Common mistakes made with preparation for the 11 Plus Maths Tests

Most people move away from learning and into testing far too soon. They do so having not ensured all the basics are in place and they do so having not covered the syllabus. As a result children struggle with the time allowed in an 11 Plus Maths exam and are often low on confidence and improvement often doesn’t result.

We feel the best process is to ensure all the basics are in place and the syllabus has been properly covered before embarking on timed testing.

By basics we mean the core of the Maths syllabus e.g. Times tables, the four operations, shapes and handling shapes, graphs and data display, basic algebra, equations etc.

Families who move to testing too quickly find their children reach  a performance plateau and then don’t move forward, most often the cause  of this is that their core skills are simply not solid enough.

Follow this simple guide and you wont go far wrong with your 11 Plus Maths preparation.

–   Ensure times tables and four operations are absolutely immaculate.

–   Cover the syllabus first. DO NOT do timed Maths tests early as it is counter-productive.

–   Start timed Maths tests by doing easier tests so children can get used to the speed and accuracy demands.

–   Only move onto times 11 Plus standard Maths tests towards the end.

–   Remember it is not doing the tests which delivers improvement, it is the process of going through the mistakes.