11+ and GCSE Tutoring in Heckmondwike
I sat the Heckmondwike Grammar entrance exam myself
Then I went to the school. Now I prepare other people's children for the same paper, and teach GCSE Maths across Kirklees.
Why the Heckmondwike exam is its own problem
Heckmondwike Grammar is one of the only selective state grammar schools left in West Yorkshire. That single fact shapes everything about preparing for it.
Because there is no second grammar to fall back on locally, the applicant pool is not just Heckmondwike. Families travel in from across Kirklees, Calderdale and beyond. A child who would comfortably make the cut in a county with six grammar schools can miss here.
The content itself is not the hard part. Most children who sit it can do the maths. What separates them is speed under timed conditions, and knowing which method a question wants before they start writing. That is a trainable skill, and it is most of what preparation should actually be.
Start in Year 4. The test itself is sat in Year 6, so by the time your child is in Year 6 they are taking the exam rather than preparing for it. Year 4 gives two clear years, one to build the content properly and one to build the speed on top of it.
Families who come to me in Year 6 are usually asking for something that no longer exists. There is no version of this where months of groundwork gets compressed into the term before the paper, and pretending otherwise is how children pick up the guessing habits that cost them marks.
Schools around Heckmondwike
Heckmondwike Grammar School takes the bulk of the 11+ work here. It sets its own entrance assessment, so preparation needs to match that paper rather than a generic 11+ workbook.
The rest of the local intake goes to schools like Whitcliffe Mount, Batley Girls' High School and the Co-op Academy sites, where the work is usually GCSE support rather than entrance preparation. Both sides of that are covered here.
If your child is at a Kirklees primary and you are still deciding whether to enter them at all, that is a fair conversation to have. I would rather tell you honestly that the timing is wrong than take a booking that goes nowhere.
What we actually do
11+ entrance preparation
Focused on the Heckmondwike Grammar entrance paper. Maths and English, verbal and non verbal reasoning, and the timing pressure that catches out children who know the content perfectly well.
GCSE Maths, English and Science
Weekly one to one or small group sessions built round the topics costing your child marks, not a march through the whole specification.
Self guided Maths Mastery Lessons
Interactive topic lessons that teach the method first, then test it. Answers are built in so you can check work quickly. Some lessons regenerate their questions so the same topic can be practised again.
Mock exam marking
Papers marked by an experienced teacher, returned with written feedback showing where the marks went and why.
Not sure where your child actually stands? A diagnostic assessment finds the gaps before you spend anything on lessons, and free past papers are on the exam resources page if you want to test that yourself first.
GCSE results these methods have produced
Real students, real timeframes. These are GCSE grade movements, including students already inside grammar and independent schools, where getting in was the easy half.
Groundwork started in Year 9 or Year 10 produces those numbers far more often than a panic started in Year 11. Nothing here is a promise attached to a booking.
On the entrance exam side, which is a separate job entirely, three students have won scholarship places at grammar or independent schools.
What it costs
One to one tuition starts from £40 per session, priced on level and exam focus.
Tutoring with Friends is the group option. Bring one or two friends and the price starts at £20 per student per session. Same lesson, same teacher, split cost.
Mock exam marking starts at £39.99 per paper, rising to £69.99 and £99.99 for faster turnaround and a one to one review. Bulk rates for schools on 20 papers or more.
Self guided lessons are the cheapest route in, priced per topic with no subscription.
If you are not sure which of those fits, a free consultation sorts it in fifteen minutes. Booking one does not commit you to anything.
How the online sessions run
Every session is live and one to one, or live with the friends your child brings. Nothing is pre recorded.
Sessions run with a shared interactive whiteboard, so your child works through questions while the teaching happens rather than watching someone else write. Work is saved and sent over afterwards, along with short targeted practice for the week.
Parents get progress updates rather than having to ask. If something is not landing, you hear it from me first.
Common questions
Do you actually know the Heckmondwike Grammar paper?
I sat it. I then spent seven years at the school. That does not mean I have seen this year's questions, because nobody outside the school has, but it does mean the format and the pressure are familiar rather than theoretical.
When should we start preparing?
Year 4. The exam is sat in Year 6, so Year 4 gives two full years to build content and then speed. Coming to this in Year 6 is too late, and I would rather tell you that than take a booking that cannot do what you need it to.
Is it all online, or do you teach in Heckmondwike in person?
Sessions are online and live. That is a deliberate choice rather than a compromise, because it means no travel time either side and the whiteboard work is saved and sent home after every lesson.
What if my child is already at Heckmondwike Grammar and struggling with GCSE Maths?
That is a large part of the work. Getting in is one problem, staying near the top of a selective set is a different one, and the two need different teaching.
Start with a conversation, not a contract
Tell me your child's year group, the school or exam you are aiming at, and where they are getting stuck. If I am not the right fit for Heckmondwike I will say so and point you somewhere better.
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