11+ Guides
Plain-English guides to UK 11+ preparation — what it actually tests, when to start, and how the different exam formats compare. Written for parents doing this for the first time.
Practice
Guides
What Is the 11+? A Parent's Guide
What the 11+ actually tests, who sits it, how it differs from other selective exams, and what a first-time parent needs to know before you start.
7 min read
When Should You Start 11+ Preparation?
A realistic, year-by-year timeline for 11+ preparation — from Year 3 groundwork to the exam itself — and the case against starting too early.
8 min read
GL, CEM and ISEB: What's the Difference?
The three main 11+ exam formats explained side by side — question style, timing, and how to check which one your target schools actually use.
7 min read
Preparing for the 11+ Without the Stress
Practical ways to keep 11+ preparation calm and confidence-building — for your child and for you — without giving up on rigour.
8 min read
11+ Maths: The Complete Topic Checklist
Every topic the 11+ maths paper actually draws on, mapped to the KS2 curriculum, with worked example questions and the technique that matters more than raw ability: speed under pressure.
10 min read
11+ English: Comprehension, Vocabulary & SPaG
How the 11+ English paper is actually built — comprehension, cloze, vocabulary and SPaG — with a worked passage and the reading habits that move the needle months in advance.
10 min read
11+ Verbal Reasoning: Every Question Family Explained
Verbal reasoning rewards pattern recognition, not vocabulary alone. Every recurring question family, worked examples, and why familiarity beats talent here more than in any other paper.
11 min read
11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning: A Visual Guide
Series, analogies, matrices, codes, nets and rotations — the shape-and-pattern families that make up non-verbal reasoning, explained with diagrams and a plan for a child who "just doesn't see it" yet.
10 min read
UK Grammar Schools: List, Competition & Results
How many grammar schools there are in England and where, how competitive they really are, why they're popular with parents, and how admissions criteria generally work.
11 min read
The Kent Test Explained: Format, Dates & Registration
How the Kent Test actually works: registration window, the two papers sat on one day, the creative writing task, results date, and why you only sit it once for every Kent grammar school.
8 min read
London Grammar School Tests Explained
Why London has no single '11+' test like Kent — every school or small consortium sets its own — plus the shared Pan-London application process, typical test dates, and how the super-selectives, the Sutton and Bexley consortiums, and the Tiffin schools actually differ.
9 min read
Articles
Timely 11+ articles
What results mean, application and appeal deadlines, and the decisions that come up around the admissions calendar — updated as the year moves.
Individual schools
Grammar School Guides
Real admissions details for 47 individual grammar schools across Kent and Greater London — catchment areas, Year 7 places, and how oversubscription is resolved at each one.