11+ and GCSE Tutoring in Sutton
The SET is the 11+ that ignores reasoning tricks
Sutton's grammar schools select on curriculum English and maths, sat in two stages a month apart. A child drilled on verbal reasoning arrives prepared for a different exam.
How the Sutton SET actually works
Registration happens in Year 5, and the first stage is sat in September of Year 6. It is two multiple choice papers of around forty five minutes, one English built on comprehension and spelling, one maths, and both are drawn from the Key Stage 2 curriculum. There is no verbal reasoning and no non verbal reasoning anywhere in it.
Read that last sentence again before buying anything, because the reflex purchase for 11+ parents is a reasoning bundle, and in Sutton it buys practice for questions that will never appear. The children who do well here are the ones with genuinely deep curriculum knowledge and the accuracy to apply it quickly, which is a quieter kind of preparation and a more useful one, since it also feeds directly into secondary school work.
Stage two, in October, changes the shape of the demand. The written papers want method shown, sentences constructed and answers sustained, closer to a school exam than a quiz. So the autumn of Year 6 becomes a stamina event, two performance days a month apart, and part of my job is pacing a ten year old through it without the wheels coming off at home.
The Sutton schools that use the SET
On the boys' side, Wilson's School, Sutton Grammar School and Wallington County Grammar School. On the girls' side, Nonsuch High School for Girls and Wallington High School for Girls. Greenshaw High School also fills a number of selective places through the same test. Your child sits the SET once however many of them you apply to, with preferences going on the council form.
Plenty of Sutton families run independent school applications alongside the grammar route. Those assessments are separate and differently shaped, but the underlying English and maths preparation carries across, so the extra cost is smaller than it looks.
And as everywhere I teach, the GCSE side runs alongside. Students inside the Sutton grammars chasing top grades in a fast room, and students at the borough's other schools closing the gap between a 4 and a 7.
What we actually do
11+ entrance preparation
Matched to the two stage Sutton SET, curriculum English and maths at speed, rather than the reasoning heavy preparation other regions need.
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
Does the SET test verbal or non verbal reasoning?
No. Both papers are curriculum English and maths. Time spent on reasoning drills for Sutton is time taken away from the material that will actually be examined.
Does my child sit the SET separately for each school?
Once covers everything. The same September sitting applies to every SET school you name, and the shortlisted children then sit the October second stage.
What is in the second stage?
Written English and maths in a standard format rather than multiple choice, set for the schools, sat in October. It rewards method, working and sustained writing, so preparation for it looks different from stage one and needs to be planned in from the start.
How does Sutton compare with the north London grammars?
Different worlds. Schools like The Latymer School and Queen Elizabeth's Barnet set their own assessments with their own demands, while Sutton runs the shared two stage SET. Families applying across both, and some do, are preparing for two distinct exams with overlapping foundations.
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 Sutton I will say so and point you somewhere better.
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