A practical year-by-year guide from Year 3 to Year 6 -- for standard selective and super-selective grammar schools
One of the questions we hear most often from parents is: when should we start 11+ preparation? The answer depends on several factors -- the target school's selectivity, the exam format (GL Assessment or CEM), and the child's starting point. This guide gives you a year-by-year breakdown of what good preparation looks like at each stage, including the most common mistakes at both ends of the timing spectrum.
Year 3 is too early for formal 11+ preparation in almost every case. Children sitting timed past papers at age 7 or 8 are typically working years ahead of their emotional and developmental readiness, and the research on this is clear: early formal preparation for high-stakes tests tends to increase anxiety and reduce intrinsic motivation without producing meaningful long-term gains.
What does help in Year 3 is building the foundations that make later preparation easier. Wide reading -- fiction, non-fiction, non-fiction, and poetry across a variety of genres -- is the single most valuable investment at this stage. A child who reads widely and enthusiastically arrives at 11+ preparation with a richer vocabulary, stronger comprehension instincts, and greater confidence with written language than a child who spent the same time on VR workbooks. Mental maths (times tables, rapid addition and subtraction) is also worth building consistently in Year 3, because numeracy speed in Year 5 and Year 6 is significantly harder to build from scratch than to develop gradually.
If your child shows genuine enthusiasm for puzzles, logic games, or word play, nurture it -- but treat it as enrichment, not preparation.
Year 4 is the right time to begin light, structured preparation for families whose child is targeting super-selective schools -- schools like Tiffin Girls, Queen Elizabeth's Boys Barnet, or Henrietta Barnett School, where the required score is 118 to 121+ standardised. These schools are not simply the most academic grammar schools; they are among the most competitive schools in England, and the margin for error is very small. A child who arrives at Year 5 already familiar with VR question types and NVR patterns has a meaningful advantage when formal preparation begins.
In Year 4, the emphasis should be on familiarity rather than pressure. Good Year 4 activities include:
For families targeting standard selective grammars, Year 4 preparation is beneficial but not essential. A well-planned Year 5 start is sufficient.
September of Year 5 is the standard start point for formal 11+ preparation at most grammar school levels. With the exam taking place in September or October of Year 6, this gives approximately 12 months -- enough time, if used well, to build strong exam technique without causing burnout.
A well-structured Year 5 preparation programme typically looks like this:
For most grammar schools, the 11+ examination takes place in September of Year 6 -- which means the preparation window after the summer holiday is very short. Many families do not realise just how short it is: for some consortia, the exam may be in the first or second week of September, leaving fewer than three weeks after the return to school. This means that by the end of Year 5, a child targeting most grammar schools should already be in good shape.
The Year 6 summer is the time for:
| School Type | Recommended Start | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Super-selective grammar (Tiffin, QE Boys, HBS) | Year 4 foundations; Year 5 formal | Score needed 118-121+; no margin for error |
| Standard selective grammar | September Year 5 | 12 months sufficient for well-prepared children |
| Independent 11+ (e.g. ISEB Pre-Test) | Year 4 or early Year 5 | Some schools also use this for 13+ selection |
The most well-intentioned mistake parents make is beginning formal, timed past-paper practice in Year 2 or Year 3. At this age, children lack the emotional regulation and test-taking skills to benefit from examination conditions. The result is often a child who associates the 11+ with stress years before it is relevant, who develops a fixed anxiety about certain question types before they have had sufficient time to develop the underlying skills, and who arrives at Year 5 already tired of the process. Familiarity with the subject matter at an early age is fine; formal timed examination practice is not.
Equally damaging is the opposite mistake: beginning preparation in the summer before Year 6, with the exam in September, and expecting eight weeks to be sufficient. For super-selective schools, this is almost certainly too late. For standard selective grammars, it is marginal for all but the most academically advanced children. The minimum meaningful preparation window is three months; six months to twelve months is the standard recommendation. For families with a late start, intensive tutoring can compress the timeline, but it cannot replace the gradual skill-building that comes from consistent practice over time.
Not all 11+ examinations are the same. GL Assessment and CEM papers require meaningfully different preparation approaches. A child preparing for a GL Assessment school should be doing GL-style past papers. A child preparing for a CEM school needs a different kind of preparation. Before beginning any tutoring programme, parents should confirm which examination provider their target schools use. Read our GL Assessment complete parent guide and our GL Assessment vs CEM comparison for more detail.
Registration deadlines for grammar school consortia are earlier than most parents expect. For the London Consortium (QE Boys Barnet, Henrietta Barnett, Latymer Edmonton, Woodford County High, and others), registration typically opens in May and closes in June of Year 5. For the Sutton and Merton Consortium, deadlines are typically in June or July of Year 5. Missing a registration deadline means missing the exam entirely for that school. Mark the deadlines for every target school in your calendar at the start of Year 5.
Our approach to 11+ preparation is built around the individual child. We begin with a diagnostic assessment across VR, NVR, English, and Maths, identify where the child is relative to the standard required for their target school, and build a structured programme that works backward from the exam date. We do not apply the same programme to every child -- a child who is strong in VR but weak in NVR needs a different focus than a child who is the reverse. A child targeting a super-selective school needs a different pace and level of challenge than a child targeting a standard selective grammar.
We work with families pursuing grammar school places at all levels, from standard selective grammars to the most competitive schools in England. Whether your child is beginning preparation in Year 4 or Year 5, we will build a plan that is ambitious, structured, and kind to your child's wellbeing throughout the process.
Also see: Is a grammar school right for my child? -- an honest guide to the real demands of grammar school.
External resource: GOV.UK: Grammar schools
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