Realistic UK tutoring rates, book and mock exam costs, school registration fees, and optional extras — added up term by term
Book a Free ConsultationAsk most parents what 11+ preparation costs and you get one answer: an hourly tutoring rate. That number is real, but it is only one line in a much longer bill. Over a typical two-year run-up, families also pay for practice books, mock exam sittings, and — for anyone applying to independent or consortium schools — non-refundable registration fees per school, plus optional extras like an educational psychologist assessment if access arrangements are needed. This guide adds all of it up, term by term, using published UK tutoring rate ranges, real book prices, published mock exam fees, and actual school registration fees, so you can see the full two-year picture rather than just the headline hourly rate. It is deliberately honest about the range: costs vary hugely by region, intensity, and how many schools you apply to, and we would rather give you a realistic band than a fake precise number.
Tutoring is usually the largest single line in an 11+ budget, and it is also the one with the widest genuine range. UK-wide tutoring rate surveys put typical one-to-one 11+ tutoring at roughly £40–£90 per hour, rising to £60–£120+ per hour for specialist tutors in London and the South East, where competition for grammar and independent school places is most intense. Rates below around £30 per hour often indicate a tutor with limited specialist experience of the 11+ format specifically — general subject tutors are not always familiar with verbal and non-verbal reasoning conventions, which are unlike anything in the school curriculum. Group tuition is typically cheaper per child, often £20–£40 per hour, because the cost is shared across several children, though with less individual attention and less ability to adapt to one child's specific gaps.
What matters more than the hourly rate is the total number of hours across the full preparation period, and this is where a two-year view changes the picture. Most families do not tutor at a constant weekly rate for two years — intensity typically rises as the exam approaches. A common pattern is roughly one hour per week through Year 5, rising to 1.5–2 hours per week in the final Year 6 exam term. Over the full two-year run-up that might total somewhere in the region of 60–70 hours of one-to-one tuition, which at typical rates works out to roughly £2,600–£5,850 — the term-by-term table below breaks this down further. That is a wider window than the figure you will see quoted for a single nine-to-twelve month programme, because it reflects the fuller run-up many families now choose rather than a shorter, later start — see our dedicated guide to 11+ tutoring costs for the shorter-window figures, and our Should I Use a Tutor for the 11+? article for the cost-versus-risk decision itself, including a full comparison against self-study.
Materials are the cheapest line in the budget but they are not free, and most families end up buying more than they initially expect. CGP, Bond and GL-style practice packs are priced at roughly £7 to £10 per book. A typical pattern is one study book per subject for the teaching phase — up to four books if your child is sitting all four 11+ papers (verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, mathematics and English) — followed by a separate practice paper book per subject for timed drilling in the months before the exam. That is four to eight books in total, or roughly £30–£80 at list price. Because children typically move through foundation content books first and then subject-specific timed practice papers later, and because most families end up needing at least one replacement or supplementary book as the child's level changes, a realistic total across the full two-year period is closer to £60–£150. For a detailed comparison of which publisher suits which exam board, see our CGP vs Bond vs PiP comparison — it also covers PiP, a free practice app that supplements physical books at no additional cost, generating fresh questions so a child can never simply memorise answers.
Mock exams are a distinct cost from tutoring, even though many tutors incorporate some timed practice into sessions. In-person mock exam providers typically charge £15–£40 per sitting, usually run on weekend mornings, with a standardised score and written feedback included. A sensible pattern across two years is two to three mocks during Year 5 — mainly to build familiarity with exam conditions and timing — followed by four to six in the Year 6 exam term itself, once full timed papers under proper conditions become the priority. That is roughly seven to eleven mock sittings across the full period, working out to £120–£480 in total. Our mock exam strategy guide covers how to space these sittings for maximum benefit rather than simply booking every available date — more mocks are not automatically better if a child is not given time to review mistakes between sittings.
This is the line families most often forget to budget for, and it can be substantial. Sitting the 11+ test itself through your local authority is normally free for state grammar school applicants — the cost sits in preparation, not in the exam entry. Independent schools work differently: most charge a non-refundable registration or application fee per school, commonly in the £150–£220 range. Published examples from London day schools include £200 at Dulwich College, £160 at Whitgift School, and £210 at Highgate School — exact fees vary by school and by year, so always check the current figure on the school's own admissions page before budgeting. Families applying to several independent schools, or to a mix of grammar consortium schools and independent options as a second-choice or insurance strategy, should treat this as a real line item: three schools at these rates is roughly £450–£660, and five schools is £750–£1,100, before any tutoring or materials cost. Our guide to London consortium schools explains how shared papers can reduce the number of separate sittings (though not always the number of separate registration fees), and our private candidate registration guide covers the process for families outside the standard catchment area, who often face additional administrative steps.
Two extras come up often enough to deserve a specific mention, though neither applies to every family. The first is an educational psychologist (EP) assessment, needed only if you are applying for access arrangements such as extra time or rest breaks on the basis of a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia or ADHD. An independent EP assessment typically takes half a day and costs £400–£750, and most 11+ providers require the report to be no more than two years old at the time of the exam — so timing the assessment early, ideally by the end of Year 4, avoids a rushed and more expensive last-minute booking. Our guide on preparing twice-exceptional children for the 11+ covers this process and the access arrangements timeline in full. If your child does not need access arrangements, this cost simply does not apply.
The second is travel: to open days, assessment days, and interviews, particularly if you are applying to independent schools or schools outside your immediate area. This is genuinely difficult to price precisely because it depends entirely on how far you travel and how many schools you visit, but a reasonable estimate for most families is somewhere in the region of £50–£300 across the full two-year period — covering petrol, train fares, and the odd parking fee for a handful of open days and, if your child is shortlisted, one or two interview visits. Families targeting boarding schools or schools a significant distance away should expect the higher end of that range, or beyond it.
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The table below works through a typical two-year run-up, from light foundation work in Year 4 through to the Year 6 exam term, using the ranges set out above. It assumes a family applying to a mix of two to three state grammar schools and independent day schools — adjust the registration fee row up or down depending on how many independent schools you apply to, and down to zero if you are applying only to schools with free state-sector entry. All figures are reasoned estimates built from the market ranges and published fees cited throughout this guide, not a quote for any individual family.
| Period | Tutoring | Books/materials | Mock exams | Registration fees | Approx. period total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 4 (age 8–9), foundation phase | Usually none (optional occasional session adds cost on top) | 1–2 foundation books, £15–£20 | None | – | £15–£20 |
| Year 5 Autumn term | ~1 hr/week (12 weeks) = £480–£1,080 | Subject study books, £20–£30 | None yet | – | £500–£1,110 |
| Year 5 Spring term | ~1 hr/week (12 weeks) = £480–£1,080 | Practice paper books, £15–£25 | 1–2 mocks, £15–£80 | – | £510–£1,185 |
| Year 5 Summer term + 6-week holiday | Rising to 1.5–2 sessions/week = £840–£1,890 | Timed practice papers, £10–£15 | 2–3 mocks, £30–£120 | – | £880–£2,025 |
| Year 6 Autumn term (exam term) | ~2 hrs/week (10 weeks) = £800–£1,800 | Final consolidation materials, £10 | 4–6 mocks, £60–£240 | 2–3 schools, £300–£660 | £1,170–£2,710 |
| Two-year total (typical family) | £2,600–£5,850 | £70–£100 | £105–£440 | £300–£660 | £3,075–£7,050 |
Add optional extras on top of this range if they apply to your family: £400–£750 for an educational psychologist assessment if access arrangements are needed, and roughly £50–£300 for travel to open days and interviews. A family needing both extras, applying to more schools, and running a more intensive tutoring schedule could reasonably land closer to £8,000–£11,000 over the two years — which is why the scenarios below matter more than any single total figure.
Because the range above is wide, it helps to see it broken into distinct family profiles rather than one blended average. These are illustrative, not prescriptive — most families sit somewhere between them, and there is no "correct" amount to spend.
| Scenario | Approach | Two-year total (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Light-touch / mostly self-study | No regular tutor, structured parent-led practice using books and PiP, 2–3 mock sittings, applying to state grammar schools only | £150–£600 |
| Typical weekly 1:1 tutoring | Weekly tutoring rising to twice-weekly near the exam, full book set, 7–11 mocks, applying to 2–3 grammar and/or independent schools | £3,000–£7,050 |
| Intensive, multi-school independent route | Higher-frequency tutoring from Year 4 or early Year 5, 10+ mocks, 5+ independent school applications, EP assessment and open day travel included | £8,000–£11,000+ |
The honest way to use this table is to identify which profile matches your actual target schools and your child's starting point — not to assume more spending guarantees a better outcome. A child who is already close to the required standard and applying to a less selective school may do perfectly well in the light-touch scenario; a child targeting a super-selective consortium school from a significant starting gap may need the intensive end of the range regardless of budget preference. For the underlying decision about whether tutoring is worth it for your child specifically, see our Should I Use a Tutor for the 11+? guide, and for how preparation intensity should change across the two years, see our Year 4 to Year 6 preparation timeline.
A few practical habits make a real difference to total spend without compromising preparation quality. Starting earlier at lower weekly intensity is usually cheaper overall than compressing preparation into a short, expensive sprint, because it avoids the higher hourly rates and higher session frequency that late-starting, high-anxiety programmes often require. Buying books progressively — foundation content first, timed practice papers only once the underlying skills are in place — avoids paying for material your child is not yet ready to use, and avoids the discouraging low scores that come from attempting full timed papers too early, which our guide to weekly study hours covers in more depth. Being selective about mock exam sittings, rather than booking every available date from every provider, keeps this line item proportionate — quality of review after each mock matters more than sheer volume of sittings. And being realistic about how many schools you apply to keeps registration fees proportionate too: each additional independent school application adds £150–£220 regardless of how likely an offer is, so a longer list is not automatically a safer strategy.
Tutoring is usually the largest single cost, and it is also the area where matching quality to your child's actual needs matters more than simply buying more hours. A specialist tutor who diagnoses the specific gap accurately — a particular non-verbal reasoning question type, a persistent comprehension weakness, exam pacing under time pressure — will typically produce more improvement per hour than a generalist tutor working through material generically. If cost is a genuine constraint, a shorter, more targeted programme focused on identified weak areas, supplemented by home practice using books and free apps, is a reasonable and defensible way to manage the budget without abandoning specialist input altogether.
Private tuition is expensive, and there is no point pretending otherwise. The most rigorous UK-based evidence on this comes from the Education Endowment Foundation, whose review of the research found that one-to-one tuition produces, on average, approximately five additional months of learning progress compared with no tuition — a substantial effect within a single academic year, though the evidence is strongest when tuition is targeted and consistent rather than generic. That does not mean every family needs the most intensive scenario in this guide, or that spending more automatically produces a better outcome; it means well-matched, consistent support of some kind — whether that is a tutor, structured parent-led practice, or a blend of the two — tends to outperform no structured preparation at all. Our full cost-benefit analysis of 1-to-1 tuition covers this evidence in more depth, including when the evidence is strongest and when it is weaker.
The honest framing for most families is not "cheap versus expensive" but "cost versus risk, matched to your specific situation." A family targeting a less selective grammar school with a child who is already close to the required standard may reasonably choose the light-touch end of this budget. A family targeting a super-selective consortium school from a bigger starting gap, or juggling several independent school applications, will likely need to plan for the higher end — and should budget for it honestly from the outset, including the registration fees and extras that are easy to underestimate until the bills actually arrive.
There is no single figure, because it depends heavily on how much tutoring you use, how many schools you apply to, and whether you need extras like an educational psychologist assessment. As a reasoned range: a family doing mostly self-study with a handful of mock exams might spend £150–£600 over two years; a typical family using weekly one-to-one tutoring, a normal set of practice books, several mocks, and applying to two or three state grammar schools might spend roughly £3,000–£7,050; and a family running an intensive programme with higher-frequency tutoring, ten or more mock sittings, and applications to five or more independent schools could reach £8,000–£11,000 or more. These are estimates built from typical market rates and published school fees, not a quote for any specific family.
UK-wide tutoring rate surveys put typical one-to-one 11+ tutoring at roughly £40–£90 per hour, rising to £60–£120+ per hour for specialist tutors in London and the South East, where competition for grammar and independent school places is highest. Group tuition is usually cheaper per child, often £20–£40 per hour, because the cost is shared, though with less individual attention. Rates below roughly £30 per hour often indicate limited specialist experience with the 11+ format specifically. Always ask a prospective tutor for their current rate rather than relying on any published range, since rates change and vary regionally.
Most families need four to eight practice books across the two-year period: typically one CGP or Bond study book per subject for the teaching phase, then one practice paper book per subject for timed drilling in the months before the exam. CGP, Bond and GL-style packs are priced at roughly £7 to £10 per book, so a full set typically costs £30–£80. Because children often move through more than one book per subject as they progress from foundation content to full timed papers, a realistic total across the whole two-year run-up is closer to £60–£150, including free resources like the PiP app, which supplements physical books at no extra cost.
In-person mock exam providers typically charge £15–£40 per sitting, usually run on weekend mornings with written feedback and a standardised score. A reasonable programme includes two to three mocks in Year 5 to build exam familiarity and four to six in the final Year 6 exam term, once timed full-paper practice becomes the priority. Across the full two-year period that works out to roughly £120–£480 in total, depending on how many sittings you choose and which provider you use.
Sitting the test itself through your local authority is normally free for state grammar school applicants. Independent schools are different: they typically charge a non-refundable registration or application fee per school, commonly in the £150–£220 range — for example, published fees at London day schools have included £200 at Dulwich College, £160 at Whitgift School, and £210 at Highgate School. Families applying to several independent schools as well as their local grammar consortium should budget for these fees separately, since they can add several hundred pounds even before any tutoring cost.
Only if you are applying for access arrangements, such as extra time or rest breaks, on the basis of a specific learning difficulty like dyslexia or ADHD. An independent educational psychologist assessment typically takes half a day and costs £400–£750, and most 11+ providers require the report to be no more than two years old at the time of the exam. If your child does not need access arrangements, this cost simply does not apply — it is not a routine part of 11+ preparation.
Start structured preparation early rather than compressing it into a few expensive months of intensive tutoring — a longer runway at lower weekly intensity is usually both cheaper and less stressful than a short, high-intensity sprint. Buy books progressively rather than all at once, since your child will outgrow foundation material before they need timed practice papers. Be selective about mock exam sittings rather than booking every available date, and think carefully about how many schools you realistically need to apply to, since registration fees scale directly with that number. Tutoring is usually the largest single cost, so treat it as the area where matching quality to your child's actual needs — rather than simply buying more hours — makes the biggest difference to total spend.
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