Preparing for 11+ and 13+ Interviews: A Guide

October 23, 2018

• Effective Revision
• / Topical

If your child is worried about their upcoming independent school interviews, then we have some tips and advice to help guide you and your child through the preparations for 11+ and 13+ interview. With this knowledge, we hope that they will be successful in interview and impress their prospective school.

Why?

The point of the interview is to ascertain whether your child will be a good fit their new school, and of course whether the school will be a good match for your child. It might be an idea to ask your child why they want to go to this particular school, and how they might contribute to school as these are questions that are likely to be asked at interview. Is it renowned for its sport facilities and teams? Would your child join music societies, or tread the boards in performing arts? Ensure your child is ready and willing to talk about themselves, what they can offer to the school, and why they would be a well-suited to school life there.

What?

When attending the interview, ensure that your child is prepared with the relevant materials they will need to bring with them. A portfolio of certificates, examples of written work, or photos and evidence of extracurricular activities, will give your child the confidence to talk about things without getting flustered, as well as providing the interviewer with a focus for their questions. Presentation is also important: you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Dressing smartly, making eye contact, smiling, and having proper posture are all crucial ways for your child to impress at interview.

When?

On the day of the interview it is important for your child to be relaxed and to be themselves. If they have thought about how they might give answers on the ethos, history, and style of education the school offers then they will be a good position to perform well at interview. By preparing for 11+ and 13+ interviews with research about the school, both interviewer and interviewee will have a framework for seeing whether school and child are well-suited to each other. But be aware: there is a big difference between preparing and rehearsing: your child should be speaking naturally, not reciting pre-prepared answers. Your child need not rush their answers, but they should try to avoid repeating themselves, giving answers that are too brief, or giving unbalanced responses that overly focus on a single perspective.

How?

Simply talking with your child is one of the best ways to prepare. Get their thoughts on the school in question, but also on current affairs, articles in the news, issues that are affecting them, and pressing topics of modern life. Most independent schools will expect your child to be well-informed of what is going on in the world at the moment, so reading newspapers at home and talking about the most pressing news of the day on the drive home from school all represent good ways of preparing for 11+ and 13+ interviews.

With these simple preparations, your child will be ready for anything that is thrown at them; we hope that this guide will help your child in preparing for 11+ and 13+ interviews.