The 11+ timeline: a calm, month-by-month plan for parents

I'm Anmol, and I tutor Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning one-to-one for the 11+. The question I hear most from parents isn't "which paper is hardest?" It's "are we too late?" or "are we starting too soon?" A good 11+ timeline answers both, and it takes the guesswork off your plate. Below is the plan I actually use with families, stage by stage, with the registration facts you need so nothing sneaks up on you.

One thing before we start: little and often beats a summer of cramming, every time. The children who walk in calm on exam day are almost always the ones who did twenty focused minutes most days, not four-hour sessions on Sundays.

When should you start? The honest answer

Most families begin structured preparation at the start of Year 5, roughly twelve months before the test. Most tutors and guides put the gentle-prep window at twelve to eighteen months. For the most competitive schools, some families lay foundations in Year 4 with reading, vocabulary and mental maths.

You don't need two years of drills. A child who reads widely and knows their tables cold is already halfway there. What you do need is a plan that grows with them, so let's map it.

Year 4: quiet foundations

No papers, no timers. This stage is about the skills every 11+ question sits on top of.

• Get times tables completely secure, up to 12×12, both directions. This single thing underpins most of the maths.
• Make reading a daily habit. Fiction stretches vocabulary; non-fiction builds the comprehension muscle.
• Play with a little reasoning for fun. Puzzles, sequences and spot-the-odd-one-out introduce non-verbal reasoning without it feeling like work.
• Start a light list of target schools and note which exam board each uses (GL Assessment is the most common; some areas use their own paper). My 11+ exam guide explains the boards.

If you do nothing else in Year 4, do reading and tables. Everything later is easier for it.

Start of Year 5: build the fundamentals

Now preparation becomes structured. The 11+ generally tests four areas: English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. GL Assessment, whose papers most grammar schools use, publishes practice across exactly those four.

• Work through topics in order, filling gaps as they show up rather than racing ahead.
• Keep growing vocabulary a few words a week. It quietly lifts English and verbal reasoning together.
• Introduce short, untimed practice so the question styles become familiar.
• This is the point where a tutor earns their keep, spotting the specific gaps that hold a child back.

Accuracy first. Speed comes later, and it comes far more easily once the understanding is solid.

Spring of Year 5: check your registration facts

Here's where your timeline meets the calendar, and where families get caught out. Registration for autumn exams usually opens around May and closes somewhere between June and August, depending on your area. Deadlines are strict. Miss one and there's almost never a late entry.

A concrete example: the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE) opens registration in May and closes it in mid-June, with the exam in September. Kent, Sutton and other regions run their own windows on their own dates. Buckinghamshire works differently again, registering most children automatically through their school.

The rule to live by: find your local admissions authority's page now, note the exact opening and closing dates, and set a reminder a week before the deadline. Don't rely on a date you saw on a tutoring blog, including mine. Confirm it with the authority itself.

Summer of Year 5: introduce exam conditions

By now the content should feel familiar. This term is about turning familiarity into fluency.

• Move to timed papers to build pace and stamina.
• Practise the exact format your target schools use, not a generic one.
• Sit at least one full mock in realistic conditions so the length and pressure hold no surprises.
• Review every mistake properly. Errors are the most useful thing in the whole process, because they show you precisely what to fix.

The Year 6 run-up: sharpen, don't cram

For most grammar schools the exam falls in the first two weeks of September, right at the start of Year 6, with results usually in mid-October. Some independent-school assessments run later into the autumn, so again, check your dates.

Because the test comes so early in Year 6, the real work happens the summer before. The run-up itself is about keeping skills warm with light, regular practice, not piling on new material.

The final week: settle everything down

The hard work is behind you. Now you protect it.

• Short, gentle practice only. No marathon sessions.
• Talk through simple technique: read the whole question, watch the clock, check your work.
• Guard sleep and routine. A rested child thinks faster than a crammed one.
• Keep your own nerves off the table. Children read our stress instantly.

Starting late? Don't panic

If you're reading this with only a few months to go, you can still do a great deal. The trick is ruthless prioritising: fix the highest-impact gaps first, usually times tables, core maths methods and reasoning question types, and leave the nice-to-haves. A tailored plan can cover surprising ground in a term when it targets the right things.

How I help

I teach Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning one-to-one, online, for the 11+. That means I take two of the four areas fully off your plate: I find the gaps, keep the pace right for your child, and make sure the maths and NVR feel calm rather than frightening by exam day. I'll also help you sanity-check where your child should be on their own timeline right now.

The first lesson is free, and it's a genuine lesson, not a sales call. You'll get an honest read on where things stand.

Common questions

When should we start preparing for the 11+?

Most families begin structured work at the start of Year 5, about a year before the test, with lighter foundations (reading and tables) from Year 4. Competitive schools may warrant an earlier start, but a late start is rarely hopeless.

When do we register, and when is the exam?

Registration typically opens around May and closes between June and August, varying by area, and it closes early. Most grammar exams are sat in the first two weeks of September, with results in mid-October. Always confirm the exact dates with your local admissions authority.

How many mock papers should my child sit?

Quality over quantity. A handful of full mocks in realistic conditions during the summer of Year 5 is plenty for most children, as long as every paper is properly reviewed afterwards.

My child gets anxious. How do we keep it calm?

Keep sessions short and regular, treat mistakes as information rather than failure, and protect sleep in the final weeks. Calm preparation over a sensible timeline is the single best antidote to exam nerves.