Year 5 11+ CEM preparation advice please

[MrPickles73]

So we have decided we would like DS2 to try for the local grammar school. We are not in the SE / London. There is only 1 grammar school. He is bright - good at maths and english (say top quartile at his non selective primary).
The exam would be in Year 6 September so 8 months away.
It looks like it is a CEM exam and there is comprehension, maths, VR and NVR.
DS2 has a long school day including bus trip and hence we will probably do work on weekends. There are probably 3-5 applicants to a place so not crazy and hopefully(!) achievable. We would look to do 1-2 hours per week on top of his long school day and to do work in the school holidays.
What materials would MN recommend? Bond books? Atom learning subscription?
Has anyone else done this without a tutor?

I guess for 3-5 applicants to a place you might be ok, but we were in a similar position with our daughter too where there is only 1 grammar school we're in the catchment for and there's at least 10 students to a place so quite a bit more competitive!

We started doing it ourselves with the CGP books but in all honesty, we reached a point after about 3 months where we actually needed someone who knew the system a bit more. Whilst we could help with the 'content' side of things, the 11+ exam is actually a lot more than that so we invested in a well known, experienced tutor and it's been worth its weight in gold.

So maybe start with CGP and possibly Atom resources too and see how you get on? But be aware that the best tutors will get snapped up pretty quickly and you seem to be starting prep very late in the day compared to my daughter's cohort!! I'm happy to pass on my recommendation of who we used, but to be honest I wouldn't be surprised if they're fully booked by now.

Oopswediditagain2023 I should have said its the only grammar school we can get to but some of the applicants will have access to 2-3 others so I suspect that's why its not as bad as in London / SE.

Please could you PM me the tutor? I'm assuming they are online?

We are starting late I am sure but the grammar school has only really just come up on our radar.

I'm on the app so it won't let me DM you I think, but we used a company called Tayberry - they're quite well known (I've seen them mentioned a few times on MN) and online mostly