11+ Support Thread 2026

[Elevenseconds]

Hi all

Am I going mad? I'm sure we had a thread to discuss those current Y5 who will be taking the exam in September. Has it disappeared, or am I having a moment?

Same. Didnt tutor was way too expensive. And DD wouldnt have handled so much pressure anyway. So preparing at home and online resources, which she loves anyway. Got more than 80% on her mock exam so feeling a bit confident.

I don't think it matters for grammars. They're allowed to consider only the scores on the exams, no matter how they're achieved.

My year 5 DS is attempting the 11+ for grammar school in Lancashire this September.

The only tutoring he’s getting is 2 hours per week of extra maths with my sister who is a Maths whiz 😂 The rest is just me plodding along with some CGP books, Twinkl worksheets, curriculum print outs and online tests.

One problem for me though - he only started prepping in January (didn’t even think of grammar school before this!) and the test this year has changed from GL to FCSE. Has anyone got advice or experience with the new FCSE tests? It would be nice to have some sample papers just to get him used to doing tests in the first place!!!

Is anyone using Ai models like Anthropic, Gemini or ChatGPT to assist with tuition?

I wouldn’t waste water and energy on asking a robot to help with the 11+ when there are SO many free resources and advice freely available. It won’t add anything of real substance and using it also feels kind of ironic.

I use AI to break down steps of a complicated maths problem, and ask it to explain it step by step, pausing after each step until DD gets it.

I also use it to benchmark her mock results (we get an anonymised output showing her achievement compared with other students). But that’s because I’m a data geek. It does make mistakes though.

The water is mainly used for training the AI models, not using them. If it used a lot of resources, they would absolutely be charging you for it!

We have used Grok to create 50 specific maths problems in an area that DD was struggling with because finding questions which matched the type in the exam were hard to find in the free resources available. It saved me hours trying to make my own based off the exam / mocks available.
Yes it made a couple of mistakes but the answers went through the step by step how to do the problems and even explained where it went wrong in setting the question.

We used Gemini to create a reading comp question, based on a recent chapter of the book she's currently reading (tutor suggested this, and supplied a refined set of prompts he'd worked on). The questions were good based on the text given, and the characters accurate to the book, but Gemini had completely hallucinated a random chapter! She told me this, and I checked, and she was quite right...so it kind of worked, just not in the way intended...

Does anyone know of any good books or other resources to practice comprehension?
I am looking for:

• practice tests which take under 30 minutes including reading so it is doable after school and homework.
• a mix of questions types rather than practicing one skill
• written answers rather than multiple choice as DD can do MC but the test is written

We are struggling to keep up with comprehension practice as we have learnt the skills it is now practicing using them in test situations. All I have found are full papers at 50-60 minutes which is not doable after school or 10 minute tests which seem to be MC which DD can work out the answer.

Have you tried the 11+ tests on the CGP subscription service? It’s only £6 a month. Good for quick practice tests and fast revision. My DS does a test or two before bedtimez

@FSCEme thanks for the suggestion I will have a look.

Can I just have a rant, Im doing home study for the 11 plus for 2 children. Trying to juggle this with work but its doable. Im getting more burnt out than the kids, I think because if it were me, id be studying all the time. My kids are just happily doing their fun stuff after school then fitting in a bit of study here here and there. Kids are doing ATOM and CGP as and when, scoring around the 90s on ATOM but it feels nowhere near what im reading about needing. Ended in me snapping at them last night and I felt terrible. I really dont want to stress them out either.

I'm in same boat. At start of year DD was super motivated, very keen to go to grammar. Since Easter it has been a struggle to get her to do much, and we are only getting maybe 1.5 hours a week total (on top of her 2 hours tutoring) done and even that's a battle - I think she is a bit fed up with it all. And I feel bad for pushing her, but having come this far I don't want her to give up now.
Grammar is an awful system really, and if we had a decent comp nearby I think we wouldn't keep pushing

In total we are doing a similar amount each week (1hr tutor group, 1.5hrs during the week and 1hr paper at the weekend).
We have had struggles to keep going. We generally remind DD of the progress she has made and look through the Grammar school website to remind her of why she wanted to go there. For her it's because she wants to learn Latin!

Following this thread with interest. For NVR/spatial, I would probably avoid huge blocks at this stage and do short timed bursts: 8-10 questions, then spend longer reviewing why the wrong ones were wrong.

We found confidence improved when the aim was spotting the rule, not just finishing another paper. For mocks, I would treat them as diagnostics rather than verdicts: if the same type keeps appearing, that becomes the week's focus; if mistakes are random/rushing, practise timing and checking strategy.

Good luck to everyone in the summer slog.

Yep, we went to see the South Bucks grammar schools last autumn, and a couple of comps. She saw the contrast and really liked one of the grammars in particular, for it's sports and drama facilities ( I wish there was a recognition of the strong all rounder in these tests). Her favourite also does Latin

Been in the same boat and keep laughing at myself when I catch myself thinking what “I would do” in their situation - the reality is they’re just kids! Of course they’d rather play and chill. Take it easy and hope for the best, do what you can and give them ample appreciation so they are not overwhelmed or stressed by this time, even when they look back. You are doing the very best you can and so are they, good luck!

Absolutely this. Sometimes we need to step back and realise it really isn't a disaster if they fail, it's just an opportuinity and they will get lots of others.

@Bushmillsbabe we are trying a few indies, and HB as its local, but reading a thread earlier about DAO makes me think we won't get anything as these kids applying sound absolutely amazingly smart.

The exam is really hard sometimes. I'm year 10 QE and personally i remember who exhausting it was back when I did my 11+. The one thing that really worked for me was to let ur son/daughter relax a bit everyday in the summer. It should be proportionate. If you do too much revision, they'll be exhausted by the time it comes to the real exams.

our view was that if she doesn't get through with that level of support, then it's probably not the right option for her.
@Bushmillsbabe

I used to think this way too, but now I feel this logic is flawed. The intensity of the selection process does not necessarily correlate with the academic intensity once a student is admitted. It is entirely possible that life after entry is quite manageable. In fact, having looked at both GCSE and grammar school entrance exam papers, I believe that achieving a Grade 9 at GCSE involves far less pressure than securing a place through the entrance exam. A child who is perfectly capable of flourishing in a grammar school could still end up failing the entrance exam itself.

It is a very intense process, all rides on 1 morning of exams. Even GCSE's aren't as intense at that - mark mat be made up of coursework plus a couple of exams. And they do lots of them, so if one doesn't go great, can always think 'will try to make up in the other exam for that subject, or in a different subject'.

They are also incredibly hard. I'm got 10 GCSE's as A or A* and 4 A levels at A, so I'm pretty academic. And I find her papers tough!

DD is definitely running out of steam. She really, really needs a break - and we're not close enough yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

She has a mock on Friday. Once it's over and we've got the results, providing we're still on the right track, I think I might insist on a week where she doesn't do any work and just chills out. I don't want her to burn out.

How's everyone else doing?

DD just had her 2nd mock this week. She is doing well, tbh, the results are encouraging, so it's a case I think of managing the pressure over the summer and not going OTT. She deserves a normal-ish summer as much as we can. I think?

I'm finding if DDs teacher mentions something she has much more enthusiasm for it. We have also booked her tour of the school which has helped.
We are currently doing 1 hour tuition a week, 1-2 hours spread over 4 days during the week and a practice paper (alternating between maths and English) at the weekend.
We are generally getting about 60% on papers at home but we haven't tried the most recent exams. 65% should be enough as we are in catchment but we don't have an external mock now until end of August.
DD is occasionally disappointed if she gets something wrong but we keep focusing on the improvement.