11 Plus News
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+ pupils could face 60-mile trip to take exam
Maidenhead Advertiser - Dec 19, 2009
Children in the Royal Borough wanting to take the 11-plus may have to travel 30 miles to Aylesbury from now on because of security fears sparked by the ...
County council: Paul Carter answers your questions
thisiskent.co.uk - Dec 18, 2009
On the Kent 11-plus test we set the pass rate that enables between 23 and 26 per cent of our young people to go to grammar schools. ...
Transfer chaos: Belfast Telegraph readers' "Sort It Out" message delivered to ...
Belfast Telegraph - Dec 7, 2009
The campaign is calling on the five main political parties at Stormont to agree on the best way to replace the 11-plus after it was scrapped last year, ...
Cameron and Clarke attacks Gordon Brown over 'politics of envy' as poll show ...
Daily Mail - ?Dec 6, 2009
But while Mr Clarke's fees were met by the State after he passed the 11-Plus, Mr Balls's were paid by his parents. Mr Brown brought up Zac Goldsmith, left, ...
Claim that Kent County Council allowed eleven-plus pass figure to rise ...
Kent Online - Dec 4, 2009
About 20 per cent of places are allocated on the basis of whether pupils had passed the 11-plus but that figure increases after headteacher assessment ...
Transfer campaign: Public opinion seems to be causing a shift within Sinn Fein
Belfast Telegraph - Dec 4, 2009
His attendance also follows just days after fellow Sinn Fein MLA Jennifer McCann said Martin McGuinness was wrong to scrap the 11-plus tests without a ...
We should have had replacement before axing 11-Plus, says Sinn Fein MLA
Belfast Telegraph - Dec 3, 2009
A Sinn Fein MLA has broken ranks with her party and admitted the then Education Minister Martin McGuinness was wrong to axe the 11-plus ...
P6 parents should get behind the Belfast Telegraph's transfer campaign
Belfast Telegraph - Dec 2, 2009
“I think Caitriona Ruane is ridiculous getting rid of the 11-plus without a proper replacement,” she said. “The children are being used as pawns. ...
Colchester: Pupils vie for grammar school places
Essex County Standard - Nov 30, 2009
Nearly 1000 youngsters have sat the 11-plus exam in a bid to secure a top grammar school education in Colchester. The Royal Grammar School, ...
225 pupils sit selection test at Dalriada school
Ballymoney Times - Nov 17, 2009
... clear triumph for those schools who set their own entrance criteria. t non-academic selection criteria should take the place of the now defunct 11-plus. ...
Could grammar schools have a radical new role?
guardian.co.uk - Nov 16, 2009
"Some pupils are coached at seven years old to get through the 11-plus, and it stops them enjoying primary school," she says. "It's tragic. ...
Spotlight falls on selection choices
BBC News - Nov 3, 2009
Nearly every grammar school in Northern Ireland is defying Education Minister Caitriona Ruane by staging unofficial transfer tests in place of the old ...
Backlash over KCC grammar reshuffle plans
Kent News - Nov 1, 2009
“However, where we've got massive demand in west Kent and surplus places in east Kent, because there are less young people there passing the 11-plus, ...
Schools chief defends 11-plus from 'abuse' claims
Kent News - Nov 1, 2009
She told KOS Media the 11-plus exam helps parents decide how their children should best be educated, rather than being part of a “system of rejection” – as ...
Time right for action at last on education
Belfast Telegraph - Oct 29, 2009
Dominic Bradley's watery comments on the 11-Plus do not represent the vast majority of SDLP supporters. Why will the SDLP not back the Minister of Education ...
Anguish over schools turmoil
Belfast Telegraph - Oct 27, 2009
“For years primary school principals have witnessed the distortion of the curriculum caused by the 11-plus transfer system and the look of devastation on ...
Conservative council threatens to reignite Tory row over grammar schools
Telegraph.co.uk - Oct 27, 2009
Results published this month showed that 5113 children this year passed the Kent Test, the county's form of the 11-plus. However, the county's grammar ...
Anger at plan to expand grammar school system
Independent - Oct 26, 2009
The decision by the Conservative- controlled Kent County Council has reignited the controversy over selective education and the future of the 11-plus. ...
The teachers who can do no right
Times Online - Oct 26, 2009
This 39-year-old office administrator intends to sue her daughter's Portsmouth primary school for failing to get Trish through the 11-plus. ...
We must expand Kent's grammar schools
Yourcanterbury.co.uk - Oct 26, 2009
The Kent Test, or '11-plus' as it used to be called, is "pretty close to the emotional abuse of children" he says. I do not know whether or not that ...
Ed Curran: Why Robinson is right to step back from a deal he cannot sell
Belfast Telegraph - Oct 26, 2009
It has failed to date to agree on a number of important matters, most notably a resolution to the 11-plus debacle, so what confidence can we have that it ...
Record interest in grammars as parents save on school fees
This is London - Oct 23, 2009
Bexley's four grammar schools have seen a four per cent rise in demand this year, with 4686 children sitting the 11-plus exams. ...
Postal strike no problem for Kent Test pupils
More than 10000 emails were sent out on Monday to parents informing them if their child had passed the 11-plus, accounting for nearly 90 per cent of those ...
11 plus talks 'very productive'
All of the main political parties, with the exception of Sinn Fein, said they have established a framework for talks on a replacement for the 11 plus exam. ...
Transfers: it's the children that matter
Having axed the 11-plus examination, the Education Minister issued admissions criteria guidance to schools. However, 68 schools, divided almost equally ...
Canterbury High School head teacher Phil Karnavas attacks 11-plus system
Pupils who sit the 11-plus are placed under such pressure that the system verges on being cruel and could be described as ...
Early starts for the children desperate to pass their 11-plus
There is one aim: that next month the girl will score a mark on her 11-plus exam high enough to win her a coveted place at one of Essex's grammar schools. ...
Fury at Ruane for 'failing the kids'
Education Minister Caitriona Ruane has scrapped the 11-plus and has issued admissions guidance to schools. But this has been dismissed by 68 schools which ...
Assembly backs 'interim 11-plus'
The assembly has voted narrowly in favour of commissioning a new version of the 11-plus. However, Education Minister Caitriona Ruane said she would not ...
Assembly debate brings divisions into sharp focus
... She said: “Let me be absolutely clear and unambiguous: the 11-plus is gone, the 11-plus is not coming back in any shape or form. The new arrangements are ...
Grammar school applications soar
More children have been entered for the 11-plus – the grammar school entrance exam – this year compared with 2008. ...
Recession-hit parents in clamour for scarce grammar school places
The National Grammar Schools Association has revealed a rise in the number of youngsters taking the 11-plus this autumn. In Kent, which has 32 grammar ...
Parents pay for top prep schools to secure places in best grammars
Applications to take the 11-plus have increased in 70 per cent of grammar schools, according to a separate survey conducted by The Times. ...
Stressed-out parents blame Ruane for 'total mess'
They should have had everything in place before getting rid of the 11-plus, it's all been a complete nightmare. I cannot believe Caitriona Ruane is still in ...
Parties dither over talks to end transfer logjam
... Ford last week which called on each party to nominate representatives for talks in a bid to resolve the logjam over what should replace the 11-plus. ...
Unions don't speak for all
...claim that they were now all singing from the same hymn sheet and that Caitriona Ruane was their choirmaster as far as the post-11-plus debate was concerned ...
No compromise from Education Minister on transfer campaign
Parties who now present themselves as reasonable and as seeking accommodation are actually seeking the return of the 11-plus, as can be witnessed in their ...
Pressure mounts on Sinn Fein as main parties back petition
... parties have thrown their weight behind our petition which calls on all of the parties to find a resolution to what should replace the 11-plus. ...
Schools should be given different targets for attainment
I heard tell last week of a teacher from a secondary modern who, on being introduced to a 10-year-old about to go through the 11-plus exam, was asked by the ...
Children set to sit unofficial transfer tests
This means that a slightly lower number of children will be sitting the unofficial tests as sat the last 11-plus, 15400 children ...
'Similar' demand for tests as last 11-plus
... tests for grammar schools this year is expected to be "similar" to the number who sat the last year of the 11-plus, according to a leading principal. ...
Caitriona Ruane: I won't resign, I won't back down
Is the best school the right school?
New business aims to get children through 11+
The format of AQE tests
Search Search Go
Parents turn to lawyers in fight for best schools
Stormont's power-sharing flaws
Parents confusion over 11 plus future
Professor Tony Gallagher, head of the School of Education at ...
Think tank: Education poisoned by class envy
Boy told he should travel 90 miles each day to school
Viewpoint: Transfer fiasco must be resolved
Grammar schools 'to blame for Sats failures'!
The Telegraph - August 15, 2009
What we want to know is if the 11-plus selective system has an impact on the results in Slough, whether the 11-plus proves a distraction and whether it ...
Happy first birthday BOFA!
BOFA News - July 26 2009
BOFA is one year old today!
"BOFA has come a long way in its first year and I am really proud of where we are now. I would like to thank all the BOFA users and visitors for their support and feedback over the past year. We have had a few teething problems along the way, but thanks to so much feedback we have made huge improvements. To show my appreciation to you, I will be emailing all of you who have independently registered during this past year, to tell you that I have given you a BOFA Mix for FREE!!! If you don't want to use this for any reason, then you can pass it on to a friend or relative. To pass it on just:
- Ask them to register at BOFA
- Get them to tell you their username
- Email BOFA from your username email account, telling us your BOFA friend's email address
- BOFA will then transfer over your FREE BOFA mix
Onwards and upwards!"
Andy Baines
Two cheers for Alan Milburn's report
By talent-scouting through the eleven plus exam (which was an IQ test designed to identify potential), the state education system was able to pull able ...
What are you going to do with the children this summer?
The Guardian - July 21 2009
The summer holidays are a difficult time for parents. Keeping children amused for six weeks or more, both at home and away, can be difficult to organise, exhausting and expensive. But it doesn't have to be that way . . . Actually, it probably does have to be that way, but as a parent there are always corners to be cut, liberties to be taken and small duplicities to employ. (...)
Socialmobility: will anyone mentiongrammar schools?
The grammars were largely abolishedbecause it was felt that the children who did not pass their 11 plus were then left with sub-standard schooling in ...
DUP welcome priest's 11+ views
New ruling increases pressure on grammar places
If social mobility relied on grammars, it would be at a standstill
Times Educational Supplement Jul 17, 2009
Letter to the editor As the “were they or weren’t they vehicles of social mobility” grammars debate rages on, I was intrigued to read your article “Edu- vangelists cry ...
Grammars: working-class pupils' last hope
Times Educational Supplement ?Jul 17, 2009
Comprehensives have led to apartheid in education, where a child's chances are determined by a postcode lottery The past, wrote Gerard Kelly, editor of The TES, in an attack on grammar schools last week, is ...
