The majority of students in Wirral will take the 11+. However, a significant proportion of these will also look to sit the Upton Hall exam. Whilst the majority of selective schools have opted for a selection of literacy, numeracy, non-verbal and verbal reasoning tests, Upton Hall has remained committed to a verbal reasoning test.
What does the test entail?
The Upton Hall test will consist of two, 50 minute tests. These will consist of a range of traditional verbal reasoning questions (detailed below).
How can I help my daughter prepare for this?
Key to success in the Upton Hall test is a combination of strong vocabulary and also a knowledge of how to complete the questions such as code breaking, quickly and accurately. By the time the girls come to take the exam, being able to complete these questions without even looking at the instructions should be a good indicator of the liklihood of success.
How do I boost my child's vocabulary?
This question is often asked and one to which there is no definitive answer. However, some key points to follow would be:-
Regular reading of books that challenge your daughter (see our recommended reading list)
Practicing games that encourage your daughter to think in groups of words (e.g. types of dog/cat etc)
Keeping a list of some of the more challenging words so that these can be dropped into conversation and help your daughter become increasingly confident in their usage.
Tutoring for the Upton Hall Exam
From experience, tutoring for this exam is particularly straightforward, and within six-eight weeks any student should be confident enough to start tackling the majority of the paper themselves.
From here it is a case of improving the speed that they can tackle the paper. This unfortunately is achieved through repetition.
Due to the need for 'repetition' as opposed to 'teaching', we offer the Upton Hall tutoring for free to all students taking our Wirral 11+ course. This even includes a range of verbal reasoning practice papers to help students become confident with the full range of questions.
In addition to the week by week tutoring we encourage all students to read more widely and will provide stuctured homework to support this.