"eleven plus" means: An examination formerly administered to all students in their final year of primary education, now used only in a few counties of England an.... This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
eleven plus
(UK) An examination formerly administered to all students in their final year of primary education, now used only in a few counties of England and Northern Ireland.
Definitions
(UK) An examination formerly administered to all students in their final year of primary education, now used only in a few counties of England and Northern Ireland.
The fact that late developers emerged, ripe for grammar school education, having 'failed' the eleven plus test, was embarrassing.
"eleven plus" means: An examination formerly administered to all students in their final year of primary education, now used only in a few counties of England an.... This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
"eleven plus" means: An examination formerly administered to all students in their final year of primary education, now used only in a few counties of England an.... Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (UK) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in
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Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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Semantically related
- 11-plus examination77%
(British) An examination, now mostly phased out, taken at age 11, to select the type of secondary education – either a grammar school or a secondary modern school.
- transfer test64%
(UK, Ireland, education) An examination administered to some students in their last year of primary education, governing admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools that use academic selection.
- grammar school61%
(chiefly, _, UK) A secondary school that stresses academic over practical or vocational education, until recent times open to those pupils who had passed the 11-plus examination.
- prep school60%
(British) A private primary school which prepares its pupils for the common entrance examination most commonly at the age of thirteen, and subsequent entry into public school.
- eleventh grade60%
(US, education) The period in school that comes after tenth grade and before twelfth grade.