Popular Private School 11+ Guides by Test Provider
Independent-school 11+ exams are not all the same. The safest way to plan preparation is to group schools by the assessment route they publish: a shared consortium test, an ISEB Common Pre-Test route, or a school-written entrance examination.
This parent guide groups popular private-school routes by test provider or assessment route and explains which Scholars Tutorial preparation areas should be prioritised for each group. It is designed as a preparation-only guide, not an admissions-policy guide.
Quick Grouping: Which Guide Should Parents Use?
| Assessment route | Provider / route | Typical test focus | Use this guide when... |
|---|---|---|---|
| London 11+ Consortium | Quest Assessments, working with the Consortium | Online assessment covering cognitive reasoning, English comprehension, Maths, problem-solving, analysis and creative / critical thinking | The school is one of the London 11+ Consortium schools and uses the shared Consortium assessment. |
| ISEB Common Pre-Test | ISEB Common Pre-Tests | Online adaptive multiple-choice tests in English, Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning | The school specifically says that the 11+ or pre-test stage uses the ISEB Common Pre-Test. |
| School-written independent 11+ exams | The school’s own papers or school-selected online assessment | Usually English, Maths and reasoning, sometimes creative writing, problem-solving, puzzles or school-specific comprehension | The school publishes its own 11+ entrance assessment rather than using a shared consortium or ISEB route. |
Why Grouping by Provider Matters
A child preparing for an ISEB Common Pre-Test needs strong online multiple-choice technique across English, Maths, VR and NVR. A child preparing for a London 11+ Consortium school needs the same core skills but also needs to cope with bespoke online problem-solving and analysis tasks. A child preparing for school-written exams may need more extended writing, handwritten working, school-specific English styles and deeper Maths problem solving.
Grouping the schools prevents over-preparation in the wrong areas. For example, Creative Writing should not be treated as a core requirement for a route that officially has no extended writing task, while VR and NVR should not be ignored when an online assessment or ISEB-style route includes reasoning.
Scholars Tutorial Preparation Map Across the Groups
| Need | Scholars Tutorial public categories to use | Printed paper sets to support it |
|---|---|---|
| Core English comprehension, vocabulary and grammar | 11+ English, 11+ SPAG, 11+ Advanced English, 11+ Advanced VOCAB | 11+ English Practice Papers, 11+ SPAG Practice Papers, 11+ Advanced English Practice Papers, 11+ Advanced VOCAB Practice Papers |
| Core Maths, arithmetic and multi-step problem solving | 11+ Maths, 11+ Maths : Word Problems, 11+ Advanced Maths | 11+ Maths Practice Papers, 11+ Maths : Word Problems Practice Papers, 11+ Advanced Maths Practice Papers |
| Reasoning, online logic and unfamiliar question types | 11+ VR, 11+ NVR, 11+ GL CEM ISEB FSCE | 11+ Verbal Reasoning Practice Papers, 11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning Practice Papers, 11+ Mixed Practice Papers |
| Written English where the school publishes a writing task | Creative Writing, 11+ Advanced English, 11+ Advanced SPAG | Creative Writing practice, 11+ Advanced English Practice Papers, 11+ Advanced SPAG Practice Papers |
| Foundation rebuilding before harder independent-school material | 11+ Foundation English, 11+ Foundation Maths, 11+ Foundation VR | 11+ Foundation English Practice Papers, 11+ Foundation Maths Practice Papers, 11+ Foundation Verbal Reasoning Practice Papers |
Recommended Guide Order
- Use the London 11+ Consortium / Quest guide for Consortium schools.
- Use the ISEB Common Pre-Test guide when a school names ISEB in its 11+ or pre-test process.
- Use the school-written independent 11+ exams guide for schools that publish their own entrance papers or school-specific online assessments.
FAQ
Should parents prepare for every subject for every private school?
No. Preparation should follow the published assessment route. If the route is ISEB, the core is English, Maths, VR and NVR. If the route includes creative writing, add Creative Writing and advanced written English. If the route is London 11+ Consortium, prioritise English comprehension, Maths, reasoning, problem-solving and analysis rather than a traditional long creative-writing paper.
Can one child use more than one guide?
Yes. Many families apply to schools in more than one route. In that case, build a shared foundation in English and Maths first, then add the route-specific preparation: VR/NVR for ISEB and online reasoning routes, and Creative Writing only where a target school publishes a writing task.