Key Facts
- The assessment will be taken as an online assessment. In Channing, we will provide each candidate with a Chrome book.
- Candidates eligible for additional time will be granted this in accordance with JCQ rules, if the request is made and evidence is provided before the application deadline.
- Candidates will either sit the assessment in their current school or at one of the Consortium schools to which they have applied, if their current school is unable to provide this facility.
- The onus is on the applicant family to ask their current school if they are hosting the assessment and to find out the arrangements. Channing will provide the applicant’s Headteacher with a unique access code for their daughter to be able to sit the assessment at her current school.
- We recommend all applicants practise the London 11+ Consortium Familiarisation Test to understand the six different areas of the assessment. The six different areas of the assessment are: Maths; Non Verbal Reasoning; English; Verbal Reasoning; Puzzles and Problem Solving and Creative Comprehension.
- Candidates can only sit the assessment once, irrespective of the number of Consortium schools to which they are applying.
- If the applicant is sitting at a Consortium school, the applicant may have either a morning or an afternoon assessment. Consortium Schools will advise their applicants of the exact date and start time for their sitting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the key dates and times I need to know?
- The deadline for applications is Friday 8 November 2024.
- Consortium school and applicant’s schools can only host the 11+ assessment on the following dates:
- – Friday 29 November 2024
– Tuesday 3 December 2024
– Thursday 5 December 2024
- The Channing 11+ Assessment Day will be held on Thursday 5 December 2024 only
- The Channing 11+ Interview Day is in Tuesday 7 January 2025 only
- Offers to be sent on Friday 14 February 2025
- Deadline for offer acceptances noon on Thursday 6 March 2025
Tell me more about the assessment?
The assessment designed for the Consortium is almost entirely bespoke and designed in partnership with a group of primary and secondary curriculum specialists in Consortium schools.
How long will the new Consortium exam take? How will candidates manage their time?
The assessment will be 100 minutes long (1 hour 40 minutes). There will be a 30-minute break in the middle. During the exam, candidates will see a clock on their screen that will count down in minutes showing them how long they have left for each section. It will be visible but not so large as to distract them from their work. We have deliberately chosen for the clock not to count down in seconds as we thought this might distract some candidates.
They will not be given any additional time warnings.
What about candidates eligible for extra time?
Candidates eligible for extra time will be asked to indicate their entitlement and attach relevant reports, at the point of application to Consortium schools. We can only consider extra time requests using information that has been provided to us up to the application closing date. Admissions teams will then ask families to provide evidence of this entitlement, in accordance with JCQ rules. Candidates eligible for extra time will be granted their extra time on each section of the exam. The extra time will automatically be added to the candidates’ individual exam clock. Extra time candidates sitting the test in Channing, are in a room together away from non-Extra Time candidates.
What will be tested in the new entrance examination?
There will be six distinct components, taken in the following order:
Part 1: (Adaptive)
- 20 minutes for Maths
- 10 minutes for Non-Verbal Reasoning
- 20 minutes for English comprehension
- 10 minutes for Verbal Reasoning
Break: 30 minutes
Part 2: (Non-Adaptive)
- 15 minutes for Puzzles and Problem Solving
- 25 minutes for the Creative Comprehension
Is the assessment adaptive or non-adaptive? What does this mean?
Part one of the examination will be adaptive. The adaptive nature ensures every child can have a good experience completing the assessment as the questions will be tailored to their performance. Adaptive assessment is a tried and tested method of assessment that yields reliable results, especially in assessing cognitive reasoning ability. Part two of the examination (Puzzles and Problem Solving & Creative Comprehension) will be nonadaptive, meaning all candidates will see exactly the same questions. The English comprehension passage will also be the same but questions will be adaptive.
I would like to know more about each section. What can you tell me?
You should look at the London 11+ Consortium Familiarisation Test
We hope the information below is helpful to learn a little more about each section:
Maths section: The questions will be based on the National Curriculum for Year 5 and we will not test anything on the Year 6 curriculum. This is to make things fair as different schools will teach the Year 6 curriculum in different orders. Because we have many very able candidates taking the Consortium exam, we will provide stretch and challenge through the style and depth of the questions we ask. This section is adaptive, with questions suited to the performance of each candidate.
Non-Verbal Reasoning (NVR): This will involve assessment of the candidate’s ability to identify patterns and think logically. NVR is a tried and tested component of many cognitive reasoning assessments. The questions can seem strange to candidates who have never seen those sorts of questions before, so we recommend that all candidates look at our familiarisation materials. We do not, however, recommend intense preparation as any gains quickly become very marginal. This section is adaptive (see above for an explanation).
English Comprehension and Verbal Reasoning: The text will be a piece of fiction specially written for the Consortium examination. Questions will be adaptive depending on a candidate’s performance. There will be no extended writing required. Candidates should not be thrown by vocabulary they do not know as one of the things we are assessing is the ability to infer meaning from context. The questions are adaptive. Comprehension will be followed by an assessment of a candidate’s ability to identify the correct use of standard English in context. This section will not require any recall of grammar, and candidates who read widely will be well prepared for this section.
Puzzles and Problem-solving: This section tests the ability of candidates to use words and numbers to solve multi-step problems. The section is non-adaptive but candidates are likely to complete different numbers of questions in the time available.
Creative Comprehension (Analysis component): Candidates have to use information from a variety of different sources to answer questions. The information provided will be given to them in a range of different formats and they may have to look at several different sources simultaneously to answer questions. The context is likely to be unfamiliar to all candidates but in the event of a candidate being familiar with the context, this will not confer any advantage on them. This section is non-adaptive.
Why is the entrance examination online? Will this not put candidates unused to typing at a disadvantage? What type of device will candidates use?
Many secondary schools are now running online assessments, so we are not unusual in this respect. There is no extended writing required for our exam so typing ability will not impact on results. Putting the assessment online significantly reduces the risk of human error, leading to results all our Consortium schools can trust. Even GCSE examination boards are now piloting online assessments and we believe this is where the future of assessment lies. The entrance exam can be taken on many different types of devices including iPads, PCs, laptops and chrome books. At Channing all candidates will be given a chrome book. The device used should not make any difference to a candidate’s performance.
Why is the Consortium offering three test dates? Why are all candidates not sitting the test on the same day? Why are you not allowing the test to be taken within a certain timeframe?
Because some elements of our London 11+ Consortium assessment are non-adaptive, we cannot allow candidates to take the test whenever they wish. They have to take it on one of three selected dates – Friday 29 November, or Tuesday 3 December, or Thursday 5 December 2024. We have allowed three dates to enable as many primary and prep schools as possible, to host the tests themselves, giving them flexibility to work around their calendars. To ensure security, different non-adaptive content has been produced for each of the three sitting dates. Our Consortium schools will accommodate pupils who cannot take the exam in their own school. Channing will host the assessment on Thursday 5 December 2024 only.
Why are you allowing some candidates to take the exam in their own school and some in Consortium schools? Is this fair?
All schools will have to abide by strict rules set out by the Consortium to make things fair for all candidates:
- The exam must start within a certain time frame within the day. This is to preserve the security of the exam.
- The exam can only be taken on three selected dates – Friday 29 November, or Tuesday 3 December, or Thursday 5 December 2024.
- The break must occur at the same point for ALL candidates. Candidates must resume the exam after a specified break duration of 30 minutes.
- Only Consortium schools will be allowed to run afternoon sittings. We are allowing this to increase capacity for candidates to take the assessment at Consortium schools if required, and because our schools will ensure there is no possibility of afternoon candidates finding out the questions from morning candidates.
Will the exam be the same on each of your three exam days?
The adaptive sections change for each candidate as they work their way through the relevant section of the examination. This means that every candidate will answer different questions on the adaptive parts of the assessment. The adaptive parts of the assessment are therefore intrinsically secure.
As a reminder these are: the Maths section, the Non Verbal and Verbal Reasoning section, as well as the questions (but not the passage) on the English comprehension.
The non-adaptive sections will change for each of the three sittings of the exam: the comprehension passage, the problem-solving and the Creative Comprehension. This is to ensure that candidates do not gain any advantage by sitting the test on a later test date. Results will be standardised across the three sittings to ensure parity between candidates taking the assessment on different days.
My daughter’s school cannot offer her the facility to take the exam. What should I do?
Please do not worry! Whilst we hope that many schools will offer this facility as they did previously, we recognise that not all schools have the capacity or time to do this. Consortium schools will ask ALL families to indicate where their daughter will sit the assessment.
The location at which a candidate sits the exam has no bearing on the outcome of the application. Candidates should not be at any advantage whether sitting at a Consortium school or in their own school. If sitting at a Consortium school, we do not mind which Consortium schools a family selects.
My daughter’s school is offering the facility to take the exam there but I would rather she sat at a Consortium school. Is this possible?
No. If your daughter’s school offers the facility for her to take the exam there, for important logistical reasons we ask that you take up this facility. The ability to run an effective online assessment is dependent on the number of available devices in each school, including in Consortium schools. We need to keep our exam sittings free for those who can only take the exam in a Consortium school.
My daughter is an overseas applicant. Where will she take the exam?
Your daughter is welcome to travel to sit the test in one of our Consortium schools and please indicate to us if she can do this. If you would prefer your daughter to sit the exam overseas, please contact the Admissions team at one of the Consortium schools you have applied to, to find out how to proceed.
What if my daughter is ill on the day of the exam?
If your daughter is unwell on the day of her exam, please alert the Consortium schools to which she has applied as a matter of urgency. A medical certificate will need to be provided to all the Consortium schools to which she has applied. We will aim to organise for her to sit the exam on one of the other exam dates. If this is not possible (for example because her test date was the last of the three possible dates), we have contingency plans in place and you should liaise with the Consortium schools to which she has applied to make arrangements.
What if my daughter is late on the day of her exam?
You should ensure you leave plenty of time for travel as we cannot guarantee being able to give your daughter the full assessment time she needs if she arrives late. However, we do understand that sometimes even the best-laid travel plans can go wrong and we aim to show kindness and flexibility wherever possible.
Will the results affect whether my daughter is invited to interview at the schools to which she has applied?
Some Consortium schools select for interview, and some do not. You need to check the details on the individual schools’ websites. If the school selects for an interview, how they make their decision and how many candidates they invite to interview are matters at their discretion.
At Channing all candidates are interviewed regardless of their 11+ assessment result.
How much preparation does my daughter have to do for the Consortium entrance examination?
We recommend that all candidates look at the familiarisation materials, which are available on our website. Beyond that, our exam will test knowledge of the Year 5 Maths National Curriculum, and candidates will need to know how to read an extended passage of fiction and answer questions on it. These are all skills that your daughter will be developing in school anyway, so your daughter does not need special tuition or intensive practice for this assessment. We actively discourage preparation for the interview. Our interviewers can easily identify the candidate who has been coached for this part of the process. They are also experienced in putting nervous candidates at their ease. We are looking for evidence of creative and independent thinking, and suitability for our schools.