11+ and GCSE Tutoring in Skipton
A market town with two grammar schools and one test morning
Ermysted's and Skipton Girls' High both select at 11, both test on the same Saturday in late September, and the registrations are separate. Families with a son and a daughter are running two admissions processes at once.
What the Skipton papers look like
Both schools use entrance papers produced by FSCE, a newer name than the GL and CEM providers most 11+ material is written for. The morning is two papers. The first is multiple choice, a mix of maths and English lasting a little under an hour. The second is shorter and needs written answers.
Notice what is missing from that description. There is no separate verbal reasoning paper and no non verbal reasoning paper. A child who has spent Year 5 decoding letter sequences has been practising for an exam that Skipton does not set. The preparation that pays here is depth in the actual curriculum, sharp arithmetic, close reading and confident spelling, with timed practice layered on top.
Multiple choice does not mean easier, and parents are often surprised by that. It means the marks come from pace and from checking discipline, because a rushed misread costs a mark with no working for anyone to salvage. The written paper then flips the demand, and suddenly method and presentation matter. Preparing for both demands in the same autumn is the real job.
Schools around Skipton
Ermysted's Grammar School is the boys' state grammar and Skipton Girls' High School is the girls'. Registration for each runs through the school itself, results come back in mid October, and the formal offer follows through North Yorkshire's normal admissions round in spring.
The applicant pool is wider than the town. Children travel in from the Craven villages, from the Ilkley side and from over the Bradford boundary, so the field your child is measured against is bigger than a small market town suggests.
Away from selection, I take GCSE Maths students from across the Skipton and Craven area, where the distances involved make live online teaching a better fit than an after school drive to a tutor's kitchen table.
What we actually do
11+ entrance preparation
Aimed at the Ermysted's and Skipton Girls' High School entrance papers, which test curriculum English and maths rather than the abstract reasoning drills sold for other regions.
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
Are the Ermysted's and Skipton Girls' tests the same?
They are the same style of FSCE papers sat on the same morning, but the schools run separate registrations with different closing dates. A family entering a son and a daughter needs to complete both processes in full.
Will an 11+ reasoning workbook help?
Only at the margins. The Skipton papers are built from curriculum English and maths, so a reasoning heavy book spends your child's practice time where the marks are not.
When do we need to act?
Registration opens in the spring of Year 5 and closes in August, with the test in late September of Year 6. The useful preparation window is Year 5, and ideally the momentum starts in Year 4.
Is multiple choice easier for a nervous child?
Not really. It removes the fear of the blank page but replaces it with time pressure and the cost of misreading. Nervous children do better through familiarity, which means sitting realistic timed papers well before the real one.
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 Skipton I will say so and point you somewhere better.
Also covering