Should I sign up for 11 plus (11+) tuition?

What tuition can do

• Dedicated, structured time. A regular slot with a tutor is time protected from the rest of the week, which some children find easier to commit to than a self-directed session at home.
• Feedback on written work. Creative writing and longer written answers are hard to mark well yourself if you’re not sure what an examiner wants. A tutor who works with the 11 plus regularly can give more specific feedback than a generic mark scheme.
• An outside eye on technique. A tutor who has taught many 11 plus candidates has usually seen the same mistakes over and over, and can spot a pattern in your child’s work quickly.
• Accountability. For some children, having someone other than a parent set the pace makes the sessions land differently.

What tuition can’t do

• It doesn’t guarantee a place. These are competitive, selective exams, and tuition doesn’t change that. Be wary of anyone who implies otherwise.
• It doesn’t replace practice. Your child still has to sit papers regularly and under timed conditions between sessions; tuition without that practice tends not to move the score much.
• It can’t manufacture motivation. A tutor can support and encourage, but a child who doesn’t want to be there gets less from an hour with a tutor than from an hour of practice they chose themselves.
• It’s a real commitment of time and money. Weekly sessions over a year or more add up, and it’s worth being clear-eyed about that before you start.

Questions to ask before you commit

Tutors for the 11 plus are in demand and many are booked up well ahead of the exam, so start this process earlier than feels necessary.

• What does your child need? Talk to your child and their teacher about what needs work (a subject, exam technique or confidence) before you start looking.
• What’s the tutor’s background with the 11 plus specifically? General tutoring experience isn’t the same as experience with this exam and, ideally, your target schools’ format.
• Can they show you how they teach? Many tutors offer a trial session so you and your child can see the style before committing to a term of it.
• Does their availability fit your child’s timetable, including the busier stretch closer to the exam?
• Will they adjust the plan as your child progresses? A tutor who sticks rigidly to a fixed scheme whatever the sessions show is less useful than one who changes course when something isn’t working.
• What’s realistic for your budget? Group or online tuition is usually cheaper than one-to-one and works well for some children; decide what’s sustainable before you start, rather than partway through.

Top tips

• Decide exactly what you want a tutor to help with before you start looking.
• Ask about experience with the 11 plus specifically, rather than tutoring generally.
• Take a trial session if one’s offered, so you see the teaching style in practice.
• Keep sitting practice papers at home alongside any tuition; they do different jobs.
• Check availability lines up with your child’s timetable through to the exam, and beyond the first term.
• Be realistic about the ongoing time and cost before committing.

How to prepare

One of the most effective ways to prepare for an 11+ entrance exam is to use practice tests written by experts. We publish a full range of 11+ revision resources: area and school-specific practice tests, subject-specific packs, spelling and vocabulary resources, and reading books.

Each of our practice tests:

• is available as a PDF download or in physical format
• familiarises your child with the types of questions they will face in the real exam
• includes answers to every question, with detailed, step-by-step explanations for the maths and reasoning questions
• builds your child’s confidence before the actual exam.

Use the finder below to jump straight to the papers for your child’s school or area.

Find papers for your school or area

Grammar schools and area tests

• Bexley
• Bishop Wordsworth’s
• Buckinghamshire
• CSSE
• Ermysted’s
• Gloucestershire
• Henrietta Barnett
• Kent
• QE Boys
• Redbridge
• Slough Consortium
• St Olave’s
• Sutton
• The Latymer School
• Tiffin School & Tiffin Girls’ School
• Trafford
• West Midlands

Independent schools

• City of London School for Girls
• Hampton
• Latymer Upper
• Merchant Taylors’
• St Paul’s Girls’ School
• St Paul’s Juniors