11+ support thread 2026

[11plus2026]

Not sure if anyone is around yet but thought I’d open one.

Has anyone started any practice questions yet? Mine will be starting tutoring in September, she’s had an assessment to see where she’s at currently and now just enjoying the sunshine ☀️

ok, I would augment the atom with some paper based practice too, to get used to it as well.

Is your child year 5? And do you mean CEM test?

Checking in - one DD, Dorset. Group tuition plus cgp currently. Good luck to all cramming more work into this busy Xmas term!

Yes, sorry — it’s the CEM test, and he’s in Year 5. Thank you! We’ll definitely do some paper-based practice as well. Do you think 15–20 minutes a day, five times a week, is enough? Or should we try to do more? I don’t want to overwhelm him with too much work, but I also want to give him the best chance to succeed. Thank you

I would say the CEM test is v hard in terms of time management. I think that atom is a good base for it, but when you get closer I would recommend using Pretest plus Cem practice papers - they are excellent representations of the real thing.

In terms of time, I think it’s hard to say X mins per day is good or bad, I think it depends on the child and their level with respect to the level you need to get to for your target schools. I would think a good spread of English and maths, with particular focus on any areas of weakness is best.

If you have identified any areas of weakness it’s also not a bad idea to consider a tutor too, we used a great one for maths and it really helped.

more importantly you want them to build to the test so they perform to their best ability

Hi, my eldest is in year 5 and we are aiming for a state grammar school. Is anyone else unable to afford a tutor and going the DIY route? It seems from chatting to other parents in playground, those who have said they’re doing it are all using tutors.

We are hoping not to. I thought tutoring was essential, but then had to reconsider because it costs an arm and a leg and I have twins!

I also talked about this with quite a different-minded group of parents with kids who had already got into grammar. Important to mention that some had one kid in grammar one in a comprehensive etc. For them, it was important that those kids of theirs who got into grammar, got in WITHOUT a tutor. They felt that otherwise grammar wouldn't be the right choice. They mentioned that the workload is heavy, there's a lot of homework, and they need to keep up independently and with motivation or they will fall behind and lose confidence. They recommended grammar schools only for children who are naturally academic and were expected to enjoy the challenging nature of them. They did some home preparation in the summer like looking through past papers and getting their child used to the exam format. Many had their child practise through Atom online a few months before the exams. So a very different approach to us here who are already starting to worry now, 10 months prior! Not judging by the way, as I'm very much the same! Just some food for thought really.

How is everyone's prep going? DD is doing OK. She has her first mock next weekend, so that should give us a clearer benchmark of how she's doing among her cohort.

The last couple of weeks have felt a bit relentless, trying to fit tutoring in with Brownies, music lessons, birthday parties and school Christmas events, and we are all looking forward to a couple of weeks off over Christmas.

Hi @OpheliaABC

I’m interested in whether you’ve decided to stick with the non-tutoring route? I’ve been planning to spend about 6 months doing some ‘gentle’ prep with DD, but am feeling a bit twitchy as online everyone seems to be talking about tutoring. My rationale is the same as the parents you mentioned upthread, I don’t want DD ending up in an environment that she isn’t equipped to manage, but not sure if I’m just setting g her up to fail by not giving her the extra support so many others are having.

I have been though the process 3 times and we had a tutor for each child for 10 months prior to each test. For us, having an organised time each week (1 hr) took away the stress/logistics of trying to negotiate practice time in the home. More than anything the tutor taught them techniques for approaching questions - especially VR and Non VR which they are not taught in primary school. I often read comments about how you shouldn't use a tutor but I firmly believe that your child will only get through the test if they are academically able however you prepare them. It's personal choice isn't it - whatever suits your child and family and whatever helps your child in the best and least stressful way.

@OpheliaABCi tried a tutor but it wasn’t worth the money, they spent longer with children who needed more help; which meant dd just got on with it. It was a waste of money, I then tried an online tutor who cost far more, they were good but it was far too expensive. This isn’t the first time I’m going through this process (have ds at grammar school now year 10). At that point I didn’t even know people had 11+ tutors, so we did our own thing, and it seemed to work.
I’ve now gone down the route of doing things ourselves again. I’ve joined a lovely Facebook page where the parents discuss the sort of things they did with their children, and possible resources that might help.

Hey there @TheTruthIsInTheSoil

Yes I have indeed. I’m actually preferring it at the moment because I know my children are being themselves and genuinely groan and tell me if they don’t understand something, whereas with a tutor I worry that they’d sometimes just smile and nod to be polite even if they didn’t fully get it. The resistance is hard sometimes but at least they are always honest with me and we can change the approach or make things into a game or go over them later if they’re too tired or unmotivated. I’m not the best teacher but at least I know what motivates my kids and I take full advantage of that. 😂

I almost wish I didn’t know how intensively some people tutor either. 😂 I’m a worrier and when I researched grammars (I was schooled in a foreign country so it was a completely new concept for me) it sent me down a massive rabbit hole questioning everything, whether I’m doing too much or not enough, whether I should put my kids through this, how much if any money I can spend, whether to research tutors, what type of tutoring would be best, whether I want to challenge my kids or not put any pressure on them at all, let them be kids for longer and ignore academia completely for now, etc etc. I’m still of two minds about the whole thing. I really want them to go to the right schools for THEM, even if they would be considered out of the question and not so impressive by others.

Oh that sounds great! If you are happy to, would you mind sharing the name of the FB group please?

Yes @CouldNotStayAway i would also love it if you could share the Facebook group :)

@OpheliaABC@TheTruthIsInTheSoil the Facebook group is called ‘11+ do it yourself’
it’s nice to see not everyone has tutors; but I do understand the constant internal battle we have.
when ds walked out of his exam few years ago, and he said he spoke to children who told him they’d been intensively tutored since year 4, my heart sank. I felt awful, and it was only then that I realised how much tutoring goes on. So this time round, I thought it would make things easy for me by hiring a tutor; but that didn’t seem to work as well as I expected either.
I’ve tried the 5 day trial with atom, but dd doesn’t like it at all, so I’ve now signed up to century tech. It worked out to about £20 a month (when paid annually), and I think that plus the books will be sufficient. In all honesty, I can’t even imagine dd doing much more. with DS I ordered the GL packs and went through those, and it seemed to work, so maybe it will this time too (different exam format though- FCSE+).
at the end of the day, dd may or may not pass the exam, but I’ve told her it’s all about experience 😂

@CouldNotStayAway
I would say your tutor did the bare minimum and is not a great example.

We've just been through the Bucks 11+ process for the 2nd and thankfully final time. We used a different tutor each time. Both very good and both spent a lot of time before the lessons began in creating tutor groups where the children were a good fit with each other.

A lot of people use tutors, there's no getting away from it. I do know a few people who did it by themselves. Those who passed tended to be the very clever ones.

The 11+ is a marathon not a sprint. The summer before the exam is key

Hi my DD is currently preparing for the 11+ in Essex. We started with an online tutor group (1 hour a week plus homework which took about 1.5 hours). After half term we moved to an in person tuition group at the local private school for 1 hour a week with no homework.
The in person is more focused on going through exam questions rather than the content like the online.

We also have bond books and we occasionally do additional practice with these.

Hi all, I'm from the 2025 11+ Support page... we've now completed the process and have a place at our target school. I’ve started a little FB about surviving the 11+ from a parent’s point of view. It’s called Tea, Tears and the 11+ and it’s full of honest stories, tips, and the occasional panic-induced tea spill.

It's a place for parent's to vent and know they're not alone.

You won’t see my real name anywhere — that way I can be completely honest about the ups, downs, and ridiculous moments of the process.
If you’re curious, here’s the link: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586705323078

Hello all, how is everyone doing with their prep? No burnouts just yet I hope. Hoping to book a couple of mocks during Easter or summer just to get the feel for it.

Prep is going well, I think. It is hard to know as we've never done this before. DD is enjoying the tutor group. We did some bond books over the Christmas holidays and found she panics when there is a 30-45 minute time limit so we broke it down into 10-15 minute chunks and she was fine. Her tutor said this is normal and just build up to the full time limits in the books.
We have also started working on her vocabulary using worksheets with crosswords and other activities on.

It feels easier for us the second time around, but there are so many moving parts, so I'm not sure if that's because DD2 has slightly greater aptitude, if the tutoring is easier (maybe a slightly less super-able group and tailored accordingly), or if we're just more experienced and laid-back second time around. If I have a worry, it's that I'm complacent - as last time round I spent most of the year stressed out and thinking / talking about it. I don't want to be that candidate that misses out by 2 marks because of coasting.

DD2 did well in a mock before Xmas (slightly ahead of where DD1 was at that point), so I'm trying to trust the process.

How is everyone's prep going?
DD did a mock at the weekend mainly to get an idea of what it was like in an exam hall. The results were not as promising as we would have liked. We are going to spend easter going through trying to identify the reason; was it nerves, time pressure or not knowing the content.
She does have others booked in May and August. She will also do one with her tuition group begining of July.

How are you managing expectations? She has her heart set on going to the grammar school.

@CoralLemur well done to your dd for doing her first mock! Mine is due to do one in April. At this stage the main thing I guess is to run through the exam and see what the real thing might be like, while having enough time to address any issues they might have in the coming weeks and months.

We think it’s always good to aim high, but at the same time it won’t be the end of the world if they don’t get it

Sending support to everyone going through this currently. My dn is going through it now and it has reminded me how stressful this stage is.

For anyone really stressing like I was please don’t forget there are other good options out there if things don’t work out on the test and that dc can often manage pretty well in the end even if plans change. We decided on a less selective private school in Herts in the end and even though our ds had his heart set on another secondary initially he is very happy now at St Chris out in Letchworth.

Good luck to everyone currently prepping and tutoring!