It might be difficult to find your way around the 11 Plus the first time as a parent. How do you aid your kid in getting ready for the Bexley Grammar 11 Plus Exam? What kind of exam structure is it? What stores sell test papers? We’ve provided parents with a “Bexley Grammar 11 Plus Exam  Tips” in this article that seeks to address all of your concerns.

Bexley Grammar School, Bexley

Bexley Grammar School is a co-educational grammar school in the London borough of Bexley. It is an average sized secondary school with academy status and it is relatively unusual in that it offers the International Baccalaureate rather than A-levels at Sixth Form. This page has everything you need to know about Bexley Grammar School and can help you get started with the admissions process. You can also find helpful information about the 11 plus exam, such as exam practice resources, information about exam boards and key dates in the calendar.

School details:

Address: Bexley Grammar School, Danson Lane, Welling, DA16 2BL

County: Kent

Type of school: Co-educational grammar school

Age range: 11-18

Ofsted rating: Outstanding

Number of pupils: 1352

Admissions to Year 7: 192

Open evening (2024 entry): TBC – the exact date will be uploaded here but you can also see their Virtual Open Evening here

11+ exam date (2024 entry): September 2023

Exam board: Bexley Secondary Test (CEM)

Admissions phone number: 020 8304 8538

Admissions email address: enquiries@bexleygs.co.uk

A Brief Overview of Bexley Grammar School and its Performance

The school was originally founded in 1955 and previously had specialisms in Languages, Science and Mathematics. Many parents are attracted to the school because it offers a broader curriculum at Sixth Form as it follows the IB rather than A-level programme; you can see more comments that parents have made about the school here. In terms of student make up, approximately 19% of pupils speak English as a second language, 7% are on free school meals and 1% have some support for special educational needs.

The school’s results are very good: you can see a full breakdown of their 2019 GCSE results here, but the main headlines are that 53% of grades were awarded 9-7 (A*-A), and 2 students gained 12 level 9s (only 8 students in England achieved this). You can also see a full breakdown of the IB results here, but the average score was 32.7 (the average global score was 30.07) and this is roughly equivalent to AAB/ABB. Furthermore, 30 students gained 38 points or more which places them in the top 17% in the world; 81% of all the grades were at the higher grades of 5, 6 or 7 (compared to 57% worldwide); and one student achieved the perfect maximum point score of 45 (only 201 students out of about 150,000 students from across the world achieved this). 6 students also won places at Oxford and Cambridge.

In 2022, in GCSEs the 9-7 (old A*-A) measure is 68.5%, an increase of 5% on last year. It is remarkable that over two-thirds of all the grades awarded to their students are in this top category. For IB, just shy of 40% of students gained 38 points or more, a typical Oxford University offer. 62% of all grades were a 6 or a 7 and 92% were a 5 or higher.

Bexley Grammar 11 Plus Admissions Process: 2024 Entry

Below you can find the key dates in the calendar for the 2024 entry. Although Bexley Council have not yet released their booklet for 2024 entry, you can see their information booklet for 2023-2024 entry which contains lots of useful details and answers to frequently asked questions. Similarly the school have not yet uploaded their admissions policies for this year, but you can see last year’s admissions policies here.

Preparing for Bexley Grammar 11 Plus Exam

The Bexley Selection Test is based on the CEM exam board, and you can find all the information about the papers here. The Bexley Selection Test consists of two 45-50 minute exams, testing English and Verbal Reasoning, and Maths nd Non-Verbal Reasoning. Each test will be divided into sections with an allocated amount of time. The test papers are multiple choice, with the exception of some Maths questions where the answer must be calculated by the child and written in a separate exam booklet. The invigilators play an audio soundtrack with all of the instructions and it will also tell them how much time to spend on each section and when to move on. Children normally take both tests on the same morning/afternoon with a break of about 30 minutes in between.

The Bexley test is very competitive, and so it is worth starting preparation early.  Only about 30% of children get a high enough mark to be able to apply to a grammar school in the area. Last year, 5829 pupils sat the test, and 1999 were selected. Getting into this group doesn’t guarantee a grammar school place, but it does mean grammar schools will look at your child’s application first.

While much of the test is like KS2 Maths and English questions that candidates are familiar with from school, Verbal and Non-Verbal reasoning may be new and this may be where your child should start with revision. This helpful 11 Plus Exam Guide to the Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning Tests can help you to better understand how to prepare your child for these elements of the Bexley Selection Test, and it’s also worth checking out the CEM Assessment page, which has lots of handy resources.

As the exam is scheduled for mid-September, your child should already be getting prepared. However, if they have not started revising yet, it is not too late. Discover Help your Child Become 11 Plus-Ready in the Six-Month Countdown to the exam for support in approaching exam readiness and preparation, and for parents who are unsure where to begin, you might like to check out this Top 10 Tips to Pass the 11+ Exam guide.

You may also want to invest in some CGP resources which are specifically designed for the CEM paper – they have everything from exercise books, flashcards, 10 minute tests and practice exams to choose from.

Bexley Grammar School Sample Test Papers and Resources

There are past papers available online, but it’s important to remember that it does vary slightly from year to year in order to make it harder for students to prepare. As the Secondary Transfer Test uses the CEM exam board there are lots of resources and past papers available online; you can find a selection of these below.

English and Verbal Reasoning

11+ English and Verbal Reasoning Book 1 | Answer 1

Maths

11+ Maths Test Book 1 | Answer Sheet 1

Non-Verbal Reasoning

11+ Non Verbal Reasoning Book 1 | Answer Sheet 1

11+ Non Verbal Reasoning Book 2 | Answer Sheet 2

There are lots of overlaps in question types between the CEM and GL exam boards, and so it may be worth checking out this page which offers lots more links to CEM and GL resources.

Additional Information about Bexley Grammar School

Bexley Grammar School offers a very good range of extra-curricular activities, including everything from Robotics Club, Poetry Club, Rock School, Afro-Caribbean Society, Junior Jazz to LGBT+ Alliance. The school also has excellent facilities (you can see a full list here) – it covers a 20 acre site with 14 acres of playing fields, including 2 full sized rugby pitches and 3 full sized football pitches, 7 tennis courts, 5 netball courts and 2 cricket pitches. The school’s Higher Education and Careers Department is also impressive, in particular in that it offers good support to students not thinking of attending university, and arranges trips to Apprenticeships and Insight Events. You can find more information, plus a full list of leavers’ destinations over the last five years, here. You may also want to check out the school prospectus, the school’s vision and ethos, or their termly magazine in order to get a sense of the life of the school.

Bexley Grammar School FAQs

What is Bexley Grammar School’s Ofsted rating?

Bexley Grammar School’s Ofsted rating is ‘Outstanding’. You can find all the previous reports and ratings here.

Does Bexley Grammar School have a catchment area?

There is a catchment area, although this does vary from year to year. Distance is measured as a straight line from home to Bexley Grammar School. Last year (as of June 2020) it was 2.53 miles, but it extends a little further when students on the waiting list take up vacated places (to nearer the 3 mile mark).

What is the pass mark for the Secondary Transfer Test?

This can vary slightly year on year, but last year the pass mark was 214.

What happens if Bexley Grammar School is oversubscribed?

In the event that more boys pass the entrance exams than there are places, then priority will be given to looked after children, children on Pupil Premium, children with a sibling already at the school, children with health needs and children who live within the catchment area.

What are the chances of an appeal?

If your child is very close to the pass mark – say, they score 213 rather than 214 – then it may be tempting to lodge an appeal. However, it is worth remembering that many students will be in the same position (for example, last year, almost 80 students missed out by just one mark) and the chances are relatively low. The school has an average of 22 appeals each year over the past 3 years (a total of 67 appeals) and there has been only one successful appeal in those 3 years.

Are the results standardised by age?

Yes – the test papers are marked by an external company, who convert the raw scores (the number of correct answers in each section) into an age-standardised score to make allowance for the child’s age at the time of the test and to ensure that younger children are not disadvantaged.

You can also access further 11 plus exam resources below:

Best Private Schools in the UK: Top 100 List

Best Grammar Schools in the UK: Top 100 List 

A Guide to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning Tests

11+ Maths Exam: Helping Your Child to Prepare and Pass in 2022

Meet the 11+ Online Tutors Delivering Results

When Should you Start to Prepare Your Child for the 11 Plus Exam