£45 to £60 per hour for 11 plus tuition

[confusedinlondon]

Slightly taken aback at the prices for 121 11 plus tuition. Just looking online it seems £45 upwards for face 2 face tuition, slightly lower for online. There are a fair few asking for around £60.
How much did you pay?

£80 ph
7+ tuition,several years ago, London

The best preparation for any 11+ examination is free, cheap and enjoyable. It’s simply reading. Get them into the habit from a young age. Use the library. Buy buy books from Amazon and eBay. Borrow books online. Share books and comic strips with your DC that you enjoyed reading when you were young. Read books in other languages if you speak another language. I’d curtail gaming, mindless YouTube videos and other similar shit. It’s like crack cocaine for the brain: hard to wean them off once addicted, and makes it harder to establish reading as a pleasurable activity. For maths, download a copy of the national curriculum, and make sure that you’re regularly addressing any misunderstandings and gaps in their knowledge, right from Reception. Summer vacation and half-term is a good time when you can do this at a more leisurely and less hectic pace. It can be as less than half-an-hour a day when they’re young, and an hour a day once they hit KS2. Half an hour in the morning, and half an hour in the afternoon worked best for us.
Then when it comes time for 11 plus preparation, it’s about familiarising them with the papers, timing, and technique. The foundation for success has already been laid in the early years.

your graphic doesn't show what proportion even take the test

You are all wasting your money. My kids had a few weeks of BOFA sessions in the August to get used to the question styles and they had to be taught algebra ( as it isn't taught until year 6 in state schools). They sailed through.
If everyone stops tutoring their children for these tests then the naturally academic kids will get the places instead of the richest. Grammar school isn't the be all and end all of schooling. One of mine left her very good grammar because the cohort was so unbelievably obnoxious; 90 over privileged, entitled little darlings whose parents had paid through the nose for prep school and 11+ tutoring to get their progeny into those places over the local kids who were naturally bright and would otherwise have got them. Very distasteful.

Last year and we paid £50 p/h in suburbs of Manchester (not an especially wealthy area), in person and online was the same price. I think it’s the going rate but also agree it feels expensive.

I do know a tutor who charges £30 p/h but doesn’t do 11+ and that seems to be what hikes the prices up!

11+ was £30 for 90 mins group session 10 years ago. Currently paying £70 ph for - level Chemistry and £50 ph for A - Level Maths.

I each every time feel angry seeing comments like this: grammar schools only belong to the brightest kids only.

Are you suggesting parents of children who are not as "naturally bright" or "naturally academic" shall just do nothing and let their children take whatever their the system or the fate brings? Have majority of the schools been doing enough to support the children to reach their full potential? No. Have we understood the fact that our brains keep transforming throughout life? Yes. Then why shall we say only those born with higher intelligence deserve better schools, whilst efforts shall be discounted?

A lot of the grammar schools have high level of non British/white makeup. Majority of these families are first or second generation of immigrants who are not super rich, but hardworking middle class parents who see education more important than that view from lots of English families whose opinions about what life should be is much broader. These families are also more willing to invest (even sacrifice their financial comfort as a family) to support their children's future education.

I'm not saying heavily tutoring is the right way. I'm not saying parents shall aim at sending their children to top grammar schools without taking into account if it suits their child or not. But hardworking and the right attitude ARE as important (if not more) in life as natural aptitude. Such is life. You can't sit there not trying but thinking because you are smart so you deserve better opportunities. People who work hard might over take you, whilst people who have the brain and the right attitude will certainly over take you.

@Rekka
Thanks for your reply. It sounds very much like you are placing hard-working parents' 'right' to have a child in grammar school above a bright but less fortunately birthed child's right to that place. None of us can choose our parents, Rekka, it's not fair that kids whose parents aren't wealthy miss out.

really, if your child is in the top 25% they will get in. And without tutoring, just with you spending time with them familiarising them with the test format, and checking any gaps in their knowledge.

it isn't really that competitive or that difficult

I think all the angst, stress and money comes in with kids who are on the borderline, that is where it gets competitive. If your child is in the top 24-26%, but really, even there, they might not get in, but all the money and tutoring isn't going to make much difference. It is the toss of a coin at that level

I presume you must live in an area with a plethora of Grammar Schools.

In my London borough our local
selective gets approx 1600 applications (boys only) for 100 places. These kids are not the top 25% of local kids, they are the top of the top and any suggestion they’re not heavily tutored to get in is, in my opinion, misleading. Super selective Grammars are on a whole other scale.

yes, I am in a grammar school area

Presumably one with many non super selective Grammars.

I'm not placing anyone in front of anyone. I'm telling you we live in a real world. You can't expect parents do nothing to support their kids when they could.

I'm not saying bright kids shall miss out either. There are plenty on MN parents raving about their kids got in grammar schools without tutoring or any form of preparation.

The reality is bright kids born in disadvantaged families always existed. My DH was one of them. He got where he is now all by hardworking on his own with minimal family support (probably a bit of luck as well).

The thing, life has many phases. Getting ahead at one stage doesn't decide how high you can reach at the end. If you think your child might be pushed out by kids whose parents could afford a lot more support, please tell your child that grammar schools by no means is all and then. Life doesn't stop at Y7, instead it's just another starting point. A good school is not decisive for their future, but the right attitude is.

I hope I don't sound lack of sympathy to you. Just a personal view trying to find the balance in the real world.

@Rekka
Don't worry about me, my kids have all been through grammar ( without tuition), maybe reread your last post and take some of your own advice.
Just because your DH didn't have the most privileged start but managed to do well, that doesn't mean that is the case for everybody born to less advantaged families. If it was all about hard work, I know a lot of people on minimum wage who would be very wealthy rather than scraping by.
Your initial reply assumed I was somehow work shy. Your latest reply assumed I was somehow envious. I think your assumptions speak volumes about you.

If you really want to judge others so easily, it's up to you.

There's no way my words can in any sense justify the imbalance or the injustice in the world. Not my intention. But if it makes you feel better about yourself to believe so, feel free to judge me. I'm not defined by what you think. :)

Well this thread has opened my eyes 👀

Some of these prices are insane!!!!

(I say this as a tutor who charges £30/h, but I live in a less wealthy area)

Tutoring is a completely unregulated industry. It relies on word of mouth and is fuelled by the parental worry of getting your child in to a good school.

You do not NEED a tutor for the 11+. If your child is a suitable candidate then you just need to familiarise them with the question types and sit some mock papers with them. Most parents can do this. (However, a lot of children resist this 😂).

There are free resources out there and some grammar schools offer free familiarisation sessions. Please don't be put off if you can't afford £100+ per hour. Over tutored kids don't tend to thrive in a competitive grammar school environment and may well be happier in a more relaxed school.

"Over tutored kids don't tend to thrive in a competitive grammar school environment and may well be happier in a more relaxed school."

Mmm.. Could you define ‘over-tutored’? Also, where is the source stating that children tend to perform better in a more relaxed environment? I’m not saying this isn’t reasonable, competitive environment is not for every child, but by some definitions, it could be argued that every child in some of London’s selective schools nowadays is already over-tutored, yet they seem to thrive, as many rave about in MN.

Over tutored = kids who are tutored from (let's say) age 7 for an exam at age 11, regardless of whether they are suitable candidates.

I'm thinking of the kids that just squeeze over the pass mark but then find themselves outperformed by their peers. Such kids may be happier in a school which is less academically stringent. Of course it's impossible to quantify as you can't cut the child in half and send one half to a different school to see if it worked out better 😂

If they need 2+ years tutoring to scrape in they may struggle to cope.

Mine did 11+ in 2018 and 2021 and we paid £25 per 121 session. The tutor was a retired teacher/head teacher and was excellent. She had that skill of being very strict but kind, both of my DC liked her very much.

We knew we had a good deal but looking at some of these prices I now appreciate her even more.

DC were tutored from Oct to Aug, once a week session. I wouldn’t call that hot housing. Most of their peers did the same. Both passed with high scores and got into their super selective. We live in Kent.

@Rekka
Perhaps look up the psychological phenomenon that is projection.

Can you explain clearly what your intention is?

Hi, Could you please share me tried and tested 11+tutors. I hear good tutors have 2-3 years of waiting and this is me worry.

Plus 20% VAT potentially (?) as this could well be deemed a 'luxury' not accessible to the majority...