Initial Assessment: Book in for an initial assessment with one of our experienced tutor team to gauge your child’s current level, how much prep needs to be done prior to the exams and focus areas for tuition. We will provide a full report post-assessment to help you guide your prep at home and as a foundation for future tutoring sessions.
Pace Yourself: Treat this as a marathon, not a race! Every child is different, but giving your child ample time to prepare is key. For some children this may involve tuition from the beginning of Year 1, others may not start preparing till the summer holidays prior to Year 2. But making sure the prep is sensibly paced is crucial to avoiding stress and ensuring your child has time to build their confidence and skills.
Effective Learning Plan: Have a clear and realistic learning plan in place. Our tutors can help to set up a weekly timetable of learning, including lesson time, homework and additional work with an adult at home. The 7+ exams will require children to be working at Year 3 curriculum level, so please expect tuition to be pushing your child beyond their current curriculum level. Consistency is key. Many aspects of their learning such as vocabulary, spelling and maths problem solving cannot be crammed and it is important that learning is segmented into manageable chunks every week.
Targeting your Top Choice Schools: Target the structure of your tuition according to your preferred schools. Every school’s examination process is slightly different- while most will involve a combination of Maths, English and VR/NVR skills, the weighting on each subject and the style of questions can differ. Some schools may have two separate exam days as part of their entry process, some may have online examinations rather than paper format or a combination of both. You should be able to access the exam format via the school website or school admissions office for more detailed information.
Avoid Comparison: From our experience, there is no “perfect candidate” the schools are looking for (thank goodness!). While schools will often require a minimum percentage to be achieved in each subject for children to be considered, independent schools will set this bar themselves and there is flexibility with this - often schools will place as much emphasis on interview and group assessment sessions as the academic exams. Moreover, different children will have different natural strengths and will develop in certain areas quicker than others. We would recommend focusing on your child's strengths and their individualised learning plan which will factor in their learning style, temperament and schedule to ensure their learning is most effective for them.
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