Wednesday, December 10, 2008

On getting the results of my 11-plus

There's a scary scaled-down 11-plus test on the BBC today. I did common entrance in my day, but I'd heard of the 11-plus and the brutal way in which an 11-year old's future in the state education system - and possibly their livelihood and life - was determined by a single childhood exam.

So I took the mini-version and found it harder than I expected in the time. To my surprise I received 11 out of 15 marks - a pass, which would have qualified me for grammar school. Looking at the answers and explanations, I'm sure I could do much better with a little practice in this kind of problem - but then it's a long time since I was 11, so there's not much comfort in that! 

Dear reader, how would you have done?

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