11 plus exams – how can a tutor help?

September 6, 2021

• Advice for Parents
• / Common Entrance

The 11 plus exams can be an immensely daunting challenge for both students and parents
alike. For many, they are the first experience of major exams which bear real weight over a
child’s future, and this can cause a lot of stress surrounding the best approach to take. There
are numerous different ways in which a tutor can help share this burden, and below we will
outline some of these benefits of one-to-one tutoring for the 11 plus.

1) Assess the student
One of the first things our tutors do is assess the student. This may sound
daunting, but it is a friendly and informal judgement of where the student is academically and
areas to focus on, which will then allow them to devise a tuition and general academic plan
with the parents in advance of the 11 plus exams.

2) Content.
Once an assessment of the student’s knowledge and abilities has taken place, one of the
most significant aspects of the 11 plus exams with which the tutor can help is by sharing
their deep and reliable knowledge of content with their student. Like any exams, there are
certain subject areas which the students are simply expected to know, understand, and
apply to various situations with ease. A tutor can help identify such content as well as,
crucially, areas in which knowledge of such content is lacking.

3) Inspire and motivate
One way in which a tutor may be able to help your child is by inspiring and motivating them
to work harder and take greater care in their academic work. It may be that your child
struggles with focus, or conversely that they are focused but lack the drive to push
themselves. These are both situations in which a tutor can be of immense help, by
developing a bond and understanding with each individual student which can help them to
reach their full potential.

4) Provide variety
An area in which tutors have a great deal of experience is knowing how to keep the
preparation varied and engaging for students. Preparation for any exams can become
monotonous and draining, and this is especially true with a child of this age. Tutors are
highly experienced in finding fun and crucially tailored programmes which can help a student
to achieve their full potential without becoming bored or disengaged.

5) Knowing a student’s limits
It is important in this stressful period to understand how much work is appropriate and to
avoid overdoing it. Tutors can be exceptionally helpful with gauging this for each individual
student, and with finding the perfect balance with work both within and between tuition
sessions.

The 11 plus exams can be a tricky road to navigate, and a tutor can greatly hep share the
load with parents. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our team if you would
like any further guidance, or if you would like to arrange tuition for the 11 plus exams for your
child.

Find our how your child can succeed in 11+ interviews here.