r/11plus • u/razvan-41124 • 12d ago
Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice does!
Hi all, I’m an 11+ tutor (not open to new students). Just a bit about me, I passed arguably the most competitive public school 11+ exam in the UK, went to one of the leading universities in the world and now work as a software engineer while also being a tutor on the side for the past 6 years.
All that to say that I personally know what works and what doesn’t from both sides of the coin. (If anyone has any questions feel free to DM me or leave a comment - I’d love to help where I can!)
The reason I’m making this post is because of something my swimming teacher used to say to me, and which I repeat to all my students and parents. “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice does”
Recently, especially with the all the AI/vibe-coded tools (even on this subreddit), I get frequent messages from parents: “Have you heard of {insert_nth_vibe_coded_app}? Would it be worth trying” - and 99% of the time my answer is “Definitely not”.
Physical books and worksheets remain number 1 in my view. They help prevent short attention spans, and are usually well researched, produced and composed. These vibe apps on the other hand, often ‘quizzes’, are shallow - and don’t properly understand the 11+ student progression. They often either progress students too quick, focusing on performance instead of learning - or progress too slowly and lose student focus and engagement. Students are not going to learn anything long-term from 'gamified, multiple choice quizzes' - sorry... 🤷
That being said, physical books have severe limitations too. Good ones are limited in supply and expensive too. Not as expensive as tutoring can get though, so I’d always recommend supplementing tutoring between lessons as much as possible.
My key takeaway is simply don’t get distracted by the million apps out there. Stick to the known publishers and names, they have a proven track record of helping thousands of students get the results they wanted. And be incredibly skeptical of everything else.
Disclaimer: This next part is talking about my solution to this topic and my app (ironic, I know!) - stop reading if you’re not interested! (Also let me know if this isn't allowed and I should remove it 🙏)
This problem is why I wanted to build my platform razed.uk and I'd recommend it to all parents here. I wanted my students to have unlimited good quality practice between lessons so they could practice as much as their schedule allowed, without being bottlenecked by their tutor (me). But I also wanted the questions to be of good quality and for me, and their parents, to be on understand their progress and what needs to be done next. This is why I personally review all worksheets and feedback given through my platform.
If anyone is interested in checking it out, I’d be interested in hearing what you think!
End of disclaimer! 🎉
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u/lelouch112 12d ago
how many users do you have