11+ exam for grammer schools

ashmalog · 22-03-2008, 09:28 PM

hi there,
does anyone know if the UK 11+ exam is valid for OZ? I know they have grammer schools ut unsure as to the entrance criteria. my son sits his 11+ in september and would be great if a pass can count in melbourne. any advice please.

carolans · 22-03-2008, 10:27 PM

Hi,

I don't know a definite answer for you, but I doubt an 11+ exam sat over here would count as entrance criteria for a Melbourne school, although their exams would probably be similar. If your son sits the 11+ the results may be useful when/if trying to get on an accelerated stream in school.

There are lots of posts on here about school years, so you may want to browse through them to see if something similar has been written.

Good luck in your search

Zoë

shazney64 · 23-03-2008, 09:57 AM

Dont know if this helps, but when my son sat the 11plus i had found a forum in the UK for it, maybe look at entrance exam forum in OZ. If i get a bit of time will have a little look for you too.x

Quoll · 23-03-2008, 11:04 AM

Absolutely nothing to do with Aussie education at all. There are a couple of selective High Schools but generally this is one huge egalitarian country and tall poppies are generally chopped off at the knees. No one here will have heard of the 11+ and I can guarantee that absolutely no one will care whether he has passed it or not. If you can find a school which has a gifted and talented program or if there is a selective HS near where you settle, they will have their own assessment processes because the kids are in competition with each other. We have one formal HS G & T program in ACT. There is at least on selective HS in Sydney that I know of plus some OC classes which are G & T.

Grammar Schools here are private schools and the only criterion (well, almost the only criterion) to get in is the capacity to pay the fees ($15,000+) pa. They do like the kids to be bright as well and many of them you need to put the kids' names down on the waiting list at birth.

Lazy Cow · 23-03-2008, 01:41 PM

I can only speak for our experience in SA, but....my daughter had passed the 11+ before coming here.
She decided that the Ignite program,designed for Gifted and Talented pupils, was for her. We were just too late for her to sit the Ignite exam, but she was at school long enough for the school to determine that she had potential. This potential, coupled with a conversation between myself and the principal regarding the 11+, was enough for her to be assigned a place in Ignite.(Which was pretty cool considering only 3 schools in Adelaide offer this program.)
Our conversation centered largely on her performance in the 11+, particularly as there are many similarities between that and their own entrance exam. Had she taken the place but not lived up to the promise, she would have re-joined mainstream - just as a few of her friends have in the last couple of years!
So whilst the exam was not officially recognised, as Zoe suggested, it was pretty useful. If your son wants to take the 11+, why not? I don't think you'd have anything to lose, and it just might help swing him a place in your preferred school when you get to Melbourne.

LC

ashmalog · 23-03-2008, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quoll

Absolutely nothing to do with Aussie education at all. There are a couple of selective High Schools but generally this is one huge egalitarian country and tall poppies are generally chopped off at the knees. No one here will have heard of the 11+ and I can guarantee that absolutely no one will care whether he has passed it or not. If you can find a school which has a gifted and talented program or if there is a selective HS near where you settle, they will have their own assessment processes because the kids are in competition with each other. We have one formal HS G & T program in ACT. There is at least on selective HS in Sydney that I know of plus some OC classes which are G & T.

Grammar Schools here are private schools and the only criterion (well, almost the only criterion) to get in is the capacity to pay the fees ($15,000+) pa. They do like the kids to be bright as well and many of them you need to put the kids' names down on the waiting list at birth.

thanks for your insight but you came across as a little harsh with your comments. i'm not trying to get something for nothing, i just wanted to see if the entrance exam here for grammer schools would help my son in oz that is all.

ashmalog · 23-03-2008, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazy Cow

I can only speak for our experience in SA, but....my daughter had passed the 11+ before coming here.
Our conversation centered largely on her performance in the 11+, particularly as there are many similarities between that and their own entrance exam. Had she taken the place but not lived up to the promise, she would have re-joined mainstream - just as a few of her friends have in the last couple of years!
So whilst the exam was not officially recognised, as Zoe suggested, it was pretty useful. If your son wants to take the 11+, why not? I don't think you'd have anything to lose, and it just might help swing him a place in your preferred school when you get to Melbourne.

LC

hi there, thanks ever so much for that, at least they know of the 11+ in oz. not sure my eldest son is a gifted and talented child but now i have more information than i had previously.

Quoll · 23-03-2008, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashmalog

thanks for your insight but you came across as a little harsh with your comments. i'm not trying to get something for nothing, i just wanted to see if the entrance exam here for grammer schools would help my son in oz that is all.

Sorry, didnt mean to sound harsh - it is just that Aussie schools really dont care much what the kids have done in UK. They usually like to make their own decisions about gifted and talented although some areas dont do it at all. I wasnt trying to imply that you wanted something for nothing, rather that the Aussie education system is very egalitarian and in some schools G & T is a dirty word because they believe (rightly or wrongly) that they can cater for the needs of all children. Just giving you a heads up thats all. Let the lad do the 11+ that's fine but dont be suprised if the schools you check out look rather blankly at you. I wish him luck with it.

It's the same with GCSEs - people do get very hung up on their children doing them because they are a big deal in UK - Aus is a whole new country with very different expectations and processes so they really arent a big deal here. So, I wouldnt be hanging on just so he could do an exam which has no relevance here at all.

ashmalog · 23-03-2008, 10:48 PM

hi quoll, thanks for clarifying ur post. i understand the UK and Australia are 2 different countries and the education system is different but sometimes things from the Uk do count. Take my nursing, i have a diploma in nursing which is infact regarded higher than the australian degree. I wouldn't say my son was gifted and talented but he certainly is bright so i will enquire further when we finally get out to oz.

Quoll · 23-03-2008, 11:01 PM

Yes professional qualifications are a whole different ballgame but NOOSR will have checked out equivalence to make the judgement about their relative level. Australia is a funny old country - Aussies really cannot stand the thought that anyone can be better than them hence my remark about the tall poppies - unless you are a sporty tall poppy of course in which case you will be accorded almost hero status. Other tall poppies do have a very hard time of it!!! I am sure you wont be doing it but they absolutely loathe the "back home we did it this way ....." type comments whereas sometimes you just want to slap them because they are so entrenched in out of date procecdures that they could so easily improve upon! (I have heard that said many times from expats who have come into the medical system here especially so you may experience that in time too!!!)