11 Plus News
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Many news articles appear in the press relating to selective entry at 11 plus and education in general.
These articles have been selected as being relevant to parents of children aged 9 to 13 who are interested in what is happening across the UK. Contributions and comments are welcome, please write to enquires@planetbofa.com.
If you would particularly like to see the News for Northern Ireland, go to 11 plus News for Northern Ireland.
If you would like to see the News for England only, go to 11 plus News for England.
11-plus exam may be held two months early
Echo - 28 Jan 2012
THE 11-plus exams could be brought forward two months so parents can pick their favourite schools after children have sat the tests.
Competitive parents 'taking joy out of childhood'
Telegraph.co.uk - 28 Jan 2012
Tutoring is increasingly popular in preparation for the 11-plus and Common Entrance – the traditional entry exams for grammar schools and private senior ...
Grammar schools' admissions policy under review
Chelmsford Weekly News - 19 Jan 2012
KEGS also plans to open up to ten per cent of places to Year 7 students who, in addition to scoring highly on the 11-plus test, demonstrate they have ...
Finding a tutor: it's a cut-throat world
Telegraph.co.uk - 19 Jan 2012
January is peak season for private tutors, with children facing a barrage of exams and revision: retakes, 11-plus, common entrance exams and GSCE and ...
Backing grammar schools: Labour need to be educated on what is ...
Daily Mail - 18 Jan 2012
I didn't go to a grammar school - I failed my 11 plus – but I wish I had done. To me, a system where a child is taught on their ability makes perfect sense ...
Poor children's GCSE grades 'unacceptable'
Kent Online - 18 Jan 2012
... schools to achieve in 2012, saying 40% of pupils should get five or more good GCSEs. By 2015, it says that should rise to 50%. Pupils taking the 11 - plus
Labour seeks Lib Dem support to fight grammar school plans
The Guardian - 16 Jan 2012
Before the election, Cameron said there would be "no return to the 11-plus". In government, the coalition has made it easier for grammars to expand.
A Canterbury grammar school criticised for 11-plus score increase
BBC News - 12 Jan 2012
A grammar school in Canterbury has been criticised for proposing to raise the pass mark of the 11-plus exam. Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys is ...
THE TORIES SIMPLY GOT IT ALL WRONG ON GRAMMAR SCHOOLS
Express.co.uk - 11 Jan 2012
The 11-plus, with its “pass” or “fail”, was unnecessarily harsh and the secondary modern schools to which failed 11-plus candidates were consigned were ...
The creeping return of the grammar school
The Guardian - 10 Jan 2012
There is also a shift away from arguing for the 11 plus – increasingly hard to justify in a more sensitive, child-aware culture – towards the introduction ...
Chelmsford grammar schools consider catchment change
BBC News - 23 Dec 2011
The schools currently take children based on their 11-plus rankings. In a letter to parents, Kegs said about 40% of its current intake lived further afield ...
11-plus crackdown on rich kids' coaching 'advantage'
Aylesbury Today - 17 Dec 2011
CHANGES to the 11-plus system could soon be made in a bid to prevent wealthier families from giving their children at unfair advantage. ...
Grammar schools get go-ahead to expand
Telegraph.co.uk - 12 Dec 2011
In recent years, the number of pupils sitting the 11-plus entrance exam in areas such as Kent, Birmingham, Buckinghamshire and Lincolnshire, which have the ...
Transfer test security breach investigation to be revealed
BBC News 12 Dec 2011
Catholic grammar schools have continued to use academic selection since the official 11-plus ended three years ago. They commissioned tests from an English ...
Half of children who pass 11-plus exam are turned away from ...
Daily Mail - 27 Nov 2011
New figures show that of the 29500 children who took the 11-plus, 13800 passed, but 6100 of those youngsters were not offered places. ...
Poole High exam probe is launched
Bournemouth Echo - 1 Dec 2011
Poole High, a partially selective school, holds 11 plus-style aptitude tests for primary school students hoping to join the secondary's top academic stream. ...
Bradford girls' grammar school applies to join state education system
The Guardian - 1 Dec 2011
The headteacher, Kathryn Matthews, herself an 11-plus success from an inner-city community, said that the initiative promised "an exciting time". ...
15000 pupils pass the 11-plus but fail to get a grammar school place
Telegraph.co.uk - 27 Nov 2011
Wallington High School for Girls, in Sutton, received 1400 applications for 180 places and had to turn away more than 300 pupils who passed the 11 plus. ...
Blueprint for future nothing to shout about
Belfast Telegraph - 26 Nov 2011
There is no mention of the deadlock on the 11-Plus, condemning more parents and teachers and yet more cohorts of primary schoolchildren to the chaos of the ...
New '11-plus' talks ahead
Belfast Telegraph - 21 Nov 2011
Thousands of children across Northern Ireland have been taking the exams introduced by grammar schools following the removal of the 11-plus in 2008. ...
O'Dowd claims grammar entrance exams are 'marketing device'
BBC News - 11 Nov 2011
His comments come three years after the abolition of the 11-plus ... Mr O'Dowd, whose predecessor Caitriona Ruane abolished the old-style 11-plus, ...
Q&A: History of the 11-plus test
BBC News - 11 Nov 2011
It was then left it up to the local politicians to find a solution to what should replace the official 11-plus. However, they cannot agree and so Northern ...
Tory MP: More grammar schools please
BBC News - 15 Oct 2011
The tripartite system of grammar schools, secondary moderns and technical schools - along with the controversial 11 Plus - was the brainchild of RA Butler, ...
How to afford school fees
Telegraph.co.uk - 13 Aug 2011
Those who live in grammar school areas may send their children to private school and hope that they pass the 11-plus. It's a financial gamble, ...
A PRIVATE school in Beaconsfield is celebrating
Bucks Free Press - Lawrence Dunhill - 29 Jul 2011
A PRIVATE school in Beaconsfield is celebrating after 89 per cent of its final year pupils passed the 11-plus exam to win places at grammar schools. ...
Private tutors for state schools
BBC News - Sean Coughlan - 26 Jul 2011
... pupils carried out three years ago suggested that almost half had paid for tuition for their children when they were preparing for the 11-plus test. ...
School colour-codes pupils by ability
The Guardian - 25 Jul 2011
... we would be able to attract those children and their parents who would rather not put them in to take the Bexley 11-plus, but would feel comfortable ...
Devon grammar head urges change for disadvantaged
BBC News - 19 Jul 2011
Mr Evans believes there may be valid reasons why a child from a disadvantaged background does not score as highly in the 11 plus and he would like to be ...
New threat to grammar schools
Telegraph.co.uk - May 23, 2010
A group of parents want to force two grammar schools in Reading, Berkshire, to abandon the 11-plus ...
New 11-plus row for Tories as PM is urged to fight for grammar schools
Daily Mail - May 21, 2010
David Cameron was last night facing a fresh row over academic selection as protesters mounted the first bid in a decade to axe the 11-plus ...
No reprieve for scholarship scheme in Stamford
Rutland and Stamford Mercury - May 20, 2010
... Stamford who had passed their 11-plus but because of the county's school transport policies now had little chance of going to Bourne Grammar School, ...
ESSEX children taking the 11-plus exam should not be intensively tutored ...
This is Total Essex - Mar 27, 2011
The 11-plus English and maths papers are written by Essex grammar school staff and checked by colleagues. The verbal reasoning paper is set by an outside company. "We believe the papers should be rigorous enough to select the children who can manage ...
A COUPLE who adopted a Russian orphan were told she had brain damage.
This is Total Essex - 13 Mar 2011
But she has defied their expectations, passed 11-plus exams and secured a ... When she took 11-plus exams this year, she passed with flying colours and was ...
More pupils than ever get their first-choice secondary schools
Kent News - 5 Mar 2011
There are a number of boys living in Pembury and parts of Sevenoaks who have passed their 11-plus but have not been offered a grammar place this year. ...
Problems caused by lack of grammar school places in west Kent continue
Kent News - Mar 3, 2011
"There are a number of boys living in Pembury and parts of Sevenoaks who have passed their 11-plus exams but have not been offered a grammar school place this year." He said the pressure on places was less than last year because the number of children ...
Secondary school choice figures show 40% of children may miss out
The Guardian - Feb 28, 2011
At four out of the 12 secondary schools in the town, admission depends on passing the 11-plus. From Tuesday, a total of 540000 children in their final year of primary school in England will be notified which secondary they are entitled to attend. ...
School repairs 'may cost millions if rebuild rejected'
BBC News - Feb 28, 2011
Education Minister Carol Steere said if the money for the work on La Mare de Carteret was not found it would break a States resolution made 10 years ago to retain the 11 plus and provide three new secondary schools.
THE PRESIDENT of the Association of School and College Leaders has claimed ...
This is Total Essex - Feb 26, 2011
"I think that actually, to try and test people on a life-changing decision at ten-and-a-half, is cruelty in the extreme because they are children and they haven't grown up yet. "The problems associated with the 11-plus border on the insurmountable and ...
Top state schools elude poor
Financial Times - Feb 25, 2011
Sir Peter Lampl, the chairman of the Sutton Trust, a charity that promotes social mobility, said: “Our top performing state schools effectively remain off-limits to poorer children, who are not fortunate enough to have tutoring support for the 11-plus ...
Opponents snipe at UUP Stormont shake-up plan
Belfast Telegraph - Feb 17, 2011
Education Minister Caitriona Ruane attempted to end both the 11-plus and academic selection, |resulting in chaos.” In response, DUP Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said: “We welcome the UUP's conversion and decision to adopt our policy, ...
Want to get your little poppet into a decent school? Prepare for war
Daily Mail - Feb 17, 2011
The great 11-plus showdown is entering its denouement. From today, letters go out from grammar and private schools to say whose progeny has won the race for the most prestigious places. There's no doubt that in the multiple choice of life, ...
Transfer test results out today
Belfast Telegraph - Feb 4, 2011
Some 6800 P7 pupils sat the AQE and GL assessment tests in 2010, which were brought in by secondary level schools after the 11-plus test was withdrawn by the Department of Education. The AQE test is primarily used by state-sector grammar schools and ...
Top comprehensives surrounded by 'privileged little circles'
Telegraph.co.uk - Feb 4, 2011
The study suggested that grammars – which select pupils on the basis of the 11-plus entrance exam – were more transparent as they identified pupils “with talent, irrespective of their backgrounds”. Mr Onac is former head of Fortismere School, ...
The 11-plus has taken over my life
Telegraph.co.uk - Jan 17, 2011
For it is at this time of year that, in our county – Buckinghamshire – the 11-plus appeals are heard. In this one meeting, a panel of well-chosen people ...
Pushy parents putting 11-plus tuition on infants' curriculum
Yourcanterbury.co.uk - Jan 15, 2011
Parents of children as young as five are trying to hire private tutors for 11-plus coaching as the demand for grammar school places rockets. ...
Pupils 'will be able to leave school at 14 to learn trade'
Coventry Telegraph - Jan 10, 2011
They claim it could be a return to separation of children at too young an age – abolished with 11-plus exams in the 1960s – and could deprive less ...
Parents demand 11-plus coaching for two-year-olds
This is London - Jan 5, 2011
One London firm said the number seeking tuition for the 11-plus has almost doubled in the past year as pressure on places increases. ...
More children tutored to get into grammar schools
Telegraph.co.uk - Jan 5, 2011
Children as young as four are being tutored to pass the 11-plus examination amid rising competition to get into grammar schools. Young children are being ...
Now that's pressure: Children of FOUR being tutored for 11-plus examinations
Daily Mail - Jan 5, 2011
Deidre Donegan, of Gabitas Educational Consultants, said that many parents began tutoring their children two years before the 11-plus exams due to rising ...
Unionists cannot bring back 11-Plus, claims Sinn Fein
Belfast Telegraph - Jan 3, 2011
Unionist politicians will be unable to re-instate the old 11-plus transfer test, even if they take the education ministry after May's Assembly election, ...
Parents vent their anger over 11-Plus test 'scam'
Daily Mail - Martin Delgado - Jan 1, 2011
The alleged scam came to light when a large number of 11-Plus candidates asked to take the exam on a Sunday, one day after the majority of pupils. ...
Whizz-kid who failed 11-plus gets best A level result in country
Buckinghamshire Advertiser - Dec 9, 2010
A COMPUTER whizz-kid who who failed his 11-plus has gone on to get the highest mark in the country at computer studies A level. Nathan Barton, 18, took an A ...
Student numbers sitting transfer tests down on last year
Tyrone Today - Nov 25, 2010
This is the second year that schools, including St Patrick's Academy and St Joseph's Grammar, Donaghmore, have run their own unofficial 11-plus style ..
Row erupts over DUP's 'U-turn on selection'
Belfast Telegraph - Nov 22, 2010
The 11-plus procedure is educationally unsound and socially divisive and places unnecessary strain upon children at a very early age. ...
7000 children take grammar tests
BBC News - ?Nov 20, 2010?
The exams have been introduced by grammar schools which still want academic selection, in spite of the scrapping of the official 11-plus. ...
7000 children sit transfer tests
BBC News - ?Nov 13, 2010?
In the past, the 11-plus took place in children's own primary schools. Over the next few weeks, the system operated mostly by Catholic grammar schools will ...
Pupils sit first transfer test
Belfast Newsletter - Nov 13, 2010
Grammar schools are using the tests as a replacement for the 11-plus, scrapped by education minister Caitriona Ruane, despite widespread opposition. ..
Sort it out appeal falls on deaf ears
Belfast Telegraph - Nov 11, 2010
Far from trying to reach a compromise on what should replace the axed 11-plus exam, politicians of all hues appear to be avoiding what is one of the most ...
Grammar schools are the only hope for our failing education system
Telegraph.co.uk - Nov 10, 2010
And they say the 11-Plus was unfair! Watch my lips: no more selection by academic ability. But plenty of selection by house price or overnight conversion to ...
Don't be scared to give kids a push..
Mirror.co.uk - Nov 8, 2010
... take me down to the local bookshop to buy the latest exercise books, which tested verbal reasoning, maths and logic in preparation for the 11-plus exam
Grammar schools: Old school wisdom
Telegraph.co.uk - Nov 5, 2010
Competition is so great that parents either pay for their children to be coached for the 11-plus, or send them to fee-paying prep schools. ...
Grammar schools will be allowed to expand
Telegraph.co.uk - Oct 31, 2010
In a ruling last week, the schools adjudicator backed three "super-selective" grammars which admit only those children with the very highest 11 Plus scores,
Race for school places: Trafford
Manchester Evening News - Oct 26, 2010
The way I see it is that usually your first choice is going to be a grammar school but what if you don't pass their entrance exam or the 11 plus - you ..
Ruane Says Underachievers 'Can Do Better'
4ni.co.uk - Oct 26, 2010
"It has also been a priority to remove the inequality caused by our two-tier education system through removal of the 11 plus and publication of the Transfer
Battle continues to end super selection policy
Kent News - Oct 23, 2010
The Judd School in Tonbridge, The Skinners School in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge Grammar School select children getting the highest marks in the 11 plus ..
School 'first to end selection'
BBC News - Oct 22, 2010
It also become the first to respond positively to a call by the Catholic Church that all its grammar schools phase out 11-plus style exams. ..
What the papers say
BBC News - Oct 22, 2010
The Irish News reports that Loreto College in Coleraine proposes to phase out 11-plus style exams and change its admissions status by 2012. ...
11-plus pupils face grammar schools blow
thisiskent.co.uk - Oct 22, 2010
HARD-WORKING pupils who received their 11-plus exam results this week are set for disappointment. ..
School places system to stay
thisiskent.co.uk - Oct 22, 2010
At present, the schools all accept pupils who achieve the highest scores in the 11-plus, regardless of whether they live in the county or not. ...
11 plus Results Go Out To Tunbridge Wells' Children. But What Next?
Tunbridge Wells People - Oct 20, 2010
By AGidney | Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 11:21 With the 11 plus results out yesterday and Monday if you were registered on line to receive them, ..
Kent grammar schools appeal fails
BBC News - Oct 19, 2010
The schools adjudicator Dr Bryan Slater ruled they could keep their admissions criteria - based on 11 plus results rather than where children live. ...
Campaigners lose bid to end 'super selection'
Kent News - Oct 19, 2010
Kent County Council and parents complained that the schools' policy of selecting children based solely on their 11 plus results meant that grammar places ...
School applications from outside Kent rise
Kent Online - Oct 19, 2010
Kent County Council said that of the 5295 children who passed the 11-plus this year, 1156 do not live in the county - compared to 993 the previous year. ...
School place case is 'thrown out'
BBC News - Oct 11, 2010
... for the child said the case highlighed the labyrinth which faced parents under the new procedure which grammar schools have used to replace the 11 plus. ...
Making grammar schools less elitist
thisiskent.co.uk - Oct 8, 2010
As primary school children nervously prepare to receive their 11-plus exam results, which will determine their eligibility to enter selective education, ...
Pupils report back on their first month in a new school
The Guardian - Oct 4, 2010
After passing the gruelling 11-plus exam, Gabriel and Tayla are at Dane Court, a mixed grammar school with more than 1500 pupils, in Broadstairs. ...
Anger as children's exam papers are collected too soon
Kent Online - Oct 1, 2010
Youngsters taking the test, formerly known as the 11-plus, were told they had five minutes left to complete their maths paper even though there were still ...
Prep schools know how to inspire boys
Telegraph.co.uk - Sep 29, 2010
Many of the brighter boys, my older brother included, won 11-plus places at the nearby grammar. A few years after I left, the headmaster retired and a ..
Northern Ireland children reveal pain of transfer shambles
Belfast Telegraph - Sep 28, 2010
The report notes that some of the pupils' views may have equally applied to the former 11-plus tests. But added pressures under the current system include ..
Pupils 'want consulted on exams'
BBC News - Sep 27, 2010
In 2009, two sets of unregulated tests filled the vacuum left by the ending of the 11-plus transfer tests. In the aftermath, almost 1000 primary seven ..
School selection in the spotlight
thisiskent.co.uk - Sep 24, 2010
At present, the schools operate a merit-based selection system, in which children with the highest scores in the 11-plus are offered a grammar school place, ...
My Brummie B-streamers were a sign of the times
Times Educational Supplement - Sep 10, 2010
The A stream was coached for the 11-plus by a teacher with a track record of success, and the C stream required another sort of specialist skills. ...
Grammar selection to be a subject of debate
thisiskent.co.uk - Sep 10, 2010
Each year scores of children from the Sevenoaks area are left without an offer from a grammar school, despite passing the 11-plus. ...
TV REVIEW: Big School Lottery
Leicester Mercury - Sept 8, 2010
Some parents, like Alison, are hiring a tutor to coach their child through 11-plus tests, others are prepared to move house to get in. ...
TV Review: This Is England '86 and The Big School Lottery
The Guardian - Sept 8, 2010
Ethan wants to go to a grammar school, too, so he's been doing some practice 11-plus exams. "They're quite hard to understand unless you get teached ...
The Big School Lottery- 3 The First Day
BBC iplayer - Sept 8, 2010
The Big School Lottery is a 3-part series which offers an insight into one of the most important and stressful decisions a family can make - which secondary school to send their child to. With unprecedented and exclusive access, the series follows for a full year Birmingham Education Authority, which is the largest in Europe, as it allocates its school places. And it follows a group of children - and their parents – from across Birmingham as they go through the process and make the move from primary to secondary school.
Teaching unions attack pressures of the Kent Test
Kent News - Aug 28, 2010
Previously known as the 11-plus, the exam selects what type of secondary education children go into. But the system, which has been scrapped in most other ...
Summer cramming for Kent 11 plus criticised by NUT
BBC News - Aug 16, 2010
Last-minute coaching for children to get them through the 11 plus in Kent is being criticised by a teaching union. Thousands of children across the county ...
Exam success for Coventry 11 year-olds
Coventry Telegraph - Aug 5, 2010
Figures released by Coventry City Council Key reveal key stage 2 pupils across the city have improved in their 11 plus exam results this year and made ...
GRAMMAR SCHOOLS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 50 YEARS
Express.co.uk - Jul 31, 2010
They are suffering from a shortage of places because children from neighbouring counties are being entered for the 11 plus exam, taking up places which ...
Education letters
The Guardian - Jul 26, 2010
Eleven-plus lessons Too often, the 11-plus exam becomes such a focus for political debate that the voices of children get lost. So I very much enjoyed Janet ...
Futures College boss: Talents are overshadowed by class
Essex Echo - 6 July 2010
Mr Baker said Westcliff High is working with Southend primary schools to try to encourage more disadvantaged children to take the 11-plus by letting them ...
Caitriona Ruane rejects any suggestion she should quit
Belfast Telegraph - 3 July 2010
Despite 67 schools setting their own entrance exams this year and already planning for similar tests next year, the minister also insisted that “the 11-plus ...
Heads defend entry policies
thisiskent.co.uk - 2 July 2010
She added her school offered the vast majority of its Year Seven places to grammar-assessed students living within the 11-plus area of Kent, ...
When failure is not an option
Telegraph.co.uk - 2 July 2010
Given the amount of effort required to lick your child into shape for the ferociously competitive entrance exams, usually at 11-plus, action, and plenty of ...
Schools interested in academy status named
Teachers TV - 25 Jun 2010
Of the 1500 schools on the list, 92 are grammar schools, which select on the basis of academic ability demonstrated in the 11-plus exam. ...
Mika and Destini score top places
Barbados Advocate - 8 Jun 2010
Twenty-six students from Hill Top set the “Eleven-Plus” this year, of which Destini and her friends Rachael Lewis and Shay Martin are the only three who ...
Revealed: experts' verdict on selection impasse
Belfast Telegraph - Jun 4, 2010
... SDLP and Alliance Party — who have been meeting weekly since last October to try to agree on what should replace the 11-plus exam. ...
Coalition pledge on 'slimmed down' national curriculum
Telegraph.co.uk - May 25, 2010
... become academies – retaining their right to select by ability – although the new government insisted there would be no further expansion of the 11-plus. ...
MLAs get 11-plus stalemate plan
BBC News - May 20, 2010
A report on how to resolve the impasse over the 11-plus has been received by a cross-party group of assembly members. The MLAs commissioned a number of ...
Grammar schools boom under Labour despite party's opposition
Daily Mail - May 14, 2010
And they will pile pressure on David Cameron who ruled out a return to the 11-plus in 2007, declaring that he was determined to 'move on from a sterile ...
Agonising wait for 11-plus results will soon be over
Guernsey Press and Star - May 14, 2010
Year 6 pupils begin the 11-plus process in the autumn and finish it in February but have to wait until May for the results. ABOUT 500 11-year-olds will find ...
group to hold more entrance exams
BBC News - May 12, 2010
The 11-plus transfer test ended in 2008 after Education Minister Caitriona Ruane introduced regulation abolishing academic selection. ...
Gerry Adams on Talkback
BBC News - May 4, 2010
1233 Stephen calls to raise the 11-plus. he says SF removes choice through the abolition of the 11-plus. Mr Adams says NI was the only part of western ...
Election candidates answer the big questions
Manchester Evening News - May 4, 2010
On education I would encourage the creation of new grammar schools but make the 11-plus vocational as well as academic. "The issue of whether you have ...
Conservative Wycombe candidate Steve Baker apologises over leaflet claim
Bucks Free Press - May 3, 2010
Candidate Andrew Lomas has said he wants the system scrapped but the party's manifesto while ruling out a 'return to the 11-plus' does not pledge to close ...
Northern Ireland parties inch towards an agreed transfer solution
Belfast Telegraph - May 3, 2010
... political leaders to sort out the school transfer crisis amid a long-running stalemate over the best replacement for the now abolished 11-Plus. ...
General Election 2010: Eton head calls for assisted places revival
Telegraph.co.uk - Julie Henry - May 2, 2010
... he abandoned the Conservative Party's traditional support for more grammar schools and the Tories have tried to avoid any mention of the 11-plus since. ...
Our Gothic towers inspire state school pupils, says Eton head
This is London - Apr 30, 2010
Many pupils at state comprehensives in the area have a low opinion of their own abilities after failing the 11-plus entrance exam for local grammar schools. ...
Schools and housing spark election debate
thisiskent.co.uk - Apr 30, 2010
But Labour candidate Gareth Siddorn, who is not in favour of the 11 plus system, said the question over the rights and wrongs of the selection process was a ...
Labour's Daniel Griffiths Responds to Ten Questions Posed by Tonbridge People ...
Tonbridge People - Apr 24, 2010
?CAN YOU GUARANTEE A GRAMMAR SCHOOL PLACE FOR EVERY CHILD WHO PASSES THE 11 PLUS? First, the day-to-day running of the local education system is matter for ...
Six questions to put to the Sinn Fein and SDLP
Belfast Telegraph - Apr 23, 2010
... on Westminster but Margaret Ritchie is planning to be an MP and MLA. 6 Is the SDLP for or against Caitriona Ruane's policy on abolishing the 11-plus?
Constituency profile: South Down
Belfast Telegraph - Apr 23, 2010
Also, Ruane is not well liked within the Catholic middle classes because of her stance and handling on the 11-plus and she needs such voters on her side,” ...
UKIP's Victor Webb answers your questions
Tunbridge Wells People - Apr 22, 2010
VW: UKIP will not return to a pass/fail 11 plus test but will introduce a comprehensive test to assess merit across a wide range of academic and non ...
General Election 2010: the Tories have a fortnight to save themselves from ...
Telegraph.co.uk - Apr 22, 2010
Bring back Grammar schools,and the 11 plus. As non of these will be implemented by Cameroon, my vote goes to the English Democrates. ...
Party fails memory test on selection
Belfast Telegraph - Apr 21, 2010
What is the SDLP's position on the issue of selection of primary school pupils at 11-Plus? The SDLP used to be counted among those who are opposed to ...
Schools fail to agree joint transfer exam
Belfast Telegraph - Apr 21, 2010
These papers were more in the style of the old 11-plus exams. There was a fee for the AQE tests while the PPTC tests were free. A joint statement was issued ...
Lib Dem Liz Simpson Responds to Ten Questions Posed By Tonbridge People - what ...
Tonbridge People - Apr 21, 2010
Can you guarantee a grammar school place close to home for every child who passes the 11 plus? I assume that this question relates to the difficulty some ...
What do Tonbridge People want to ask the candidates: Replies from Steve Dawe ...
Tonbridge People - Apr 14, 2010
? Q Can you guarantee a grammar school place for every child who passes the 11 plus? 1. Grammar school places: No. The Green Party supports the full ...
Decision time looms for grammar entrance test
Belfast Telegraph - Apr 14, 2010
These papers were more in the style of the old 11-plus exams. There was a fee for the AQE tests while the tests on offer within the Catholic school sector ...
Cameron wants a nation of volunteers. I'm not convinced
The Guardian (blog) - Apr 12, 2010
... electing county health boards; putting matron in charge on the ward; including non-academic skills in the 11-plus; cutting out red tape, especially EU ...
UKIP launches manifesto
ePolitix - Apr 13, 2010
New grammar schools would be built, but the "stigma of failure" attached to 11 plus tests would be removed by including non academic exams as well as ...
No narrowing of the great education divide
The Guardian - Apr 12, 2010
? But read the report through and it is clear that schools which use the 11-plus test are still the worst offenders (after the private schools, which aren't ...
Top comprehensives 'more exclusive than grammar schools'
Telegraph.co.uk - Apr 12, 2010
The study suggested that grammars – which select pupils on the basis of the 11-plus entrance exam – were more transparent as they identified pupils “with ...
Northern Ireland Education Minister Pledges To Work With Unions To Ensure Best ...
eGov monitor - Apr 9, 2010
“Education professionals and teaching unions have for many years called for the ending of academic selection and the 11 plus. ...
Ten Questions From Tonbridge People to our Election Candidates: Watch this ...
Tonbridge People - Apr 9, 2010
Can you guarantee a grammar school place close to home for every child who passes the 11 plus? 2. What will you do to improve our hospitals? 3. ...
Northern Ireland vote could shape election outcome
The Guardian - Apr 7, 2010
Although Ruane has a high profile, she has alienated many middle-class Catholics over her abolition of the 11-plus transfer test. ...
Teachers fear 'selection at 14'
BBC News - Angela Harrison - Apr 4, 2010
"Those who failed the 11-plus scrambled for a place at technical schools to avoid being shipped off to secondary moderns. "Comprehensive schools offer a ...
Dagenham school pupils are top of the class
Barking and Dagenham Post - Mar 24, 2010
Irene Irpogho and Danielle Wilson won places at Brentwood School after acing their 11 plus exams and were then awarded their scholarships. ...
Wirral's grammar school leaders call for entry test results to be released ...
Liverpool Daily Post - Mar 23, 2010
If there is no risk in taking the 11-plus test, then you may widen the choice of those looking to reach the standard.” Mike Twist, deputy headteacher at ...
Why Live In Tunbridge Wells?
Tunbridge Wells People - Mar 21, 2010
Many people also choose Tunbridge Wells for the eleven plus and its selection of grammar schools. But how many of us are happy once we've made the ...
'Failing' grammar school is out of special measures
Manchester Evening News - Mar 17, 2010
Grammar schools traditionally score high marks as they select the brightest pupils, with 11-plus exams determining entry. Parent Charlie Rodger said he was ...
School crisis 'down to the government'
thisiskent.co.uk - Mar 17, 2010
This year's nightmare has seen 114 Kent pupils left without a grammar school place despite passing the 11-plus. The full extent of how many are from ...
Class war making parents feel guilty about private schooling, say heads
This is London - Mar 16, 2010
Many parents pay for prep schools to help train their children to pass the 11-plus exam and win places in state grammars. There were fears that government ...
Caitriona Ruane attacks private transfer test tutoring
BBC News - Mar 12, 2010
Under direct rule the government took the decision to end the 11-plus test in Northern Ireland, however political bargaining led to a deal which did not ban ...
School places farce hits twins
thisiskent.co.uk - Mar 7, 2010
Despite sailing through their 11-Plus exams, Isobel and Milly Money, 10, have not been given a grammar school place and have instead won places at the ...
No turns on the Sinn Fein devolution train
BBC News - Mar 6, 2010
... put it: "Is Sir Reg Empey really saying that he is threatening the political institutions because Caitriona Ruane won't reintroduce the 11 plus. ...
'No evidence' of 11-plus cheating
Ilford Recorder 24 - Mar 6, 2010
Council chiefs have ruled there is no evidence of cheating in this year's controversial 11-plus exams as schoolchildren discover whether they got their ...
Academy head says 'don't just write us off'
thisiskent.co.uk - Mar 5, 2010
THE head of The Skinners' Kent Academy this week called on parents to "open their minds" after 114 youngsters who passed the 11-plus failed to get a place ...
Catholic school plans to be released later this month
Ulster Herald - Mar 4, 2010
The all-ability schools are also aimed at removing the necessity for 11-plus tests. Late last year, a similar review for the Fermanagh area recommended the ...
Kent children and parents discover secondary school places
Kent Online - Mar 2, 2010
The eight most popular schools were all non-selective, with Homewood School in Tenterden top of the list. KCC said about 100 children who passed the 11-plus had not at this stage been offered a grammar school place.
Grammar schools are here to stay – Robinson
Belfast Newsletter - Mar 2, 2010
But although he was not being dogmatic about what method should replace the old 11-plus, he insisted that Northern Ireland needs more "elite" high achievers ...
DUP bid over Hillsborough deal branded 'bizarre'
Belfast Telegraph - Mar 2, 2010
The party has said it will not back the devolution of policing and justice powers unless substantial progress is made on resolving the 11 plus stalemate in ...
School choice –an overrated concept
The Guardian - Mar 2, 2010
Grammars can select pupils based on 11-plus exams, faith schools can choose from the relevant religious backgrounds, and specialist schools can select 10% ...
DUP leader attacks plans for Catholic schools
BBC News - Mar 1, 2010
He said the replacement of the 11-plus with involved multiple exams "hardly seemed to be an educational advancement" and that he favoured computer adaptive ...
Why 'one-size-fits-all' schools will not work
Belfast Telegraph - Mar 1, 2010
He notes that it did not surprise him when research by Professor Gardner and Dr Cowan demonstrated major reliability problems in the 11-plus. ...
Pupils in England told their secondary school places
BBC News - Feb 23, 2010
This is the first year when there is no official 11-plus entrance test, although some schools are implementing their own tests. In Wales parents give their ...
One in six pupils to lose out in school place chase
Daily Mail - Feb 26, 2010
Wallington County Grammar, in Sutton, Surrey, which attracted nearly 14 applications per place, said the 11-plus sessions had to be organised with 'military ...
Fewer re-marks in new transfer tests
BBC News - Feb 24, 2010
The figure is significantly lower than the number who applied to have the last 11-plus test re-marked. One hundred and fifteen pupils, about 1.6% of who sat ...
Education: the high fly, the rest sink. And no one acts
Times Online - Feb 23, 2010
In Britain any debate on selection is cut off at the knees before it starts: “11 plus,” “a return to old-style grammars” and “writing off as failures” is ...
Grammar is important
Telegraph.co.uk - ?Feb 19, 2010
... and which are usually a mixture of standard 11-plus tests (verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths) and the school's own set papers. ...
NO More State Sponsored Testing Of 10 Year Olds In Northern Ireland Says ...
eGov monitor - Feb 17, 2010
The Minister was responding to a call for the return of the State sponsored 11 plus transfer test. Mi
