Practical guidance from the Leading Tuition team
Book a Free ConsultationMarch 2024 brought two sets of results for the first time in our history. Alongside the 11+ offers that arrive every spring, we were tracking the outcomes of students who had sat the ISEB Common Pre-Test in late 2022 and whose conditional offers — from Eton, Harrow, Winchester and others — were confirmed as they completed Common Entrance. This post covers both pathways: what our 11+ cohort achieved, what our first structured 13+ cohort achieved, and what families considering boarding school entry need to understand about how different the two processes really are.
In the 2024 admissions cycle, we worked with 39 students sitting selective school entrance examinations at 11+ and 13+. Of those, 37 received at least one offer from a selective or independent school — a success rate of 94.9%.
We define success as receiving at least one offer from a school the family had genuinely targeted. We do not count offers from schools added as late safety options if the family's first-choice school did not make an offer.
From our 11+ cohort of 34 students:
From our 13+ cohort, all students who sat Common Entrance received their first or second choice school:
For the first time, we are writing this update to cover both our 11+ cohort and our growing 13+ cohort. Seven of our students sat the ISEB Common Pre-Test for boarding school entry in 2023 (Year 6), with their conditional offers confirmed and Common Entrance results arriving in summer 2024. All seven received their first or second choice school at 13+.
The 13+ process is often misunderstood by families who are used to the 11+ world. The ISEB pre-test is taken two years before Common Entrance — so a child who sits it in November of Year 6 will not sit CE until May of Year 8. That is a long period of preparation, and the children who do best treat it as a marathon with clear stage-by-stage milestones, not a sprint in the final term of Year 8.
We asked several families if they would share a brief reflection.
Writing to us after results day, a parent whose son received a place at Eton College wrote: "The timeline for 13+ entry is so much longer than 11+. We started working with Leading Tuition at the beginning of Year 6 for the ISEB pre-test, and then continued right through to Common Entrance in Year 8. Having the same tutor across that period made a real difference — he knew our son well and could push him at exactly the right pace at each stage."
Writing to us after results day, a parent whose daughter gained a place at North London Collegiate School at 11+ wrote: "We were considering both the 11+ and 13+ routes for a long time. The consultation with Leading Tuition helped us decide — they laid out both timelines clearly and were honest about where our daughter's strengths sat. We went for 11+ and she received an offer from NLCS. The decision-making support alone was worth it."
If your child is in Year 4, Year 5 or Year 6, and you are beginning to think about selective school entry, the most important first step is understanding which schools and which exams are relevant to your child — and what realistic preparation looks like for each one. You can find school-specific guides on our 11+ school preparation pages, or book a free consultation to talk through your child's specific situation.
How do you measure your success rate?
We count the proportion of students who received at least one genuine offer from a school the family had identified as a target school before the admissions cycle began. We do not include offers from schools added as late backup options.
Do you only work with high-achieving children?
No. We work with a wide range of students, including children who need to build foundational skills before beginning focused exam preparation. Our tutors assess each child individually and build a programme around where they are, not where they need to be.
How early should preparation start?
It depends on the target school. For the most selective grammar schools — QE Boys, Henrietta Barnett, Tiffin — most of our successful students began working with us in Year 4 or early Year 5. For boarding school 13+ entry, the ISEB Common Pre-Test is taken in Year 6, so preparation typically begins in Year 5.
What does 1-to-1 tuition offer that group tuition or online courses don't?
A specialist tutor can identify exactly where a specific child is losing marks and address that precisely. Group courses and online platforms can build general exposure to exam content, but they cannot adapt in real time to an individual child's misconceptions, gaps, or exam technique weaknesses.
Book a free consultation and we’ll help you find the right support for your child.
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