Is it too late to prep for 11+?

[TrixieCat]

My daughter is in year 5. She just moved schools in September (both state schools) and her new school at her last parents evening asked whether we'd been thinking about grammar school applications for her. We hadn't really thought about it and now I've read that most parents are getting their children to prepare from year 4... We wouldn't be taking a high pressure approach to it; just some practice papers, lots of reading and maybe an app subscription so is it far too late?

I know it's tricky to answer as a lot comes down to aptitude and how well a child can perform under exam conditions, but does it sound unreasonable to try?

If your child is strong academically then starting from now is fine. If she isn’t then I wouldn’t put pressure on her

Honestly it's really not too late, especially if she's not already showing signs of struggling with the harder verbal reasoning/maths content. A few focused months with the right materials does more than people think. I'd get a CGP or Bond book as your base (they're broken down by topic so you can see where she's actually weak vs strong), and if you want a quicker way to spot the gaps rather than working through a whole book blind, the Ace 11+ diagnostic (ace11plus.org/diagnostics) is free and handy for that. Atom's good too if you don't mind paying for the convenience of it being online/gamified, but it's not essential. Keep it low-key through summer and start timing her properly once she's comfortable with the question types. Good luck to her!