11+ Preparation Tips: A Parent's Guide

Preparing for the 11+ can feel enormous. There are papers to buy, subjects to juggle and — most importantly — a child whose confidence you don't want to knock in the process. This guide walks you through what actually matters, month by month, so your child arrives at exam day feeling capable rather than crammed.

When to start

For most families, twelve to eighteen months before the test is a comfortable runway. Starting earlier isn't better — long, drawn-out preparation often causes fatigue and can sour your child's relationship with reading and maths.

If you're starting six months out, don't panic. Focus on the fundamentals below and consider working with a tutor to prioritise the highest-leverage topics.

The four papers in most 11+ tests

Most grammar schools and independent selective schools test some combination of:

• English — comprehension, grammar, punctuation, spelling and creative or discursive writing.
• Maths — Key Stage 2 curriculum, plus reasoning and word problems.
• Verbal reasoning — patterns in language, analogies, synonyms and antonyms.
• Non-verbal reasoning — visual patterns, rotations, shape sequences.

Check your target school's specification. CEM, GL Assessment and bespoke papers vary in emphasis, and preparing for the wrong style is a common early mistake.

Month-by-month plan

Months 12–9 before the exam: build breadth. Wide reading (novels, non-fiction, newspapers), daily mental maths, and short verbal and non-verbal reasoning workbooks. No timed practice yet.

Months 8–5: introduce topic-focused practice. Cover fractions, ratio, percentages, grammar terminology, inference in comprehension. Introduce short creative writing tasks.

Months 4–2: timed sections. Start with individual sections, then full papers. Discuss mistakes calmly — a wrong answer is worth more than a right one if you learn from it.

Final month: taper. Two or three papers per week, plus reading. Prioritise sleep, routine and light exercise. Your child should walk into the exam feeling rested, not drilled.

What actually moves the needle

• Reading widely. Vocabulary is the single strongest predictor of English scores. A child who reads twenty minutes a day will out-perform one who does an hour of worksheets a week.
• Talking about mistakes. Sit with your child and ask, "What made you pick that answer?" You'll uncover reasoning gaps that no worksheet reveals.
• Timing under real conditions. Silence, a clock, no snacks. The exam room is a strange environment; simulate it a handful of times before the real day.

What to avoid

• Over-tutoring. More than one or two focused sessions a week rarely helps and often hurts.
• Comparison. Other parents will share scores and past-paper anecdotes. Ignore them. Your child's progress is the only relevant benchmark.
• Cramming the week before. Rest, kindness and a proper breakfast beat another practice paper.

When a tutor helps

A good tutor is not a paper factory. They spot the reasoning patterns your child struggles with — the "silly mistakes" that are usually a specific, fixable gap — and rebuild confidence in that area. If you're weighing it up, our 11+ preparation page explains how we structure sessions, and you can book a free consultation to discuss what your child needs.

The goal isn't a perfect score. It's a child who walks in believing they can do this — and walks out proud, whatever the result.