What KS2 tutoring actually covers
The KS2 curriculum splits into core subjects (English, Maths, Science) plus the foundation subjects (history, geography, computing, languages, art). SATs only test English Reading, English Grammar/Punctuation/Spelling and Maths. Science used to be sampled but the formal SATs were dropped in 2010. Most tutoring focuses on the three SATs subjects plus 11+ where relevant.
Maths at KS2 covers number (place value, four operations, fractions, decimals, percentages), measurement, geometry, statistics, ratio and basic algebra in Year 6. The Year 6 SATs Arithmetic paper has 36 questions in 30 minutes — pure speed and accuracy. Reasoning papers test application: word problems, multi-step calculations, missing-number puzzles. A typical KS2 maths tutor drills arithmetic fluency first (times tables, written methods, mental strategies), then layers reasoning on top with past papers from 2018 onwards.
English Reading is the hardest paper to coach. A child gets three texts (a fiction extract, a non-fiction piece, a poem or biography) and 50 minutes to answer 38-50 questions. The questions test retrieval, inference, vocabulary in context, and authorial intent. Children who don’t read at home struggle here, and 12 sessions of tutoring won’t fix five years of not reading. Tutors who do this well make reading a session habit — 10 minutes of reading aloud, discussion, then practice questions.
GPS (grammar, punctuation, spelling) is the most teachable. Subordinate clauses, fronted adverbials, semicolons, modal verbs, the subjunctive. It’s mechanical knowledge — children either know what an expanded noun phrase is or they don’t. Six focused sessions can move a child from a 70 to an 80 on this paper.
11+ — the parallel universe
If the goal is grammar school (Sutton, Tiffin, Henrietta Barnett, Wallington, Wilson’s, the Birmingham five, Bucks consortium) or top independent (Westminster Under, KCS Wimbledon, Habs, City of London), 11+ tutoring is a different game. The Granada Learning (GL) and Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) test types each have their own quirks — GL is more predictable, CEM more pressured for time and broader in vocabulary.
11+ content includes verbal reasoning (synonyms, antonyms, analogies, letter codes, hidden words), non-verbal reasoning (shape rotations, sequences, matrices), maths typically a year ahead of the national curriculum, and creative writing for some independents. Westminster Under in particular sets a maths paper that’s at lower-Year-7 level, with proof and reasoning questions that catch out children who’ve only done national-curriculum maths.
The honest truth: most 11+ children get tutored, often from Year 4. Schools won’t say it, but state primaries don’t teach the 11+ syllabus. Bond books, CGP, and a good tutor close the gap. 18 months of weekly tutoring at £40-£60/hour totals £2,800-£4,500 — significant, but cheaper than four years of independent fees if it gets the child a free grammar place.
Where KS2 tutoring goes wrong
Three patterns: tutoring used as homework supervision (the tutor helps with school homework, the child gets it done, nobody learns the underlying gap), tutoring started too late (parent calls in March of Year 6 panicking, expecting an 11+ miracle that needed 18 months), and tutoring at the wrong level (a £75/hour Oxbridge graduate booked for a Year 4 confidence build, where a £30/hour patient undergraduate would do better).
The biggest pitfall is tutoring without testing. A good KS2 tutor does a baseline diagnostic in session one — a recent SATs paper or 11+ practice test. They identify the actual gap. Without that, sessions drift into “we did fractions today” with no measurable progress. Ask any tutor in their first session: what’s the baseline, and how will we know when the gap is closed?
Confidence is the other piece. A child who’s been told they’re bad at maths since Year 3 carries that into every session. Tutors who fix maths gaps without fixing the confidence story often see grades move up but the child still hates the subject. The best KS2 tutors deliberately design sessions where the child wins the first 10 minutes — a question they can definitely answer, then build difficulty. Cheap dopamine works.
Practical bookings — what a normal term looks like
For SATs prep, most parents book 12-15 weekly sessions from January to mid-May of Year 6. At £35/hour online and 60 minutes per session, that’s £420-£525. Add a four-session April intensive and you’re at £550-£650. Worth it if it moves the child from working-towards (under 100) to expected (100+) on the scaled score, which puts them in middle or top set in Year 7.
For 11+, the standard pattern is once-weekly tutoring from Year 4 spring through to the September of Year 6 when most exams sit. That’s around 60 sessions over 18 months. At £45/hour, total spend is £2,700. Add Bond Online subscription (£30/year) and a stack of past papers (£60). Total around £2,800. Some families add a second tutor in the run-up — typical pattern is a maths tutor and a separate verbal-reasoning specialist for the final six months.
For confidence-building in Years 3-5, weekly 45-minute sessions for a single term (12 weeks) at £30/hour totals £270. Often that’s enough — once the child is comfortable with subtraction by exchanging, or tells time on an analogue clock without panic, the school catches them up.
TheTutorLink charges 5% commission and offers a free first session. Tutorful and Superprof take 20-25%. For a parent paying £35/hour across 30 sessions, that’s £52.50 in platform commission on TheTutorLink versus £210-£262.50 on the alternatives. Tutors on TheTutorLink can also keep their listed rate at £35 rather than inflating to absorb a quarter being skimmed off — which means parents pay genuine market rate, not platform-padded rate.