Making a Strong September Start

The beginning of a new academic year is the ideal time to establish routines that support everyday learning and also future 11+ preparation. The aim is not to fill every evening with extra work, but to help children become organised, confident and increasingly independent.

September often arrives with good intentions. New stationery is bought, timetables are drawn up and everyone promises that homework will be completed without last-minute panic. Yet once school, clubs and family commitments begin competing for attention, even the best plans can unravel.

For families approaching the 11+, the temptation is to respond by adding more worksheets, tutoring and online practice. But successful preparation is rarely about doing the greatest quantity of work. It begins with strong foundations: regular reading, secure mathematics, growing vocabulary, effective concentration and the confidence to tackle an unfamiliar problem.

St Marys Calne

Establish a routine before the workload increases

The British Curriculum has earned its reputation over many decades because it balances
academic rigour with flexibility.

cottesmore

A consistent homework routine helps children know what is expected without requiring a daily negotiation. Agree when and where work will usually take place, taking account of travel, meals and extracurricular activities.

Many children need time to decompress after school. A snack, some physical activity or a short period of quiet play can make it easier to concentrate later. Try to avoid an open-ended screen break, which can be particularly difficult to bring to a close.

The routine does not need to be identical every day. What matters is that your child understands the plan and that it is realistic enough to maintain.

Children normally feel stressed when things are unfamiliar. It really helps to guide your child to build a healthy routine and learning habits - we always recommend the Pomodoro technique, where you break work into 25 minute slots with 5 or 10 minutes' break in between. Once you have that schedule, that plan, it becomes systematic, and all the tasks and the progress become clearer.
Nick Huang
Director, Think Academy UK

Keep 11+ preparation manageable

At this stage, little and often is usually more effective than occasional, intensive sessions. A child who spends 20 focused minutes on vocabulary, arithmetic or reasoning several times a week may make better progress than one completing a long paper when already tired.

Preparation should reflect the assessments used by the schools you are considering. Depending on the application, children may encounter:

  • English comprehension and writing

  • Mathematics

  • Verbal reasoning

  • Non-verbal or spatial reasoning

  • Online adaptive assessments such as the ISEB Pre-Test

  • School-specific written papers or interviews

Before purchasing multiple programmes or employing several tutors, find out exactly what each school requires and when. This prevents children from preparing for the wrong assessment or learning five different “exam techniques” when the underlying skills are largely the same.

The 11+ used to mean one thing, the original common entrance eleven-plus, very widely shared, particularly by girls’ boarding schools. These days the 11 + is a collective term for all the different entrance tests at that age. There’s the London Consortium, a group of about ten girls’ day schools who share a single test, so your daughter only sits it once. Outside of that there’s no more grouping - each school has its own process.
William Petty
Director, Bonas MacFarlane Education

Build the foundations first

Test familiarisation has a place, but it should sit on top of strong academic foundations.

Reading remains one of the most valuable forms of 11+ preparation. Encourage your child to read fiction, non-fiction and poetry, including material that occasionally stretches them. Talk about unfamiliar words, why a character behaved in a particular way and what the writer might be suggesting rather than stating directly.

For mathematics, prioritise secure number knowledge, arithmetic fluency and the ability to explain a method. Children should also become comfortable applying familiar concepts to multi-step or unfamiliar problems.

Reasoning practice can help children recognise patterns and develop strategies, but it should not become an exercise in memorising question types. Ask your child to explain how they reached an answer. Their reasoning is often more informative than whether they happened to select the correct option.

Teach children how to plan their work

Between eight and twelve, children should gradually learn to manage their own responsibilities. Encourage your child to:

  • Check their homework diary or online portal.

  • Identify what is due and when.

  • Decide which task to complete first.

  • Gather the materials they need.

  • Estimate how long the work should take.

  • Check and submit it independently.

A simple weekly planner can help when homework, 11+ practice, tests and activities begin to overlap. Parents may need to supervise this process initially, but the goal is gradually to step back.

Practise exam skills gradually

Once the foundations are secure, children need sensible familiarity with the format of their assessment. This might include working on a screen, using a mouse confidently, answering multiple-choice questions, managing time and continuing calmly when a question feels difficult.

Full timed papers should not dominate early preparation. Introduce timing gradually and use practice to identify areas for development—not simply to generate scores.

After completing a task, review mistakes constructively. Was the knowledge missing? Was the question misread? Did your child rush, become distracted or struggle to choose a strategy? Understanding the reason for an error is more useful than recording another percentage.

Protect balance and confidence

Homework and 11+ preparation should not routinely replace sleep, exercise, friendships or family time. A tired and anxious child is unlikely to learn effectively.

Praise the habits you want to strengthen: beginning without repeated prompting, concentrating for an agreed period, asking a sensible question, checking an answer and persevering when something is difficult.

Try not to make every family conversation about school applications. Children need to understand that the 11+ is an opportunity, not a judgement of their intelligence or future potential.

“If you start early and get the strategy in place, you reduce that risk from the beginning, be proactive, not reactive. Beyond that: take them out of the house, away from the work. Doesn't have to cost a fortune. It could be six hours of Laser Quest, whatever gets their brain somewhere else into a happier space. Don't remind them that's what you're doing. Don't tell them why. Just do it. Just surprise them." WILLIAM PETTY, Director of Bonas MacFarlane

The Scholato View

A strong start to 11+ preparation is not measured by how many practice papers a child completes in September. It is built through small, sustainable habits: reading regularly, developing secure mathematical foundations, approaching unfamiliar questions with curiosity and learning to organise work independently.

Parents provide the structure, encouragement and perspective; the child gradually takes ownership. The aim is not simply to prepare for one examination, but to develop the learning habits and confidence that will support a successful transition to senior school and continue long after the 11+ is over.