5th September 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Kent County Council has said that it is to review its ban on 11 Plus coaching in schools after an investigation revealed that some fee paying schools in the county were tutoring their pupils. The investigation was carried out by the BBC, posing as parents, and 9 out of 10 schools said that they helped their students prepare for the test. There is currently a ban on tutoring students for the 11 Plus across state and independent schools to create a level playing field for grammar schools when assessing to whom to offer places.
A spokesperson for the council said that there are currently no dates or times for the review, but it has been decided since the leader of the council, Paul Carter, expressed his opinion to the BBC as a result of their investigation. He questioned why state and fee paying schools shouldn’t be allowed to tutor for the 11 Plus when private schools do. He added that the word ‘familiarisation’ is often used instead of coaching and that the definition of the help given needs to be clearer. The end goal is to ensure that, if students receive different levels of coaching, then that coaching is not a determinant outcome of their 11 Plus results.
Mrs Bromley, the head teacher of Lamberhurst Primary School in Kent, said that in the past every child in the county received coaching, familiarisation and help with the test, both verbal and non-verbal reasoning aspects, and that meant a level playing field. She pointed out that as soon as we start placing restrictions on what schools can and can’t do then parents will seek out the schools which will help their children the most. However, due to limited resources she conceded that allowing all schools to tutor for the 11 Plus might create unfair advantages even within a single school, where funds are allocated only to the students who show the most promise.