Having worked with Hong Kong students for over a decade, I know how dedicated they can be to exam preparation. Both in Hong Kong and in the UK, I’ve helped students study for Grammar and Independent School exams, and there are a few common areas where they lose marks. Read on for ideas of how Hong Kong students can improve their performance on the 11+:
Vocabulary
The 11+ exam selects students with a vocabulary level above that of a typical first-language speaker. It does this by including some very unusual words that aren’t taught in school. Students from Hong Kong struggle on the Verbal Reasoning paper for this reason. Even a very strong English speaker is unlikely to know the high-level words used in this paper.
There is not a pre-set word list to learn, and the amount of vocabulary a student needs to acquire can’t be learned quickly. Students need to stretch their vocabulary with a wide range of books and vocabulary exercises for at least a year in order to be comfortable with the complex words in this exam. Those who read for pleasure on a regular basis are the most successful.
Analytical thinking
Two papers that commonly appear in 11+ exams are Verbal Reasoning and Non-verbal Reasoning. These require a specific style of thinking that students may not have experienced before.
There are regularly occurring question types and specific techniques that students can practise. Although schools often tell parents not to over-prepare their children or arrange tutoring sessions, students from Hong Kong will struggle to perform well on these papers without this help.
Maths problems
Although students in Hong Kong are typically ahead of UK students in Maths, they can still struggle with Maths papers on 11+ exams. This is because Maths in the UK typically involves a lot of word problems, and students need to have strong English to understand exactly what the question is asking.
It’s worth spending time doing mock Maths papers in order to understand the question style and language. This is a paper that Hong Kong students can do extremely well on, pulling up their overall score. However, they need to prepare well in order to reach their full potential.
Literary breadth
This issue mainly applies to students taking 11+ exams for Independent rather than (or as well as) Grammar Schools. These students have an additional English paper, which they struggle with if their reading experience has been too narrow. Exam papers at this level often ask students to read extracts from old stories with antiquated vocabulary or tales that reference cultural and historical details unfamiliar to students from Hong Kong.
Reading English classics helps students prepare for this paper. The texts don’t need to be adult-level in complexity; they simply need to include the language and setting details that will broaden their literary experience. A great list to start with is:
- Carrie’s War by Nina Bawden
- Charlotte’s Web by EB White
- The Narnia Series by CS Lewis
- Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
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