Preparing for 13 Plus English: Ten Tips for International Students

How do I prepare my child for the UK 13 Plus English examinations?

The 13 Plus English examinations can seem like a daunting prospect for your son or daughter. Simple information, like the kind of skills that will be assessed, may be hard to come by and many students feel that they struggle with a particular aspect of reading and writing, especially if English isn’t their native language.

1. Start 13 Plus preparation early

It is never too soon to start preparing your child for the 13 Plus English examinations. And the simple reason for this is that success in the exams often comes down to one thing: reading. A child that reads for twenty minutes every day will independently access 1,800,000 words over the school year and often scores in the 90th percentile whereas a child that only reads for five minutes a day will only access 282,000 words, on their own over the school year, and is more likely to score in the 50th percentile.

This simple action of reading for twenty minutes a day can be a particularly powerful tool to help international students to compete with their peers on the day of the exam.

2. Know what skills to practice

One of the intentions of the 13 Plus examinations is to assess how well the student will perform in their GCSEs (which are the UK’s General Certificate of Secondary Education). Therefore, the most successful approach to the 13 Plus English paper is to have a clear understanding of the two skills that are essential to the GCSE English syllabus.

1) Inference:

The ability to explain what the language that the writer has used suggests. Inferences are something that we all do every day. If someone walks into the office with a wet umbrella, we don’t need to look out of the window to know that it has been raining. We can infer it from the evidence. Students need to do the same thing with the language that the writer uses: for example, if the writer tells us that ‘Van Cheele had been talking nonstop on the drive to the station’ we might infer from the evidence ‘talking nonstop’ that Van Cheele is an arrogant character who doesn’t care about what his companion has to say.

2) Imagery:

The ability to create pictures in the reader’s mind using the five senses. Imagery is, again, something that we all use in our day-to-day conversations. We use it to show each other what an experience was like for us. For example, after a particularly lovely day at the beach we might create an image in our conversation of ‘the sun glistening on the waves.’ The best 13 Plus English students will use imagery to show the examiner what the experiences in their writing are like. For example, they won’t simply tell the examiner that ‘the man was upset.’ They will show how ‘Slowly, the man’s red-rimmed eyes raised to meet mine as a single tear slid down his burning cheek.’

3. Create a routine

It can be difficult to manage the demands of a busy school schedule, extra-curricular activities and preparation for the 13 Plus English exam. One of the best approaches, therefore, is to build small and meaningful routines into the day. For example, in the exam your child will be expected to read and comprehend the most important ideas in a fiction extract in about ten minutes. Something simple, such as starting each day with a ten-minute reading activity over breakfast, can make a huge impact over a period of many months. Just make sure the reading activity is followed up with a brief period of discussion or reflection where questions are asked such as: what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the extract? And, how does the writer want us to feel about what happened? Some parents find that reading the extract can be an activity that the whole family takes part in and this can make international students feel like they’re less isolated in their revision.

4. Get them reading

You may be picking up on a bit of a theme here, but reading is one of the simplest and most effective forms of preparation for any English paper. Some parents may read that sentence and think – but my child is a reluctant reader! It’s really difficult to get them to sit down with a book. One important perspective on this problem is that all reading is useful reading. Yes, it would be lovely if your son or daughter was avidly making their way through the classic works of literature. But, if they aren’t, forcing them to do this will not help to instil a positive attitude towards reading. Therefore, let them read what they want (most of the time.) Whilst encouraging them to be more thoughtful and experimental in choosing the books that they like. If they happen to be obsessed with football find a young adult book with a main character who’s nuts about football. Because everything that they read: as long as it is in English, will be helping them to develop that important understanding of how fiction works.

The school reading list is a great place to start for recommended and accessible reads for 12-year-olds.

5. Read widely

Schools are keen to emphasise the importance of wide and ambitious reading for students sitting the 13 Plus. So, once you have your child reading regularly, it is beneficial to start thinking about how you can broaden their reading base. This is also a particularly useful strategy to help your child prepare for their interview day as being asked to talk about a book that they’ve enjoyed recently is a very common question that comes up.

At Owl Tutors, we’ve put together a list of enjoyable texts that can stretch and challenge your child’s reading experience, but another useful online resource is the Tes.com. Just search for 19th, 20th and 21st century fiction extracts to find collections of literature that your child can use in their studies.

6. Purchase revision guides

Revision guides are an essential part of every student’s preparation but, for overseas parents, it can be hard to know which ones to use. The revision series that I would recommend is the Common Entrance 13 Plus English for ISEB CE and KS3 by Galore Park. The Revision Guide takes a supportive step by step approach to practising key skills for the Reading and Writing papers. With a diverse range of activities to work through, the Guide helps students to fulfil their potential in the ISEB common entrance exams and other Independent school exams at 13 Plus.

7. Join a community

It is easy to feel isolated and unsure about whether you’re doing the right thing when you are overseas but working to prepare your child for the 13 Plus English examinations. Fortunately, you are not the only parent who has sat at home with questions that need answering. There are, in the UK, a wealth of chat rooms and message boards where parents can ask each other questions about any aspect of the learning process. Mumsnet is one of the most popular UK sites so, if you want to reach out to UK parents who have already successfully guided their child through the 13 Plus admissions process then just pop a question in the Secondary Education forum and you’ll be sure to find the advice and reassurance that you’re looking for.

8. Keep them motivated

There will come a time, in anyone’s study, where it feels like the work that they are doing has become a bit of a slog or where they start to doubt their self-belief. This is a particularly normal part of the learning process, especially if you are twelve years old and trying to work through a revision guide on your own.

One of the best ways to keep your child motivated is to get a tutor who can provide specialised support and encouragement as the exam day comes closer. It can also help to take a hands-on approach with your child yourself. If you feel confident enough to (and have the time) talk to your child about their learning. The questions don’t need to be complex but can be reflective ones that help your child to identify the successes that they have achieved. Think back to the way that you rewarded other milestones when they were in primary school. Does reading their first 19th century extract independently deserve an ice cream? What about when they complete the first chapter of the revision guide? All good tutors know that praise is a much more effective motivator than criticism so keep track of your child’s progress in whatever way works best for them and keep on making a big deal about every one of their achievements.

9. Encourage their creativity

In the reading section of the exam, Independent schools want to see that your child can respond sensitively to language but in the writing section it is all about demonstrating creativity. This isn’t necessarily creativity in their creative writing because your child may be asked to write an essay rather than a story. It’s more about creative thinking. If your son or daughter is going to be asked to write a piece that asks them to come up with better solutions for recycling or what technology may look like in the future then they need to be able to respond imaginatively and with an inventiveness of ideas.

There are, fortunately, lots of ways that parents can help their child to foster creative thinking, such as, providing materials, creating new frameworks around mistakes and even changing the language that is used around the house This article by a PhD researcher in education gives an excellent overview of some of the ways that you can help to strengthen those creative and critical muscles around the home.

10. Get a tutor

Last but not least is to get specialised support for your child. 13 Plus English tutors are experts in the kind of questions that will come up in the examinations and know exactly how to prepare your child to answer them successfully. We will be there to provide the meaningful feedback that your child needs and then put in an intervention to develop those skills. It is this process that really builds your child’s confidence as they can see the clear evidence that they are passing each exam question. Whether it’s encouraging their reading, fostering their creativity or any of the other tips mentioned above, an Owl Tutor will be a guiding hand for you and your child throughout the whole wonderful process of growing into a confident and creative student of English.