11+ prep apps

[Bambi356]

I'm starting to look at ways of helping my child start to prepare for the 11+ exams and aside from tutoring, wondered if anyone uses or can recommend any apps for this.
What would I need to look for in a good app or am I better off just sticking to books for now?

I'd recommend Atom Learning website all the way and use it to the max...

• Work through every topic
• Do the free lessons on any tricky topic
• Set custom practise on any areas of difficulty
• then go back and get gold stars in all topic areas.
• Then start on the mocks

This took us from May yr 5 to November yr 6 to do by which time we felt we'd 'finished' Atom because DD was hitting scores of 141 in all areas, had unlocked the KS3 content and questions were starting to repeat. She did about half an hour to an hour a day but I'd add that she really enjoyed it.
Atom has updated since we used it over last summer & autumn and I believe it now starts for younger children. DD was doing the CGP/Bond/Galore Park books at school so we just did Atom at home - came in very handy given the 11+ this year was very ISEB based across the board
Atom was a huge improvement on Planet BOFA which we used with DS a couple of years ago but is about 10 times the price. Worth it though - we did not feel the need to use a tutor & DD was at a non selective, unpushy independent where many did use a tutor.

Sound advice from PatoPato

PatoPato

You say "DD was doing the CGP/Bond/Galore Park books at school" that does not sound non selective or unpushy though if they are doing such a variety of books during school time though? I guess then private or prep schools really do prep for the 11 plus whereas state schools don't?

@snowdropsinapril non-selective is non-selective. They take children of any ability, no questions. We ended up there because DS moved from a SN school into mainstream fully statemented & this school didn't turn us away. They are not worried about things like leavers lists but making sure every child reaches their full potential no matter what level that is.

Both DC had a VR & NVR book (of the three brands mentioned) through year 5 & 6 that they worked on for half an hour a week as a class and occasionally came home with as homework. This was because most kids there apply to secondary independents so it would be unwise to let them do this without exposing them to both subjects beforehand. Friends with children in state primaries report that VR&NVR are never touched upon in school time but all of them tutored & bought their children books to do at home to prepare them
There's a big misconception that all private primary schools are prep schools - the contrast between our small non-selective indie & somewhere like Bute House couldn't be more extreme. Super non-pushy vs selective hothouse!

OK got it PatoPato I understand now. Thanks!

So it sounds like it is best doing Atom plus some extra work either by way of tutor or additional books.

If you have certain schools in mind, ask them what they base their exams on. Some schools use GL, some use CEM and some use their own tests. If you’re not sure at this stage, then make sure you get a mixture of these papers.

If you are looking at state grammars, go to the 11+ forum, which will tell you what you need for the area you are in.

I don’t know if it has information about independent schools.

@Bambi356

I would suggest bond on line- access to all 11+ resources and from what I remember it wasn't expensive and available for the year.

11plus forum and then drop down to your region -for example Surrey, Kent... access to a lot lore info.

Thanks all. Some good info here to look into. Atom learning definitely looks interesting.

My advice is to look at the schools websites that your interested in. They may have example past papers, the entry exam are ausually slightly different. Some of our local schools have moved to the ISEB and this confused some children. As they had done the standard 11 + prep and this was all on a computer and each section is timed and you cant go back. So check to ensure your focussing on the correct thing.

Plus independent schools has past papers which are free. Many moons ago, Manchester Grammar had past papers as well.

I did both my children's 11+ myself, it seemed pointless having a group tutor to cover stuff that he knew already. The tutors just get the children to do bond/alternative books and if you're relatively educated you can do it yourself.

underneaththeash agree if the parent as the time. For my DD we did all the prep and then sent her to a three day course and the tutor advised which schools to apply for based on her results. Pretty accurate and helpful

@mybonnieliesovertheocean2

underneaththeash agree if the parent as the time. For my DD we did all the prep and then sent her to a three day course and the tutor advised which schools to apply for based on her results. Pretty accurate and helpful

MyBonnieliesovertheocean2 where did she do the 3 day course? Or rather, which company ran it?

Wolfiestar it was 5 yrs ago now but i know it has still be running. Let me have a look for the details.

Following. I’ve looked into Atom Learning in the last couple of days, it seems to have the right content but seems “targeted” towards those attending preps.

With ds I used KSOL, although it is only geared to specific regions of the country. Not sure the same approach will be ok for dd when it’s her turn though so I’m looking around early to see what else is out there.

Hi Bambi356!

What sort of primary school is your child at? This can make a big difference to which materials - hard copy or online - you choose to use.

We did past papers in the summer beforehand then a month of Atom

A couple of schools don’t have answers to past papers so used a grad to mark about five

Worked well but we didn’t want to do full tutoring route