What 11+ English actually tests
The headline answer: vocabulary, comprehension and creative writing. The under-the-bonnet answer is more specific.
Vocabulary at 11+ tests breadth and depth — not just knowing words but understanding shades of meaning, recognising synonyms and antonyms in context, and working out unfamiliar words from root, prefix and suffix. CEM-style vocabulary questions often present a word in a passage and ask which of four options has the closest meaning. The five-year-reading-habit advantage shows up here.
Comprehension tests inferential reading — not just retrieval (‘What colour was the dog?’) but interpretation (‘Why did the narrator mention the dog?’). Mid-Year 5 children typically struggle with inferential questions because primary-school comprehension teaching focuses on retrieval. A specialist tutor will drill the inference skills explicitly with passages chosen for the specific test type your child is sitting.
Creative writing tests structured imagination under time pressure. The marker is looking for a clear opening, sensory detail, varied sentence types, varied vocabulary, paragraph structure, and a satisfying ending — typically within 25-35 minutes. Most children can produce a serviceable response with structured teaching; very few produce a winning response without it.
Some test variants (Tiffin, Henrietta Barnett, parts of Sutton Grammar) include short-answer or essay components beyond the multiple-choice. Westminster Under and KCS Junior bespoke papers extend further into formal essay writing. Match your tutor to the specific test format.
Where 11+ English tutors come from and what they charge
Three pools dominate. First, English-degree graduates and current postgrads — typically Russell Group humanities backgrounds, often training as teachers or in publishing. £35-50 per hour. Strong on vocabulary, comprehension and creative writing technique. Often online-first.
Second, qualified primary and secondary English teachers with 11+ specialism. £50-70 per hour. Particularly strong for parents wanting structured weekly programmes. Many have built up question banks across CEM, GL, ISEB and bespoke papers over five-plus years.
Third, full-time 11+ specialists — perhaps 100-150 across the UK who do this as their main job. £70-100 per hour, often £90-130 in London. Booked solid by Easter of Year 5 for the following year. The right choice if you’re aiming at a top consortium grammar or top independent and want the highest-leverage support.
A wildcard pool: ex-prep-school English heads. Often retired or semi-retired, charging £55-85 per hour, with deep familiarity with the major independents’ bespoke papers (Westminster, KCS, Habs, City of London). Worth tracking down if you’re aiming at this tier.
Pitfalls — what catches families out
First, biggest mistake: starting in Year 6. By September of Year 6 the consortium grammar exams are six to ten weeks away. Vocabulary and reading-comprehension skills built over years can’t be retrofitted in eight weeks. Start in Year 5 at the latest; Year 4 if you’re being thorough.
Second: treating 11+ English as a ‘pass the test’ exercise rather than reading-and-writing development. Tutors who hand out worksheets without building underlying reading habits produce children who struggle at sixth form even if they pass the 11+. Look for tutors who set reading homework and discuss books at sessions, not just question-and-answer drills.
Third: neglecting the creative writing under time pressure. Most schools’ creative writing comes at the end of the paper when children are tired. Your child needs to have written a 25-30 minute story under timed conditions at least twenty times before the actual exam. Generic ‘creative writing tutoring’ isn’t enough — it has to be timed.
Fourth: not matching tutor to test type. A tutor brilliant at GL Assessment-style papers will know specific question patterns that don’t appear in CEM papers, and vice versa. ISEB Common Pre-Test is adaptive and online — a tutor who’s only ever taught paper-based won’t know the pacing demands. Check the tutor has direct experience with your specific test.
Fifth, London-specific: parents trying to prep for everything. Tiffin, Sutton, Wilson’s, Wallington, plus Westminster Under, plus KCS Junior, plus a backup independent. The papers genuinely differ. Pick two or three target schools and prep specifically for those rather than spreading thin across six.
Costs, fees and starting
Realistic 11+ English tutoring spend per academic year, weekly hour-long sessions: Year 5 with a £45 qualified teacher = £1,440 across 32 weeks plus an intensive 8-session block in summer = approximately £1,800. Year 6 with same tutor through to autumn exams = £1,200 (October-January). Total Year 5-6 spend in the £2,500-3,500 range typically; London top-tier specialists £4,000-6,000. Add the 5% platform fee — about £125-300 across two years.
Compare to commission platforms charging 20-25%. Same tutor, you’d pay materially more or the tutor takes home much less. Our 5% structure is designed to keep good 11+ specialists on the platform.
Free 30-minute trial with every tutor. For 11+ English specifically, ask the tutor to do a brief comprehension extract with your child and to give your child a short timed creative-writing prompt. Then ask the tutor to talk through how they’d structure the year of preparation. Their answer tells you whether they’re a specialist or a generalist. After the trial, regular slots book through the profile. Payment per session, cancellation 24 hours, no subscription. Top specialists are often booked by Easter of Year 5 — start trialling early in Year 5 if possible.