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The 11+ is not one exam. Grammar schools use GL or CEM-style papers set regionally, most independent senior schools use the ISEB Common Pre-Test, and many set their own papers on top. Which one a child is sitting decides what preparation should look like, so it is the first thing to establish.
We also build cookie, the revision app, and every student and every tutor here gets it at no extra cost. This is what it has for 11+ to use between lessons.
GL papers are more predictable in format and reward familiarity. CEM-style papers were designed to be harder to coach and mix subjects within a section. The ISEB Common Pre-Test is computer-adaptive, taken in Year 6 or 7, and shared between the schools a family applies to.
Buying a year of practice papers for the wrong format is the most common and most avoidable mistake here.
They test pattern recognition rather than knowledge, and they are the part where practice moves a score most, largely because a child who has never seen the question types loses time working out what is being asked before they can start answering.
A modest amount of familiarisation gets most of the available gain. Beyond that, returns fall off quickly.
Children preparing for the 11+ are ten. A year of pressure can win a place and cost more than the place is worth, and schools are increasingly designing papers to reduce the advantage of heavy coaching.
A tutor worth having will say when a child has done enough, and will say if a target school looks like the wrong fit. That is a fair thing to ask for at the free introduction.
The school or the local authority publishes it. Grammar schools name GL or CEM; independent schools name the ISEB Common Pre-Test and any paper of their own. It is worth confirming before booking anything.
Year 5 for most families, with the exam in Year 6. Earlier is rarely better and often counterproductive at this age.
One is plenty for most children, with short regular practice in between. Two is worth considering only in a final push, and only if the child is coping with it.
A computer-adaptive test used by most independent senior schools, taken in Year 6 or 7, covering maths, English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. One sitting is shared between schools.
Yes. Over-coaching a ten-year-old can win a place at a school where they then struggle, and schools increasingly design papers to blunt exactly that. A good tutor will tell you when to stop.
From £30 an hour, set by each tutor and shown on their profile. The first 15 minutes is free.
A child under 13 cannot sign up alone. A parent or guardian creates the account from their own, sets the password, books and pays for lessons, and can read every message between the child and their tutor.
We are selective about who teaches here: we look for tutors at top universities, everybody is interviewed by us, and nobody is listed without a criminal record check on file. Lessons run in the browser with live video and a shared whiteboard.Rates start at £30 an hour, the first 15 minutes with any tutor is free, and every student gets cookie's study software at no extra cost.