2022 – How did they pass the 10+/11+ exams?

Henry exceeded mine and everyone else’s expectations. Despite our difficult year with Covid and family bereavements, Henry managed to achieve the highest score for St. Elizabeth’s Boys School and one of the highest scores for the Kent grammar schools. We started preparing Henry with the weekly classes in Victoria when he was in Year four. We trialled a bunch of different companies and I did my research, but Henry fell in love with Jane in his trial class. Looking back, we realise how important this was, as it set Henry up with a solid foundation. In Year five, Covid -19 forced all tuition to move online – Henry enjoyed the online group lessons, but I felt like he needed something more so close to the exams. Henry transitioned to one-to-one tuition and we kept in constant communication with the tutor and the team. He worked hard and we set up a daily routine for him so we covered all the subjects: we encouraged Henry to improve on his accuracy and to our surprise he exceeded our expectations. We recommend not leaving it too late – preparation is key!

I wanted to drop you a line to let you know that 11+ results for Kent were released yesterday and am delighted to report that, out of a total possible score of 423, Amelia scored… 417!

98.6% is a phenomenal result that exceeded even my high expectations, and testimony to the wonderful support and encouragement of all at 11 Plus London. I have also spoken with Andrew who is similarly delighted, and emailed Johnathan separately to thank him for his inspirational coaching and support.

The breakdown by subject was 139/141 for Maths, 137/141 for English and 141/141 for Verbal and Non-verbal Reasoning. This result will give Amelia the pick of any grammar school in Kent, irrespective of distance, and she is understandably over the moon, as are we all.

Bearing in mind that we only started structured study with 11 Plus London in January of this year, the value of the programme in rapidly building Amelia’s self-confidence and a winning technique speaks for itself.

A great success story to share with any of your future pupils or parents wondering whether their child will be able to make the grade. We have already recommended 11 Plus London to a friend and I’m sure you’ll continue to benefit from other enquiries as we continue to spread the good news. The key piece of advice that I would give to parents is to think of the programme as a partnership.

At school, Danek was always overachieving, so we had no doubts about preparing him for the 11 plus. We were lucky to know quite a lot of other parents who had put their children through the exams in previous years, and they gave us some great advice so we were not completely lost. By year five, we felt like we had given what we could to him ourselves, and he now needed some help from an experienced tutor, especially in English. Danek joined the group classes with 11 Plus London initially because he was getting bored of working alone and losing motivation. He really enjoyed the group sessions and took on board a lot. As he was weaker in English we also completed some one-to-one lessons with Harry, and at the final months before the exams, he was enrolled in some booster courses in the Summer holidays with 11 Plus London. We felt Danek really benefited from all three and each was vital to his success.

In the end, Danek achieved places for Alleyn‘s, Dulwich College, Ibstock Place, Latymer Upper, Kingston Grammar School and Whitgift. We thank 11 Plus London for your support, we had a very positive experience and you were instrumental in making this happen. The one thing I recommend to parents is to ask for advice – don’t be afraid to check with different tutors and different members of the team.

When Daniel started tuition, we were hoping he would simply improve his maths and English level. He had missed out a lot of schooling during lockdown and he was finding his normal school lessons difficult. We had no idea he would be taking the 11 plus exams just a year after. Jane supported us from day one and guided us to fill Daniel’s gaps. She believed in Daniel and kept encouraging us to believe his potential. Daniel joined the group classes, the one to one tuition and the Summer/October courses.

He improved dramatically, and we realised we should register him for a few 11 plus exams. It was a lot of work and there were times when I felt like giving up. Making Daniel work consistently was the hardest part: Daniel proved to be bright but lacked the maturity to handle the exams. Luckily, all of the hard work paid off and we were thrilled when Daniel secured a spot in Emanuel and he was awarded a bursary of 60 per cent. Looking back, we realise how much progress Daniel had to make to gain such an achievement and we could not have done this without the honest feedback and support from Jane and her team. Daniel has now gained a love to learn and is continuing with the group lessons despite the 11 plus exams being over.

For parents looking to embark on this 11 plus journey, I recommend talking to Jane and the staff for advice and recommendations, and not putting your fears and anxieties on your child because they are more capable than you think. Also, check and research on schools’ bursary programs as more schools offer help than you may expect. If your child has gaps, start as soon as possible and do not leave it to the last minute as catching up puts more pressure on a child.

I wanted to share with you Oscar’s good news that City of London School have offered him a place (10+). We are all completely and utterly over-the moon! The extra, and unexpected, good news is that they have also awarded him an Academic Scholarship.

We are completely indebted to you and Jane and Andrew and all of Oscar’s tutors. We are incredibly grateful for all your encouragement and help and feel incredibly lucky to have had your support.

It seems like a long time ago when we first met Andrew after Oscar’s first tester Saturday morning class, and his words of guidance and encouragement have stayed with us all the way. Starting the journey with you really made a difference and Oscar still has a certificate for achievement in mathematics, presented to him by Jane in year 3, on his bedroom mantelpiece; it is somehow fitting that the journey was completed by Jane giving such superb help to Oscar with his creative writing. Oscar was also enthralled with Morgan who taught him in the Summer course and in the weekly classes. My final piece of advice to parents is ask for advice and do your best to implement it – their advice works.

I really appreciate the help received by Jane and Monique in the past one year. The course and the service was awesome and I have no hesitation to recommend to friends. In fact, I have done this already on a few occasions. Evelyn has always been a bright girl: we were first introduced to Jane from a friend who used her the previous year. Our friend spoke highly of her, so we signed Evelyn up to the group classes when she was in Year five. We quickly realised Evelyn needed extra support in English – her maths had always been very strong – Jane and the team were very hands on and gave great advice which we tried our best to follow. We were very lucky as Evelyn is a keen student and she never complained once about the workload.

Amazingly, for grammar schools, she was top 180 in the Bexley test, scored almost full in the Kent test and comfortably passed Newstead wood’s selective line. And for private schools, Evelyn received all offers from JAGS, Eltham College, City of London and is on the waiting list for Godolphin and Latymer. Evelyn was a little disappointed that she did not receive an offer for St. Paul’s Girls School despite having been to the interview stage, but I am very happy for whatever she has achieved. She has now decided to go to City of London, and we think this would be ideal fit for her.

My piece of advice to parents is to support your child and encourage them as much as possible. This process is a marathon and parents and children need stamina to succeed.