How to Choose 11 Plus Tutors? A Guide by PiAcademy Tutors
11+ Independent schools and 11+ Grammar schools are very popular choices in education for many families. The eleven plus exams (sometimes also referred to as ‘grammar school entrance exams’) can make a big difference for both you and your child's success in these exams could mean the difference between a Grammar School education and a Comprehensive School education for your child; to you, they could mean the difference between expensive Independent School fees and a free secondary level education!
With this in mind, clearly, it is never too early to start preparing! But how will you prepare? Is eleven plus tuition for you? Would a specialised age 11 tutor suit your child?
If you find yourself incessantly googling ‘11 plus tutors near me,’ or ‘private tutors for 11+ exams near me,’ then read on… this article is for you! Equally, if you don’t know much about the 11+ tuition system and need bringing up to speed, we’ve got you covered. This article should summarise:
- Why should you get an 11 plus tutor?
- What options do you have in terms of 11+ private tutors?
- How Pi Academy 11+ Expert tutors can help you!
- How does private tutoring work?
(And, hey! If you’re not a parent looking for child tutoring and fancy yourself a bit of an 11-plus guru: check out the section at the end of this article* – we will explain just how you can get involved in the 11plus tuition market!)
Check this Out: How to Choose the Best 11+ Tutor for Your Child?
First things first, why would you want 11 plus tutoring?
Do you think age 11 tuition is unnecessary (tutoring at primary school level may be an alien concept), or are you just undecided? Are you considering carrying out your child’s 11 plus tuition yourself, or wondering what an expensive tutor has to offer that your child’s qualified teacher at school doesn’t? Let us chip in; we think there are three main reasons for you to give an eleven plus tutor a chance: Eleven plus tutors understand the exams and the content…
1. Eleven plus tutors understand the exams and the content…
11+ Tutors specialise in their particular area, and so they understand exactly what your child needs to succeed. A young tutor may remember their own experiences with the 11+ exams, whereas a more mature tutor will have studied the exam acutely to ensure that they are well equipped to teach their students (tutors will also likely have tutoring experience with previous students and know what is most important and what is of a lower priority). You will also be able to find eleven plus tutors who specialise specifically in Maths, English, or Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
2. Everyone else has one 11+ Tutor...
Okay, maybe not everyone, but the reams of 11+ tutors you see on tutor websites are not sat around twiddling their thumbs, they have other students; 11+ exams are innately competitive, and the market for 11+ tuition is growing because the demand for 11+ tutors is too. As other students are getting 11 plus tutors, it is time to raise the bar to meet the newly heightened standard.
3. To increase your child’s confidence with 11+ Private Tutoring
A huge factor contributing to success in any exam is, of course, preparation. However, confidence makes a big difference too. If your child walks into an exam confident in their knowledge, ready for the exam they are about to face, their nerves will inevitably be lower, leading to increased focus during the test. 11 plus one to one tutors allow your child to receive individual and direct attention from someone who knows what they are doing; this will undoubtedly give them greater confidence in their abilities.
If you decide to go ahead with 11 Plus tuition, what is out there?
Having decided that a tutor is indeed the way to go in preparation for the age 11 entrance exam, you, of course, want to find the best tutor that you can! We understand how important this decision is for both you and your child.
Looking on a generic tutoring website, you would probably discover that there are a lot of options for pre grammar school tuition. This may be overwhelming at first (how do you know whether you will find a good tutor?), but fret not – we are here to condense the mass of tutor websites (UK)!
Below we have listed the various options you will face when looking for grammar school entrance exam tutors:
- An 11 plus tuition centre (children taught in small groups)
- 11 plus home tuition (a private tutor to visit and carry out your tutoring at home)
- 11 plus tuition online
Home and online tuition are often more suited to an active lifestyle, or if you do not have a tuition centre nearby. So if you look up, ‘11 plus tuition centre near me’, and find your area lacking… not to worry! You still have lots of choices.
If you use your choice of tutor website to search simply for ‘11+ tutors near me,’ or ‘11 plus tutor Birmingham,’ for example, how do you know who to choose? Usually, on such a site, you will be able to see the tutors’ qualifications. However, they will all have an individual approach to 11+ tuition. You may wonder how you, the customer, are supposed to decide which approach is best… after all, you chose to use a tutor as you acknowledge that you are not the expert here! Well, this is where Pi Academy comes in.
How Pi Academy 11+ Experts can help you?
Firstly, when thinking about tutoring, always remember that there are no legal requirements set to decide who may or may not refer to themselves as an eleven plus tutor. For this reason, it is vital that you find a trusted and reputable source like PiAcademy for your 11+ tuition (check out our Pi Academy 11+ testimonials to hear from other parents who have used our tutoring services).
Secondly, we can tackle that issue of too much choice for you. We are the experts in teaching and tutoring, so we put together a set lesson and course plan for the best tutor experience – we don’t expect you to decide how things will work. As a result, our tutoring is always well and reliably structured, whilst the one to one element of the tuition still allows the programme to adapt to your child’s particular needs.
Thirdly, we tutor online! Whether you’re looking for 11 plus tutors in East London, you are based in Colchester, Bournemouth, Essex, or Buckinghamshire, or hoping to find an 11 plus tutor in Redditch… we’ve got everyone and everywhere covered by our 11 plus tuition online! With us, you can have professional, flexible tutoring at home.
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How do we, at PiAcademy, handle our private tutoring?
We offer a wide range of courses, starting at an 11 plus beginners’ course for children in Year 3, and taking children right up to and through their exams.
Tutoring is carried out online, with a choice of a 1 to 1 set up or some group courses, and is supported by our plethora of resources. At first, a custom assessment will be issued to the student in order to recommend a suitable course, customised to them. When setting up on a course, students will have access to our study portal, which will contain their notes and homework, making them easily accessible outside of lessons. We are happy to provide an exam and study advice not only to students but also parents – keeping a direct line of communication open between you and your child’s tutor. (To read about this in more detail, head over to Pi Academy Tutoring Courses and learn all about our services and how we work.)
At Pi Academy, we follow an exam-oriented strategy which includes the enormous practice of massive
11+ Maths Past Papers with Answers, 11+ English Past papers with Answers, 11+ Verbal Reasoning Practice Papers with Answers, 11+ Non-verbal Reasoning Practice Papers with Answers. We also recommend parents to follow Pi Academy 11+ Planners for all these subjects and make DIY Practice at home.
Good luck with your search for an 11+ tutor; we hope to meet you and your child soon!
*As promised, a note for hopeful tutors: How to become an 11 plus tutor…
So, you think you’d like to be an 11+ tutor? Remember, to tutor; you need to have specialist knowledge in your subject... make sure that you are clued up on every element of the 11+ entrance exams and how they work!
If you think you’ve got what it takes – email us and apply to become a part of our team at: [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!
- 11 plus Maths courses for CEM and GL
- English courses for 11+ CEM and GL
- 11 plus Verbal Reasoning courses for CEM and GL
- 11 plus Non-Verbal Reasoning courses for CEM and GL
**All courses are available only if we have places and tutors available