11+ learning library
Source-led explanations for parents and tutors, from how local 11+ tests work to practical preparation and reasoning strategies.
VAT on private school fees is real and precisely dated, but the official application data shows no national grammar school surge. Here is how to tell which claims hold up, and what actually decides whether your child gets a place.
Two official figures for home education are in circulation and they are not interchangeable. Here is what 126,000 and 175,900 each mean, why no honest UK-wide total exists, and how much of the rise is better counting.
A precise, dated guide to what section 7 actually requires, what a local authority can and cannot make you do, and which parts of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 are genuinely in force.
The law does not require a timetable, set hours or marked work, but it does reward evidence of progress. Here is a four-part system (goals, rhythm, review, evidence) that keeps home education defensible without turning your house into a classroom.
A disclosed buyer guide written by a company that sells one: how to decode the word adaptive, test whether a progress report is real evidence, and run a seven-day trial that actually decides.
The official data confirms a real boys-girls writing gap, then explains almost nothing about your own child. Here is what the numbers say, whether the writing task even counts where you are applying, and a diagnostic that routes to three different fixes.
A step-by-step reset for parents whose child has stopped co-operating with 11 plus practice: how to tell ordinary resistance from real distress, a seven-day pause, the exact words to use, and how to decide whether to reduce, pause or stop.
The 11+ advice online tells you to practise for seven minutes, twenty minutes, forty-five minutes or two whole papers a day. Here is what the evidence really supports, and what it does not.
Grammar schools do not look for a type of child. They run a published, legally governed allocation procedure, and passing the test is usually only eligibility, not currency.
Access arrangements for the 11+ are decided by your admission authority, not by a national rulebook. Here is how to find out which body decides, what evidence it will demand, and what to do if it says no.
Ten grammar schools use the FSCE 11 plus for September 2027 entry, and twelve more have announced it for 2028. Every row here is checked against the school's own admissions page, with the source printed beside it.
FSCE runs four named papers across eleven Key Stage 2 subjects, with audio instructions and no authorised past papers. Here is what the official Familiarisation Guides actually say.
A region-by-region guide to 11 plus results dates and qualifying scores, and the full sequence from the results letter to the 31 October application deadline, National Offer Day and grammar school appeals.
Verified 2026 tutor and app prices, the free council and GL Assessment route almost nobody mentions, and three fully costed 12-month budgets so you can choose a route on evidence rather than anxiety.
A neutral, non-retail comparison of Bond 11 plus and CGP 11 plus books: question-style fidelity, answer quality, cost per question, and where each brand is genuinely weak.
Most 11+ guides explain GL Assessment and stop there. This one compares all five boards UK parents actually meet, and shows how format changes the way you prepare.
A region-by-region guide to where the UK grammar schools are, which entrance test each area uses, what it tests, and when registration opens and closes. Includes the deadline most parents miss.
A complete taxonomy of 11+ non-verbal reasoning question types, each with a worked example, a repeatable solving rule and the distractor examiners plant. Includes official ISEB and GL exam facts.
A complete 11 plus maths topic list, organised as a decision guide rather than a directory. Includes the four areas school teaches after the exam is over, the classic traps per topic, and how pace differs by board.
A curated library of free 11 plus papers where every entry tells you its duration, question count, whether answers are included and whether it matches your local board before you download it.
Start with a fifteen minute diagnostic, not a reading list. This guide routes you to one of three plans, gives weekly time budgets in minutes from Year 3 to exam week, and tells you exactly what to cut when time runs short.
The 11 plus is not one exam. It is roughly fifteen different tests sharing a name, and which one your child sits depends entirely on your postcode. Here is how to find yours.
Help children break non-verbal reasoning into manageable checks for shape, number, position, rotation, reflection, matrices and folded figures.
Learn the main families of 11+ verbal reasoning questions and use a repeatable method that builds vocabulary, accuracy and timing in the right order.
Understand what the 11+ is, why formats differ by area, which subjects may appear and how testing fits into the grammar-school application process.
A calm, practical guide to building foundations in Years 3 and 4, adding structured preparation in Year 5 and using timed practice proportionately.
Create one learner profile and begin with the free four-subject diagnostic. No card is required.
