eleven plus en · NOUN
Etymology
From eleven + plus, eleven years being the minimum age of students taking the test.
Meanings
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(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.
As one vociferous eleven-plus critic put it, when Winston Churchill was a boy he produced nothing more than "a large blob of ink" on his entrance exam.
2007, Stephen Murdoch, IQ: A Smart History of a Failed Idea:The fact that late developers emerged, ripe for grammar school education, having 'failed' the eleven plus test, was embarrassing.
1967, Robert John Montgomery, Examinations: An Account of Their Evolution as Administrative Devices in England:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| eleven pluses | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| 11+ | alternative | lexicographic | |
| 11 plus | alternative | lexicographic |