11+ Tutor.
Experienced 11+ tutors preparing children for selective school entrance exams, particularly in Kent, Essex, and London where demand peaks each September–November.
- Age range
- 9-11 years
- Timeline
- Exam preparation
- Category
- Exam Preparation
The 11+ is a test most children never sit, for school places that change lives, run to formats that vary by county — and it rewards preparation that starts early and stays calm. Good 11+ tutoring is not a hothouse: it's steady skill-building in verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths and English, wrapped in exam craft and confidence work, timed so the child peaks in the autumn of Year 6 rather than burning out in Year 4.
Our 11+ tutors know the regional formats and the schools behind them.
Know your format before you prepare
11+ papers differ sharply by area and school: GL Assessment dominates many grammar areas, other regions and independents set their own papers, and the mix of verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths and English varies with them. Preparing for the wrong format wastes months. A tutor's first job is establishing exactly which test, which sections, which timing, and which schools — then building the plan backwards from test day.
The four pillars: VR, NVR, maths, English
Verbal reasoning rewards vocabulary breadth and pattern habits that take months to build — it's the hardest section to cram. Non-verbal reasoning is the most coachable: a finite set of pattern types that improve quickly with structured practice. The maths runs ahead of the school curriculum, so Year 5 content needs securing early. English — comprehension and, for some schools, writing — leans on reading habit more than any drill. A good tutor balances all four against the child's starting profile rather than teaching the parts they happen to enjoy.
Timeline that doesn't break the child
The sane structure: foundations in Year 4 or early Year 5 (reading habit, times tables, gentle reasoning exposure), the main build through Year 5 (technique, vocabulary, weekly practice), then mocks and sharpening in the months before the autumn tests in Year 6. Children who are drilled daily from Year 3 mostly learn to hate it — and anxious children underperform on the day. One good session a week with focused homework beats seven joyless ones.
Mocks, marking, and the day itself
From late Year 5, timed mock papers become the backbone: they surface pacing problems (the 11+ punishes slow starters), normalise the format, and turn test day into a familiar routine instead of an event. Tutors teach the unglamorous craft — when to skip, how to guess intelligently on multiple choice, how to settle nerves in the first two minutes. Parents get honest calibration too: where the child genuinely sits against the target school's typical pass standard, while there's still time to choose well.
Areas and schools
Grammar-school regions including Kent, Essex, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire, the London boroughs, Birmingham and Trafford, plus independent-school entrance papers. Tutors are matched by target school and format, and many run small mock-exam cycles in the autumn term. If your area's test differs, say so on the form — format is the first thing we match on.
Key focus areas
Matched with an 11+ tutor in 24 hours
Tell us the level, the goal, and what's getting in the way — we'll match you with a DBS-checked 11+ tutor who fits. Free to match, free first call, no obligation.