Children across the UK contemplating going to grammar school will be about to kick start their exam preparation for the 11 Plus. But they may not be the only ones that need to study, as results of an 11 Plus style quiz has revealed that parents can’t correctly answer the questions.
Over 2,000 parents took the test supplied by tuition provider, Explore Learning, but the average correct score for the five questions was only half (54%). London’s average score was even lower with parents answering an average of just 46% correctly.
Scottish parents fared best where respondents had the highest percentages of correct responses. However, parents in the North East had the lowest percentages of correct answers, especially when it came to maths! While grammar proved particularly challenging for parents in Wales and London.
As in the 11 Plus exam, parents were asked a range of questions covering grammar, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and mathematical reasoning to give them a taster of what primary school children undertake.
Maths was a particular sticking point for mums and dads as more than half (51%) didn’t correctly identify the shape that was missing from this matrix.
Square numbers and decimals were less tricky, only a third (33%) of parents didn’t identify the square number in a sequence in the quiz, while almost a quarter (24%) of parents could not identify the lowest decimal value when presented with a selection.
More than half of parents, couldn’t solve the word problem: five children were waiting in a queue: Amira, Byron, Carmen, Darius and Ellen. Amira was standing three places from Byron and next to Carmen. Darius stood between Byron and Ellen. Byron was standing at the back of the queue. Who was standing at the front? 58% of parents answered this question incorrectly.
Correct English was one of the more challenging tasks for parents. Just 38% inserted the correct adjective in the following sentence. The young boy’s skateboard went ……………… down the steep, bumpy hill.
Explore Learning run workshops and courses for parents and children to help upskill them in comprehension and problem-solving.
