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The Eleven Plus or Transfer Test is an examination given to students in their last year of primary education in the United Kingdom. The name derives from the age group of the students: 10-11. The exam was once used throughout the UK, but is now only used in a number of counties and boroughs in England and more widely in Northern Ireland. It is particularly associated with the Tripartite System used in the UK from 1944-1976. To examine somebody or something is to inspect it closely, hence an examination is a detailed inspection or analysis of an object or person. ...
For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...
Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...
The Tripartite System, known colloquially as the grammar school system, was the structure by which Britains secondary education was organised between the 1944 Butler Education Act and 1976. ...
The examination tests a student's ability to solve problems using verbal, maths and non-verbal reasoning. Introduced in 1944, it was used to determine which type of school a student would attend after primary education: a grammar school, secondary modern or a technical school. The tripartite system was based on the idea that skills, rather than financial resources, were most important and that different skills required different types of schooling. A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom. ...
Secondary modern schools are a type of school in British educational systems, part of the Tripartite System. ...
The Tripartite System of education in the United Kingdom was a system of education introduced in the Butler Education Act of 1944, covering Primary and Secondary education. ...
Structure
The structure of the eleven plus varied over time and between counties. Usually, it consisted of three papers - Writing – An essay question on a general subject.
- General Problem Solving – A paper assessing ability to apply logic to simple problems and to test general knowledge.
Most children sat the test in their final year of primary school, at the age of 11 or 12. In certain counties, such as Buckinghamshire, it was also possible to sit the test a year early- a process nicknamed the ‘ten plus’. (More recently in Buckinghamshire, the test has been called the 'twelve plus' and has been taken a year later than was standard.) Elementary arithmetic is the most basic kind of mathematics: it concerns the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. ...
Buckinghamshire (abbreviated Bucks) is one of the home counties in South East England. ...
The test was originally voluntary and currently around 30% of students in Northern Ireland opt out of the transfer test.[1]
Current practice Eleven plus and similar type exams vary around the country but will use some or all of the following components. - Verbal reasoning (VR)
- Nonverbal reasoning (NVR)
- Mathematics (MA)
- Writing (EN)
In Buckinghamshire children sit just two verbal reasoning papers. In Kent children will sit all four of the above disciplines. However,The London Borough of Bexley has suggested carrying out only two tests - Verbal Reasoning and Non Verbal Reasoning but it is not yet known if Bexley Borough will go ahead with this plan. If so, it'll mean children will have to do 2 tests instead of 4. In Essex children sit Verbal Reasoning, Maths and English. Other areas use other combinations. Some authorities/areas operate an opt-in system, whilst others (such as Buckinghamshire) operate an opt-out system where all pupils are entered unless parents decide to opt out.
Importance The eleven plus was created as part of the 1944 Butler Education Act. This established a Tripartite System of education, with an academic, a technical and a functional strand. Prevailing educational thought at the time argued that testing was an effective way of finding which strand a child was most suited for. The results from the exam would be used to match a child’s abilities and future career needs to their secondary school. The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. ...
The Tripartite System, known colloquially as the grammar school system, was the structure by which Britains secondary education was organised between the 1944 Butler Education Act and 1976. ...
When the system was implemented, the technical schools did not appear on the scale envisaged. Instead, the Tripartite System came to be characterised by fierce competition for places at the prestigious grammar schools. As such, the eleven plus took on a particular significance. Rather than allocating according to need or ability, it became seen as a question of passing or failing. This led to the exam becoming widely resented. The Tripartite System of education in the United Kingdom was a system of education introduced in the Butler Education Act of 1944, covering Primary and Secondary education. ...
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom. ...
Controversy |
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This section has been tagged since January 2008. | The eleven plus was the result of the major changes taking place in British education in the years up to 1944. In particular, the Hadow report of 1926 called for the division of primary and secondary education, to take place on the cusp of adolescence at 11 or 12. The imposition of such a stark break in the Butler Act seemed to offer an ideal opportunity to implement streaming, since all children would be changing school anyway. Testing at 11 emerged largely as a historical accident, without clear forethought. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ...
Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ...
Criticism of the eleven plus arose on a number of grounds. Success was determined not only by ability but also by location and gender. 35% of pupils in the South West secured grammar school places as opposed to 10% in Nottinghamshire.[2] Due to the continuance of single-sex schooling, there were fewer places for girls than boys. South West England is one of the regions of England. ...
Nottinghamshire (abbreviated Notts) is an English county in the East Midlands, which borders South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. ...
Single-sex education is the practice of conducting education where male and female students attend separate classes or in separate buildings or schools. ...
The merits of testing at 11+, when children were at varying stages of maturity, has been questioned, particularly when the impact of the test on later life is taken into account. Children who developed later (so-called "late bloomers") suffered because there was inflexibility in the system to move them between grammar and secondary modern schools. Once a child had been allocated to one type of school or the other it was extremely difficult to have this assessment changed. (It was however possible, at least in some areas, for academically able pupils from secondary modern schools to transfer to grammar schools around age 17 in order to study for GCE A-levels, and in some cases to progress to higher education.) Areas using the exam today have recognised this concern, and offer reassessment in later years, notably at Key Stage 3. Teen redirects here. ...
Key Stage 3 sets the educational knowledge expected of a child aged between 11-14 in the United Kingdom National Curriculum Key stage 3 strategy and development of pupils mathematical language It is debatable whether the faculty of mathematics is an independent one. ...
Critics of the eleven plus also claimed that there was a strong class bias in the exam. JWB Douglas, studying the question in 1957, found that children on the borderline of passing were more likely to get grammar school places if they came from middle class families.[3] For example, questions about the role of household servants or classical composers were easier for middle class children to answer but far less familiar to those from less wealthy or less educated backgrounds. This criticism was certainly true of the earlier forms of the exam, and as a result the eleven plus became more like an IQ test during the 1960s. It has been argued that middle class opposition to the eleven plus rose partly as a result of this move to greater fairness.
Overall, it has been suggested by some that a large number of students were unfairly treated by the eleven plus. The sociologist AH Halsey claimed that as much as one quarter of pupils were misallocated by the exam. It is generally agreed that there were problems with the eleven plus exam and even those advocating a return to the Tripartite System usually acknowledge the need to review testing methods.
Use of the eleven plus today In counties in which vestiges of the Tripartite System still survive, the eleven plus continues to exist. Today it usually takes on the form of an entrance test to a specific group of schools, rather than a blanket exam for all pupils, and is taken voluntarily. For more information on these, see the main article on grammar schools. The largest area still operating the eleven plus is Northern Ireland, although it is planned to phase the exam out this year. For more information, see the main article on the Tripartite System. A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom. ...
Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...
The Tripartite System, known colloquially as the grammar school system, was the structure by which Britains secondary education was organised between the 1944 Butler Education Act and 1976. ...
Independent schools, particularly those Direct Grant Grammars which seceded from the state system after the abolition of the Tripartite System, often model their entrance exams upon the old eleven plus. A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom. ...
The content of the examination differs from area to area, but most children sit a Verbal Reasoning paper, many sit a non-verbal reasoning paper and some sit a mathematics paper or different combinations of all three.
Scoring The scores in a few cases (mainly in Kent, where the eleven plus is commonly taken in its most standard form, but NOT in any other areas of the UK) add up to 700. The verbal reasoning, mathematics and writing are all out of 141 (in standardised scores). Writing and mathematics are doubled and verbal reasoning added on to make a total score out of 700 standardised points.
When used to decide whether students are eligible for a grammar school education, a pass mark is set to decide. Usually, the pass mark is between 500 and 510. People who exceed that are given the opportunity to study at grammar school while those who fall below that are often not. Should a score be close to yet slightly below the pass mark be achieved then the candidate may appeal to get into grammar school. Generally someone who gets between 500 and 530 has achieved just enough to pass. Those getting 530 to 600 are most likely fairly able to carry on to grammar school without a problem. Students who score between 600 and 650 are considered extremely bright. Those that exceed a score of 650 are rare yet exemplary cases and will have no problems whatsoever in making the transition from primary to secondary education.
In Northern Ireland, pupils are awarded grades in the following ratios to pupils sitting the exam: A (25%), B1 (5%), B2 (5%), C1 (5%), C2 (5%), D (55%) and there is no official distinction between pass grades and fail grades.
References
External links
In favour of the Eleven Plus/Academic Selection - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article548046.ece
- http://education.guardian.co.uk/specialreports/grammarschools/story/0,5500,1537655,00.html
Against the Eleven Plus/Academic Selection
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