11+ do it yourself- support thread

HighRopes · 08/12/2025 11:16

@CouldNotStayAway I’m several years past this now, but I just wanted to bump your thread and wish you good luck. Both my DC went to selective schools from a state primary, with DIY / home prep. I remember at the time how everyone else on MN seemed to know their DC’s CAT scores, be sending them to specific tutors for things like creative writing, and often have tons of support from their prep school, and I wondered if I was disadvantaging my DC by not doing all that. But it all worked out fine.

YourBrickCrab · 08/12/2025 11:52

CouldNotStayAway · 07/12/2025 15:26

Hi all,

I thought it would be nice to start a support thread for those of us who are helping our kids with 11+ prep without any tutors.

Currently helping dd (year 5) with prep. Am debating whether to try atom learning or century tech. Have purchased the maths books from 11+ vocab site and the creative writing book from there.

i don’t have a lot of experience, but hoping whatever worked for ds (now in year 10 at grammar) will work for dd.

My DD is in Year 6 and has gone through ISEB, kent grammar and going for some independents so I think in a good position to share some of my thoughts with you. We got both Century tech (albeit quite late in the process mainly because they were the recommended provider by ISEB) and Atom (this we have used extensively for last one year). Positives of atom is that you can track the performance of your child and look at where they are lagging and areas for improvement. I struggle NVR and VR so having explanations and answers immediately is quite powerful. Personally for us Atom worked really well. Its not 100% perfect but still a very powerful tool. The downside with atom was the standardised scores and how they calculate. When my DD started taking various practice tests then she would get scores varying from 95-130. For Kent mocks her scores were always in the range of 100-120 which caused her a lot of stress. She ended up scoring 405/432 in the kent exam. So I would say don't focus too much on the outright score with Atom tests but rather the path of improvement.
Century tech platform we got mainly because ISEB said they were preferred. In the end I cancelled after couple of months but that's mainly because it was too much of a hassle starting fresh on a new platform. If you ask my DD she preferred Atom but I think its not fair on century platform. Pref was mainly due to the amount of time she spent on Atom.

Mind you just Atom is not enough. Atom is good for targeted learning and practice. We were using the usual bond books and CGP books as well esp for practice tests.

This is a long process and only thing I realised, maybe a bit late, was consistency is what pays off. Even 20 mins every day during year 5 will help you tackle these exams with confidence. All the best to you and your DD.

YourBrickCrab · 08/12/2025 11:55

YourBrickCrab · 08/12/2025 11:52

My DD is in Year 6 and has gone through ISEB, kent grammar and going for some independents so I think in a good position to share some of my thoughts with you. We got both Century tech (albeit quite late in the process mainly because they were the recommended provider by ISEB) and Atom (this we have used extensively for last one year). Positives of atom is that you can track the performance of your child and look at where they are lagging and areas for improvement. I struggle NVR and VR so having explanations and answers immediately is quite powerful. Personally for us Atom worked really well. Its not 100% perfect but still a very powerful tool. The downside with atom was the standardised scores and how they calculate. When my DD started taking various practice tests then she would get scores varying from 95-130. For Kent mocks her scores were always in the range of 100-120 which caused her a lot of stress. She ended up scoring 405/432 in the kent exam. So I would say don't focus too much on the outright score with Atom tests but rather the path of improvement.
Century tech platform we got mainly because ISEB said they were preferred. In the end I cancelled after couple of months but that's mainly because it was too much of a hassle starting fresh on a new platform. If you ask my DD she preferred Atom but I think its not fair on century platform. Pref was mainly due to the amount of time she spent on Atom.

Mind you just Atom is not enough. Atom is good for targeted learning and practice. We were using the usual bond books and CGP books as well esp for practice tests.

This is a long process and only thing I realised, maybe a bit late, was consistency is what pays off. Even 20 mins every day during year 5 will help you tackle these exams with confidence. All the best to you and your DD.

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also one thing with atom. They grade various topics and subtopic performance as either Needs practice, Good, Strong or Master. We realised a bit late that even "Good" is not sufficient for a topic you need to be aiming for "Master" in a given topic/sub topic.