind. If the child is not bright enough there is little chance of passing the examination. If the child is, however, bright enough then the teacher will think of the work that lies ahead, the co-operation from all those at home, how much pressure will be put on the child and if the child is mature enough to cope with the demands of a challenging course of study.

So if you want your child to become a doctor you know from the start that you expect, and hope, that your child may be more able than some of his or her teachers and tutors.

Your child will need innate ability.

You child must be prepared to work harder than most other children.

Your child must also be realistic.

Some parents will be looking for these traits early on in their child’s life. Extreme concentration playing with Thomas the Tank Engine will not, however, act as a golden sign that your child will, one day, become a physician of note. Ordinary children can concentrate, if interested, for long periods.

Learning to read at two years old could act as a significant sign. There must, however, be many serving doctors who did not read at two.

Your child may be very willing to work, for a long period of sustained time, through a full eleven plus paper – but also can not act as a sign that your child will become a doctor.

So we have a rare recipe for eleven plus success: a bright, hardworking child with concerned and supportive parents and dedicated teachers. If you are on this journey – take heart many others have gone before.