Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.

11+ testing in Devon explained

With three separate Local Authorities involved, applying for a grammar school place in Devon can be challenging. We cut through the confusion and explain what parents need to know.

Which schools require an 11+ pass?

There are seven exclusively grammar schools in Devon, and just to make it more challenging for parents, there are also three Local Authorities (LA) involved in admissions: Devon County Council, Plymouth and Torbay.

Prepare For The 11+ Exam

Essential English and maths skills
Verbal and non-verbal reasoning questions
Reading comprehension & CLOZE tests

Find out more

There is also one bilateral school, The Spires College (Torbay LA; mixed), which is an all-ability school with a separate grammar stream for children who pass the 11+.

What do the tests involve?

The tests vary between the different areas of the county. All schools set English and maths papers, with some schools assessing verbal reasoning too. The format of the tests varies too, from multiple choice and short answer questions to pieces of extended creative writing. You'll find more detailed information about testing arrangements on the individual schools' websites, but the table below summarises the testing procedures at each school:

School	Tests required
Colyton	Verbal reasoning (VR), English, maths
Devonport Boys	English, maths, English composition
Devonport Girls	English, maths, two locally set English papers
Plymouth Girls	English, maths, written English
Churston Ferrers	Two VR and NVR papers, English and maths
Torquay Boys	Two VR and NVR papers, English and maths
Torquay Girls	Two VR and NVR papers, English and maths
The Spires College	Two VR and non-verbal reasoning (NVR) papers, English and maths

Exam Papers Plus & TheSchoolRun.com

If you're looking for practice papers for your child's 11+, our partners at Exam Papers Plus have papers for specific schools, as well as courses and mock exams for each area.

And their Pretest Plus offers online tests and video courses to help your child succeed at CAT, ISEB PRETEST, CEM SELECT and UKISET examinations.

What version of the test is used?

Plymouth's selective schools use GL Assessment tests but the individual schools themselves set some of the papers.

The Torbay schools and Colyton Grammar School, however, were using CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring) Entrance Assessment Tests, to assess verbal ability (comprehension, vocabulary and verbal reasoning), numerical reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. However, CEM will no longer be providing 11+ tests from September 2023. Further information will be added to this page in due course. We recommend contacting individual schools for more information about their new test provider.

How do you arrange for your child to take the test?

The registration forms for all schools in the county are available for parents to download on each of the school’s own websites.

Parents can find detailed information about the timeline and content for the 11+ examinations on the Plymouth council website.

Further details for admission arrangements for any of the Torbay schools can be found on the school admissions website.

Where are the tests held?

The tests are held at each the selective schools. Your child will usually sit the test at the school that you're most likely to apply to.

What is the pass mark?

The required standard not only varies from school to school but also from year to year depending on the range of ability of the children taking the test. For example, the Plymouth schools allocate their places in rank order, while the Torbay schools have a minimum pass mark of 50 per cent for the English and maths papers, but a variable pass mark for VR. Each school has slightly different variations on the way that children are considered ‘selected’ so it’s important to visit the relevant school website to familiarise themselves with the individual school’s admission policy.

How can I help prepare my child?

GL Assessment practice papers and support materials are available to buy from bookstores and online. Some of Devon’s selective schools also run familiarisation sessions and mock exams at the schools prior to testing day. These details can be found on the school’s individual website under Admissions.

Please be aware that while every effort is made to ensure the information we provide is accurate, admissions arrangements for Year 7 entry change regularly and it is essential to check for the most up-to-date advice on schools' own websites.

NB: TheSchoolRun receives a small commission from sales made through Exam Paper Plus.

Worksheet finder

TheSchoolRun offers parents thousands of printable and interactive worksheets, covering every aspect of the primary curriculum. These are available to our subscribers but you can try a few for free here:

Tutorial finder

In each interactive tutorial, our digital teacher explains the method, shows you examples and then gives you a chance to practise what you've learned. Find out more.

Tutorials are available to TheSchoolRun subscribers only but you can try for free: Learning the 4 times table, Long multiplication and Finding multiples

Learning pack finder

If there is a specific area of learning your child needs support with, our packs offer information, advice and plenty of engaging practical activities. Written by teachers and experts and exclusively available to TheSchoolRun subscribers, learning packs (each 50+ pages long) are fun as well as practice-packed.

How to use TheSchoolRun

Testimonials

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Having taught in primary schools for 40 years I still found your support a useful tool and a source of new and helpful information. You made my tutoring sessions a fun and successful way to learn. Many many thanks for being there for me.

- Patricia, Essex

Thank you for all your extraordinary materials that have made working with my Year 6 child such a pleasure.

- Yolanda, London

This is an excellent resource, for anybody looking to understand more about the curriculum that your children are studying and add some extra support at home. Highly recommended by a parent of two children who uses this from Reception to Year 4.

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