Top tips for the 11+ English writing task

Being an extensive reader is one of the secrets to success for the English writing task. ‘Reading across a wide range of genres helps children to develop their vocabulary, knowledge of writing conventions and sentence structure,’ says Anita. ‘Children who don’t read for pleasure are at a real disadvantage in their English skills by 11+ age.’

Children in some areas are given an additional 10 minutes’ planning time before they start their written task, while in others, they’ll need to allocate their own time to planning from the overall time allowance. In either case, it’s essential that your child does take the time to put together a proper plan, with written notes and a clear structure. ‘Children generally need to be taught to plan, so that they come up with a solid overall plan rather than a vague idea that leads to them wandering off the point,’ Anita explains.

Eleven plus examiners will want to see that your child has good ideas, so encourage them to think of an original twist on the subject matter they’re given. ‘But while their interpretation should be original, it shouldn’t be so off the wall that they don’t get anything done because they’ve made their idea overly complicated and are thinking too hard about it,’ Anita advises. 

One of the key things that 11+ examiners are looking for is an excellent standard of written English. ‘They will want your child’s spelling, punctuation and grammar to be correct, or very nearly correct,’ says Anita. ‘Your child needs to demonstrate a wide vocabulary, a variety of punctuation and use of complex sentence structures, not just simple ones.’

First impressions count, and children who produce neat work and create a good overall impression at first glance tend to get better marks in the test. ‘Handwriting must be legible; ideally it should be joined, but if your child struggles with this, it’s better for them to use unjoined script that is clearer to read,’ Anita says.

There’s no set amount for how much children should write in the English task, but Anita advises aiming for a side of A4. ‘For children with larger writing or bigger spaces between words, this may be more like a side and a half, but children shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking that the more they write, the better: it’s more important to produce quality than quantity,’ Anita says.

It’s essential that your child leaves time to read through their work and correct any mistakes. ‘This is a vital part of the writing task,’ says Anita. ‘Also, remind your child that if they find an error, it is always better to correct it: some children are reluctant to alter their work because they don’t like to make it look messy by changing things, but a neatly corrected error is always preferable to leaving a mistake in place.’

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