Do we really need tutor for 11+?

[ariauk]

Hi there,

We live in central London. My daughter is in year 4 and she in coed independent school which has their senior school so its not a prep school and school doesnt do any 11+ prepation. My daughter is well above avarage in all areas and she enjoys learning, also she is self motivated. She gets full marks from her assesments in school. We would like her to move girls only school she really want to move aswell but ee didnt move because our current coed school is just 15 mins walk so we didnt want her to use school bus in primary stage. At the moment for 11+ exams we only practice in Atom learning website and some practice books. In Atom learning she finished year 4 curriculum and we started year 5 already in March and she is doing great - strong in all areas. And her year 5 exam scores are about 115.
But still if we will need a tutor so I would to ask if anybody had an place from City of London, Putney/Wimbledon High or St Pauls Girls without tutoring? I am sure she doesnt have any topic or subject to she to improve but unsure if we need a tutor for these competitive independent schools to learn exam techniques etc?
Also if we need a tutor where we can find good tutors? Which website? - Will be pleased if you let me know.
Thank you.

"At the moment for 11+ exams we only practice in Atom learning website and some practice books. In Atom learning she finished year 4 curriculum and we started year 5 already in March and she is doing great - strong in all areas. And her year 5 exam scores are about 115. "

Take a look at link below, some rough guideline on Atom scores on your target schools.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4820558-atom-learningstandardised-results-cat4-sas?reply=126674559&utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

A lot of applicants get into those schools without external tutors, i.e DIY, and also a lot of do use external tutors. I would say largrly depends on how much time parents can spare to engage the prep activities and how effective would it be.

Most will spend extra time and targeted efforts (for example Atom learning practice or past paper practice) from year 5 onwards. Your DD is self motivated and it is still early stage (Y4) so I would say it is important to ensure all areas are covered and no gap first, also covering higher level of curriculum will have advantage.

Technique can start a few months before the actual exam.

The score in the link above is mock exam score not practice score - don't know if make any difference.

Also live Central London, have friends kids that will be trying for St Paul’s next year. Already being seriously tutored.

Be under no illusion these kids are tutored big time!

I do hear about some parents, not living in Central /West London, but spend would spend an hour one way communte to those West London Prep schools from year 4/7 years old. And one of the reason is those schools has record of sending a handful girls to SPGS every year.

yes, unless dc is in a crammer type prep? we live in a super selective Grammar school area and whilst ten years ago tutoring might not have been necessary - only two from dd's prep school got in last year despite several more being tutored.

11+ exams have a tight time limit. Being taught exam technique is quite important in my opinion as it saves time in exam.

OP's DD is in year 4 so for private school there are more than 500 days to go.

Ditto to this ^
We have a very good tutor who we use. Feel free to DM if you'd like their details X

It’s possible but rare.

My son got in to a super selective without tutoring but for context his CAT4 score was 141. We did two practice papers a couple of weeks before hand to get him used to the format and timings.

We didn’t get a paid tutor, but I’m a teacher so I taught them 11+ techniques throughout year 5 and was pretty persistent. If your own standard of English/Maths and knowledge of the test content is very good AND you can explain things well AND your child listens
to you, you can probably get away without a paid tutor 😂

Just curious on how you got to year 5 content? As I was under the impression they just keep repeating stuff until after summer.

As for your questions, I am sure it is possible. Your dd is off to a good start. Is she 115 for all areas? I would focus on any she might be lower at. For the very selective schools the target is 125+ But she has plenty of time.

Thanks @Abbymummy2tobe , it’s not all it’s cracked up to be but I’m hopeful his move in September will provide a more appropriate setting for him.

Hiya, may I get the details of tutor? Cheers

Not super selective and I have a teaching background - I used the papers to assess if my DC’s had the aptitude to pass before I did anything else. If they were not able enough I would have stopped at that point.

I found exam technique was all they needed along with an explanation of the different types of questions they could face. More a familiarization to know what was expected rather than repeated practice. They used YouTube videos to check out each type of question.

For exam technique - the usual, leave any you can't do and go back. If in the last couple of seconds there are any blanks - put something in…etc.

I added puzzle books, sudoku, crosswords etc to help them with their logic and word understanding.

I know two girls currently at St Pauls and both were at a top prep school. Both heavily tutored from a very early age.

As self motivated and clever your daughter is - unfortunately you will need a tutor (or yourself if you can be strict enough & invest several hours per week) because everyone else does it self motivation and self study is no longer enough.