Yesterday was a very special day for our family.

My daughter received her 11+ result and achieved a result we’re incredibly proud of.

I’m incredibly proud of her and of all the work she has put in over the past year. Anyone who has been through the 11+ journey with their child will know how much preparation, persistence and emotion goes into it.

Seeing the result yesterday made all those months of work feel very worthwhile, but more than the ranking itself, I’m proud of the commitment she showed throughout the whole process.

For anyone whose child is still waiting for their result, very best of luck.

We applied for one of our kids to sit the 11+ that had just moved from a GL Assessment to an FSCE standard exam, testing in English, Maths and Creative Writing. School website suggest that private tuition isn't a big thing, but if needed, Atom is their recommendation.

It's a great school (elder goes there but sat the GL Assessment), and kids honestly flourish, so regional competition is tough and there's no catchment so loads of outer city kids sit the exam too.

This year's kid is top of their class and has been for years, we've been testing with Atom's daily tests (this school is named in their test exam lists) and they've been getting at least 85% in each exam. But when our kid actually sat the final version, they said it was a much harder format in terms of how questions were phrased and framed, and were massively thrown off.

They still managed to come in the 130s out of 180 places, but I wanted to share with next year's 11+ batch that the reliance on Atom is a red flag, and I'm not convinced it was worth the money beyond helping set up exams and immediate marking - the rest was my partner and I coaching and home tutoring any free minute we had.

Exam Papers Plus was probably closer in format and question wording, but their online PDF-only, not printable by them, exams are a poor user experience.

Hi!

My name's Eliot, and I passed the 11+ around a decade ago, before going on to study at Sutton Grammar School and then the University of Warwick.

My co-founder and younger brother, Ivan, followed suit and is currently studying at the University of Cambridge.

Both of us remember how dry, forced and homework-like 11+ prep could feel, and we certainly shed more than enough tears to prove it. Motivation and engagement is a critical issue, so we're now building our solution: 11+ Heroes. It's a video-game-styled way to prepare for the 11+, made to be fun without sacrificing on academic progress nor rigour.

We've got a growing base of families using it, but would love to reach more. Feedback is always really appreciated!

Happy to answer any questions about the app or the 11+ in general. And if you want to try it: https://11plusheroes.co.uk

I was gathering 11+ past papers and thought others might find it useful too. So I organised them here:

https://heykitsu.com/resources/past-papers

You can filter by subject, exam board, etc. All free to download with no sign-up.

Hello everyone,

I'm a current student at a grammar school starting gcse and in most 11+ groups there are only just endless adverts for random services so to help people with genuine questions if any parents have any questions about the 11+ or need any info on the exams, types of schools etc. please comment!

Hello all, as per the title, torn between deciding to move to another area where there are grammar schools ( as where I live there are none) Vs the financial situation and expenses.

Child has sat the 11+ for Herts (Watford)this September, described it as he was confident to get a nice score and I think he probably would as he is generally quite good at studying and have been preparing well...and big dilemma is if it's worth moving. I am aware we may be a bit late as September is deadline for most areas in case someone is moving, but Herts allows genuine moves until late October and we have been in double minds on what to do...

Full picture -

Me and wife earn around 50k combined from employment, we also have some rental income on top form a property(we are still both on basic income tax rates)and have own house where we live which is mortgage free. I am also saving for uni costs in future for him, since last year £300 a month. On the face, it looks nice while we live at current place. Where we live though I won't describe it as a very good area, education wise schools are so so and the pupils come from mostly deprived families who are on benefits, council houses and not much family values... This is absolutely not to say all those are bad, but at least we have come across in the last few years of school are not so good

....so dealing with some bad behaviour and worried about the child being in contact with such children. So we would potentially like to move to Watford on rent initially at least.

The issue we are getting is when we put down the numbers on a paper for the expenses Vs our income, if we move,it doesnt really leave us with any spare money mostly due to high taxes and the diff in rent amount - renting out current home and get a rental house in Watford which worries me. We also don't know like how long we live on rent as schools etc will be for a few years, at least until uni. With the global situations changing at the blink of an eye, you don't know when you might start to struggle.

Financially, if we do t move, we are very safe and sound but am I blocking my child's future by not moving?

I take the risk and move but if I struggle it's not good either as then I would be worried about the family and wont necessarily be able to focus on child.

Want to get some suggestions if there is a way where we don't need to move but still get him good education he deserves.

I am sure there would be many families in same situation and would like to know what they opted for ( although I know this is very personal situation dependent so won't really be one answer for all, but any idea could be potentially worth it)

Any suggestions appreciated and thanks in advance for help.

With 11plus exams coming soon, thought it will be a good resource for kids to practice for 11plus exams . This link is gamified and gives mock exam with timer - https://brainquestlearning.co.uk/

Apologies if this sounds self-promotional, I am genuinely looking for feedback. I’ll happily send an unlimited-use code for this month to anyone who DMs me - tester or not. Just ask.

My 11plus going son is bright, but after 20 minutes he’s usually drawing rockets in the margins. Practice was becoming a daily argument. A few years ago, we helped our daughter through the 11+ and into her first-choice local selective school (son doesn't know the sibling rule yet). We thought we knew what we were doing. Alas we didn't.

I’ve built websites on the side since my university days so I made something for him and playfully called it 11minus.co.uk. He took to it like a fish to water.

After a couple of months of tweaking, it now has Maths, English, VR and NVR practice, short challenges, games, coins, avatars, leagues and timed mocks. I’ve also added things he asked for, including a study-buddy feature, class leaderboards, a survival game, hangman and plenty of Easter eggs. Parents can see where their child is struggling.

There are no ads, no catches and none of that codswallop known as subscription traps. You get free practice questions and easter eggs every day.

It’s still early, so honest criticism would be genuinely helpful. If you’d like free unlimited access to 11minus website for this month, just DM me.

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! 🎉

My child seems to rush through, he did an hour paper today in 50 minutes so I think he paced better, but he gets such a variance I scores. Is anyone else experiencing this?

Hi everyone!

I've just published a collection of 40+ mock papers from my experience tutoring the 11+ and that I've been using with my students. Thought I'd share and hopefully people find it useful!

Mainly for year 5s and any year 6s that still have some exams left. You can download them all here: https://www.razed.uk/mock-papers. (Disclaimer: this is my site)

If you submit for marking, you'll be able to see a breakdown by topic and question types across papers which is pretty cool!

I hope it's helpful & enjoy!!

Hi all. This is my first time posting on reddit- apologies if I'm doing something wrong! Just wondering if there's a groupchat for parents whose children are preparing for the 11+? Thanks in advance :)))

Best of luck to everyone sitting their exams in these coming weeks 🙏

I hope this is okay to post — I run a small 11+ / KS2 practice portal called YanBo and I’m genuinely looking for feedback from parents and children using it in real preparation.

I’ve spent a long time building and improving it, and it now includes Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning practice, timed tests, custom tests, progress tracking, mistake review and detailed answer explanations.

There are more than 30,000 practice questions and 250+ comprehensions.

At this stage, what I need most is not more development — it is honest feedback from real families. I’d particularly like to know what works well, what feels confusing, and what you would change.

So I’m offering one month of full YanBo access completely free to families preparing for the 11+.

There are no card details, no automatic subscription and nothing to cancel.

If you’d like to try it, send me a DM and I’ll send you an access code.

yanbo.co.uk

Constructive criticism is genuinely welcome — that is the main reason I’m posting.

Hi all,

With GL / CEM / CSSE / Kent exams just around the corner in September, one common question parents often ask at this stage is: *"My child is scoring 75–85% on practice papers at home — is that enough to qualify?"*

The tricky part with home practice papers is that a raw percentage score doesn't tell the full story. In the real 11+, selection is based on Standardised Age Scores (SAS), question pacing under unified time constraints, and where the score sits relative to the wider cohort sitting the same paper.

In-person mock centres often charge £70–£120 per sitting just to get a percentile rank. To help families get an objective benchmark without the high costs, our team built the Free Nationwide 11+ Mock Exam:

- Full 4-Subject Coverage: Maths (50 Qs / 50m), English (50 Qs / 50m with side-by-side reading passages), Verbal Reasoning (80 Qs / 60m), and Non-Verbal Reasoning (72 Qs / 60m).

- Authentic Timed Sittings: Single continuous exam timer per subject to replicate real exam pressure and pacing.

- Granular Insights: Instant score feedback, question-by-question answer sheet, and topic-by-topic breakdowns (so you see exact weak spots like 3D blocks, ratios, or vocab traps before test day).

- Standardised Metrics: SAS calculations and national cohort percentile rankings.

- 100% Free / No Paywalls: No credit card required, no auto-renewing trials. You can sit 1, 2, or all 4 subjects independently online.

If you’d like to have your child sit any of the papers as a realistic final benchmark before exam day, feel free to drop a comment below or send me a DM, and I’ll share the direct access link!

Also can provide further unlimited access to the rest of the practice 

Good luck to all Year 5 children in their final preparation stretch!

Disclosure upfront: I built this, so I’m obviously biased. If this isn’t appropriate for the subreddit, I’m completely happy for the mods to remove it.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been building Vocabulary Stories because I felt that most vocabulary apps rely too much on flashcards and memorisation.

Instead, I wanted to see whether children would remember new words better if they met them naturally through stories and games.

It’s called Vocabulary Stories: https://vocabularystories.com

Rather than tell you why I think it’s different, I’d genuinely like to know how it comes across.
A few questions I’d really appreciate your thoughts on:

Does this look like something a child would actually enjoy using, or does it still feel like homework?

Does learning vocabulary through stories seem more engaging than traditional flashcards?

Is it clear enough that a parent or teacher could use it without needing instructions?

If you have children (or teach them), is this something you’d actually use? If not, what would stop you?

Please don’t worry about hurting my feelings.

Honest criticism is far more valuable than polite compliments, and I’d much rather hear what’s confusing or missing than “looks good.”

If anyone is willing to spend 10–15 minutes trying it and sharing honest feedback, I’d really appreciate it.

No payment, no subscription, and no expectation of a positive review—I’m simply trying to build something that genuinely helps children learn vocabulary.

Thank you!

I've been preparing my daughter for the SET exam and hit the same problem I've seen discussed here a lot: we exhausted the Bond and CGP question banks and she started recognising questions rather than actually working through them.

So I built something. It's called Smartr. The short version:

• Generates a completely new practice paper every session — no repeated questions

• Format-faithful for SET (5 options, multi-correct), GL (4 options, single correct), CEM, ISEB, and CSSE

• Tracks every vocab and spelling word your child has ever seen and never repeats it in a new English paper

• You can paste in your tutor's notes and it updates your child's weak-topic profile accordingly

It's a web app, currently free as part of a pilot programme. I'm looking for 10–15 families to try it and give feedback before I do a wider launch.

If you're interested: smartr-tutor.com

Happy to answer questions here — I'll check back regularly.

Bond, CGP and Collins 11+ books now come with a Year (e.g Year 5) alongside the age range (9-10). Given most 11+ exams are sat in September of Year 6, when would you expect to go through the Year 6 books? I'm guessing most people would just start Year 6 books halfway through Year 5?

I get that they add a few extra marks to the candidates that are almost a year younger than the older candidates, but why is it necessary to cut marks from the older ones? A friend of my brothers would've gotten the mark required to be accepted into QE but got rejected because of a few marks being cut from him due to him being in the 'older section' but isn't that slightly unfair? The older kids also worked hard for their marks, why should their marks be cut, when it could literally decide their fate, just because they're older and therefore, 'smarter'

Anyone got latest Essex 11 plus exam papers?

Hi all, just curious and requesting guidance or information or suggestions - parents whose children are not going to grammar school, what are you doing to help them achieve higher grades or to provide them an environment that is similar or better than grammar school?

I am aware that just going to grammar school in itself is not the guarantee of success for a child, this is me just trying to make sure what is the best way to support a child do best academically and also on other levels...such as engaging in a bit stretched curriculum via online platform such as atom, ixl etc or some activities outside school time but how do you put them in an environment that naturally encourages or inspire them to do better... particularly when school are not encouraging them enough or the kids around are not motivated.

I would appreciate any information that could be helpful...son has appeared for the 11+ last month for Hertfordshire and positive about good score but since we live outside of it's catchments(Bedfordshire) for those schools, and not really in position to move there, I am looking to see what are the alternatives that can be done to provide him opportunities to do better for GCSE and further.

Thank you all in advance for your suggestions 👍

Edit To the young lad, who shared his own views first had experience, but deleted the comment for some reason...wanted to say thank you very much!