Year 4 need to start 11 plus - too late?

BeachAndSea · 2026-05-11T18:35:41+00:00

My child is current year 4, gifted in maths but not English. We need to start 11 plus prep and I fear it’s too late. Where do I start? Which books should I buy? Bond? We will apply to different schools with different exams so that’s why I’m confused - is there a brand which is best to go with? Do I buy the year above books- Year 5? Any advice would be appreciated.

MyTwoDads · 11/05/2026 21:09

Year 4 is fine, especially if your child is already doing well in maths. There is an instagram account called theprepprofessor she gives really good advice for English 11+ prep.
(She's nothing to do with me btw! I just think her account is really useful.)

LivelyTiger · 15/05/2026 17:51

Year 4 definitely isn’t too late, especially if maths is already strong. We started around then with our twins and honestly the biggest thing early on was just building consistency rather than doing hours every day.
I found it easier once I stopped worrying about finding the “perfect” publisher because every school seems to do things slightly differently anyway. We used a mix - Bond for basics/timed work, CGP for some targeted topics, then gradually added more comprehension and reasoning once we knew which schools we were targeting.
For English, regular reading honestly helped ours more than endless worksheets. We started doing short comprehension practice a few times a week and focused quite a lot on vocabulary and explaining answers properly.
We also looked into tutoring but some of the prices locally were honestly wild once you multiply it over a year (especially with two children 😅), so we’ve mostly been using books plus Ace11Plus for online practice/explanations/mock tests as it is way cheaper than Atom, and then just one tutor session a week for structure/confidence.
One thing I wish we’d done earlier was more timed practice in small chunks because speed seems to matter almost as much as content later on.

Original poster

BeachAndSea · 15/05/2026 21:06

thank you so much!

OP posts:

SummerInSun · 15/05/2026 21:12

Year 4 is when most people who aren’t insane start. You need an Atom subscription. Start with English and maths, move on to VR and NVR after a while. Try to watch a parent webinar about how it works, but basically it has an explanation of content, then questions to answer, with clear explanations of the answer of your kid gets it wrong. You’ll probably have to sit next to her for a while to make sure she really is taking the time to review the answers to the mistakes. They also send you lots of metrics about how she is on all the different topics.

Heyhihobye · 16/05/2026 16:45

I started prepping my child when they started Year 5. They’re sitting exams this year so will let you know if the gamble paid off 🤯

MyMellowLeader · 17/05/2026 13:24

we use ace11plus also, yes atom is v good but also v spenny! happy to share my link if anyone wants half price. which would be £9 a month, vs atoms 60 odd! not going to share straight away as not sure about rules around link sharing lol

BeSassyRedLeader · 20/05/2026 21:20

LivelyTiger · 15/05/2026 17:51

Year 4 definitely isn’t too late, especially if maths is already strong. We started around then with our twins and honestly the biggest thing early on was just building consistency rather than doing hours every day.
I found it easier once I stopped worrying about finding the “perfect” publisher because every school seems to do things slightly differently anyway. We used a mix - Bond for basics/timed work, CGP for some targeted topics, then gradually added more comprehension and reasoning once we knew which schools we were targeting.
For English, regular reading honestly helped ours more than endless worksheets. We started doing short comprehension practice a few times a week and focused quite a lot on vocabulary and explaining answers properly.
We also looked into tutoring but some of the prices locally were honestly wild once you multiply it over a year (especially with two children 😅), so we’ve mostly been using books plus Ace11Plus for online practice/explanations/mock tests as it is way cheaper than Atom, and then just one tutor session a week for structure/confidence.
One thing I wish we’d done earlier was more timed practice in small chunks because speed seems to matter almost as much as content later on.

we have started using ace11plus too, have heard good things and is really good so far - we also switched from atom. (https://www.ace11plus.org if anyone is interested). definitely not too late if you use online tools like this, regular practice has helped our kids to pick stuff up really quickly!

Ace 11+ | Adaptive 11+ Preparation for Grammar Schools

Personalized 11+ preparation for GL, CEM, and ISEB exams. Adaptive tutoring, full mock exams, and real-time performance tracking for Year 4 and Year 5 students.

https://www.ace11plus.org

InexcusableGiraffe · 01/06/2026 00:10

Year 4 is absolutely fine. If anything there's other threads from parents here talking about burn out of their kids in Year 5 if they've been doing it for so long. DD has started using www.onzely.co.uk so we'll see how they get on, they're also in Y4 and the plan is online now, and tutoring in Y5.

Minuethippo · Yesterday 18:00

LivelyTiger · 15/05/2026 17:51

Year 4 definitely isn’t too late, especially if maths is already strong. We started around then with our twins and honestly the biggest thing early on was just building consistency rather than doing hours every day.
I found it easier once I stopped worrying about finding the “perfect” publisher because every school seems to do things slightly differently anyway. We used a mix - Bond for basics/timed work, CGP for some targeted topics, then gradually added more comprehension and reasoning once we knew which schools we were targeting.
For English, regular reading honestly helped ours more than endless worksheets. We started doing short comprehension practice a few times a week and focused quite a lot on vocabulary and explaining answers properly.
We also looked into tutoring but some of the prices locally were honestly wild once you multiply it over a year (especially with two children 😅), so we’ve mostly been using books plus Ace11Plus for online practice/explanations/mock tests as it is way cheaper than Atom, and then just one tutor session a week for structure/confidence.
One thing I wish we’d done earlier was more timed practice in small chunks because speed seems to matter almost as much as content later on.

Why you always trying to push your online platform. You’re clearly not a parent and your account needs to be reported