Thorogood English

Category: 11+ Preparation

How to prepare your child for the 11+ English entrance exam — comprehension technique, creative writing skills, and how to build confidence without pressure. A calm, strategic approach from an experienced teacher.

  • Creative Writing Tips for 11+ English: How to Make Your Story Stand Out

    In many 11+ English papers, the creative writing task is where children can really distinguish themselves. Comprehension tests have right and wrong answers. Creative writing doesn’t — which means the child who writes vividly, who surprises the reader, who makes authentic choices, can stand out dramatically from the crowd of competently written but forgettable stories.

    Here are the techniques that make a difference.

    Start in the Middle of Something

    The most memorable 11+ stories don’t begin with “One day…” or “It was a cold morning when…” — they begin in the middle of action, thought, or feeling. Compare:

    Weak opening: “One Saturday morning, Jake decided to go to the old house at the end of the street.”

    Strong opening: “The gate hadn’t been touched in years. Jake’s hand stopped just before it.”

    The second version creates tension immediately, raises a question (why does he stop?), and drops the reader into a moment rather than explaining the setup. Examiners read hundreds of stories — the one that hooks them in the first sentence is already doing better.

    Show, Don’t Tell — But Know When to Tell

    “Show, don’t tell” is the advice every creative writing teacher gives — and it’s right. “She was scared” tells us a fact. “Her hand wouldn’t stop shaking” shows us a fact and lets us feel it. The second is more powerful.

    But knowing when to tell is also a skill. A long passage of showing can slow the pace — sometimes a crisp sentence of telling (“Three hours passed”) moves the story forward more efficiently than three paragraphs of scene-setting.

    Use the Senses (Not Just Sight)

    Most children write descriptions that are entirely visual. Examiners respond to descriptions that engage other senses: the smell of the room, the texture of the wall, the sound that couldn’t quite be placed. A single well-chosen sensory detail can make a setting feel real.

    Vary Sentence Length

    Longer sentences build rhythm and atmosphere. Short sentences create impact. Using them together — a long sentence followed by a very short one — is one of the most effective techniques in short-form creative writing. Children who write only short sentences seem immature; children who vary them seem in control of their writing.

    Have One Clear Ending Image

    The ending doesn’t need to resolve everything — in fact, an ambiguous ending often leaves a stronger impression than a tidy one. But it should be deliberate: a final image, a final line, a final detail that means something. Avoid “And then I woke up and realised it was a dream” at all costs.

    Creative writing — including the short-form narrative and descriptive pieces tested at 11+ — is a key part of Thorogood English’s 11+ English preparation. Join the waiting list for January 2027.

  • What Is the 11+ Exam? A Complete Guide for Parents

    The 11+ is a selective entrance exam taken by children aged 10–11 that’s used by grammar schools and some independent schools in England to assess suitability for admission. If you’re new to it, the landscape can seem confusing — different schools use different formats, test different subjects, and set different thresholds. This guide gives you a clear overview of what the 11+ actually is and what you need to know to support your child.

    What Does the 11+ Test?

    The 11+ typically assesses some combination of four areas:

    • English (Verbal Reasoning): Reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, and the ability to reason with language
    • Mathematics: Number, algebra, shape, data — often at a slightly higher level than the standard school curriculum
    • Verbal Reasoning: Logical reasoning using language — analogies, word sequences, codes, hidden words
    • Non-Verbal Reasoning: Spatial and logical reasoning using shapes and patterns (no language involved)

    Not all schools test all four. Grammar schools in different counties use different combinations — some focus heavily on verbal reasoning, others are English and maths only. Check your target school’s specific format before beginning preparation.

    Who Sets the 11+?

    The two main providers are GL Assessment and CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, part of Durham University). Each has a distinct style:

    • GL Assessment: More traditional format, uses multiple choice, questions are generally more predictable in style. Lots of preparation materials available.
    • CEM: Questions are deliberately varied to reduce the benefit of practice and coaching. Tests vocabulary more extensively. Harder to prepare for in a formulaic way.

    Independent schools often set their own exams entirely, which can include creative writing, extended reading comprehension, and higher-level reasoning questions.

    When Should Preparation Begin?

    There’s no universal answer, but most children begin structured preparation in Year 4 or early Year 5 — roughly 12–18 months before the exam. This timeline allows gradual, non-intensive preparation that builds skills without burning the child out.

    Earlier preparation is mainly valuable for reading — children who read widely and broadly from an early age come to the 11+ with vocabulary and comprehension skills that are genuinely hard to build quickly. If your child is in Year 3, the most valuable thing you can do is make reading a daily habit.

    What Does the English Component Look Like?

    English in the 11+ typically includes reading comprehension — a passage (fiction or non-fiction) followed by questions that test inference, vocabulary in context, writer’s technique, and understanding of explicit and implicit meaning. Some papers also include a short writing task (description or narrative).

    Doing well on the English component requires: strong vocabulary, confident reading of unfamiliar texts, the ability to write precisely about language (not just retell the story), and accuracy in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

    Thorogood English offers specialist 11+ English preparation in small groups — building the reading comprehension, writing, and analytical skills that help children succeed. Join the waiting list for January 2027.

  • Creative Writing for 11+: What Markers Are Actually Looking For

    Many parents assume the 11+ creative writing task rewards natural storytelling gifts — that imaginative children will flourish and others will struggle, and there’s little that can be done about it. This is a misunderstanding. 11+ creative writing rewards specific, identifiable qualities that can be developed through practice. Here’s what markers are actually looking for.

    A Strong Opening

    Markers read hundreds of pieces beginning with “One day…” or “It was a bright morning…” Pieces that stand out open in the middle of something — an action, a thought, a striking image, a line of dialogue that creates immediate curiosity. Practise writing five different opening sentences for the same prompt and choose the most interesting. This habit takes minutes but makes a significant first impression.

    Specific, Concrete Detail

    “The old house was spooky” tells us almost nothing. “The third stair creaked no matter how carefully you trod, and the smell of old paper was everywhere” creates a world the reader can inhabit. Specific detail is what distinguishes memorable writing from forgettable writing at every level — and it’s a learnable skill.

    Encourage close observation as a habit: “what did it smell like? What colour exactly? What sound did it make?” Children who observe specifically write specifically.

    Varied Sentence Length

    Markers notice sentence rhythm. A piece that varies between longer, more flowing sentences and short, punchy ones reads more dynamically than one in which every sentence is roughly the same length. A very short sentence after a long one creates a pause that resonates. This is a technical skill that has a disproportionate effect on how a piece feels to read — and it can be practised deliberately.

    Accurate Punctuation

    Markers assess technical accuracy alongside creativity. Full stops and capital letters used accurately; commas in lists; speech marks correctly used for dialogue; paragraph breaks in appropriate places. A piece with strong ideas but significant punctuation errors will be marked down on accuracy regardless of its imaginative quality. These are all learnable through focused practice.

    A Deliberate Ending

    Many children run out of time or ideas before the ending — the piece just stops rather than ends. Pieces that score highly end deliberately: a final image that echoes the opening, an answered question, a resonant thought. The habit to build: before writing, know roughly how the piece will end. You don’t need every detail, but knowing your destination means you can navigate toward it rather than wandering until time runs out.

    Creative writing for 11+ is practised specifically in Thorogood English’s 11+ English groups — not assumed and not left to chance. Join the waiting list for January 2027.

  • How to Prepare for 11+ English at Home: Activities That Actually Help

    Whether you’re supplementing a tutor or doing all the preparation at home, the activities you do with your child outside formal sessions can make a significant difference to their 11+ English performance. Here are the most effective ones — all practical, none requiring specialist knowledge.

    Read Together Daily

    The single most high-impact activity. Read aloud to your child even if they’re a confident independent reader — the texts you choose together will typically be more challenging and more varied than what they’d choose alone, and reading aloud is an excellent way to encounter new vocabulary in context.

    When you encounter an unfamiliar word, don’t just define it. Ask your child to guess the meaning from context first. Then confirm or correct, and use the word in a sentence yourself. This contextual vocabulary building is exactly what the 11+ tests in its reading comprehension section — inferring meaning from context.

    Play Word Games

    Vocabulary games are not frivolous preparation — they are preparation. Scrabble, Bananagrams, and similar tile games build word knowledge and spelling at the same time. “Word of the day” rituals — one new word at breakfast, reviewed at dinner — add up to 365 words a year and cost nothing. Cryptic crosswords (with assistance) build lateral thinking about word meanings that translates directly to comprehension skills.

    The key is making vocabulary building feel like something you do together, as a family habit, rather than something imposed as additional schoolwork. Children who associate learning new words with family fun acquire vocabulary at a very different rate from children who encounter it only in formal drill.

    Write Together — Not Just Separately

    Try a shared writing exercise: both parent and child write a short piece on the same prompt, then compare. This models that writing is something adults do and find engaging, normalises the experience of different people approaching the same task differently, and gives your child the rare experience of seeing their parent struggle and try and revise. That last point matters: many children believe good writers write perfectly the first time. Watching a parent cross things out and try again is a more honest representation of the writing process.

    Use Past Papers — But Mark Them Properly

    Past papers are freely available for most 11+ English exams, and they’re the closest thing to practising the real thing. But they’re only useful if they’re marked and reviewed properly — not just ticked or crossed, but discussed: “What did this question ask for? What did you write? What does the mark scheme say was expected? Where was the gap?”

    This review process is where the learning actually happens. A paper done and put away teaches very little. A paper done, marked, discussed, and followed up on is genuinely instructive.

    Talk About What Your Child Reads and Watches

    Discussing stories, characters, and plots — whether from books, films, or television — builds the analytical habits that 11+ comprehension tests. Questions like “Why do you think that character did that?” or “Did that ending feel right to you?” aren’t just conversation — they’re training for inference and interpretation.

    The goal isn’t formal discussion. It’s the habit of paying attention to storytelling — noticing how things are constructed, forming opinions about them, being prepared to say why you think something and hear a different view. These habits transfer directly to reading comprehension tasks that ask for inference and character analysis.

    Thorogood English’s 11+ English groups open January 2027. Join the waiting list to be first to know when bookings open.

  • How to Build Your Child’s Confidence in English: A Practical Parent’s Guide

    English anxiety — the belief that you’re “not a words person,” that writing is something other people do well, that analysis is guesswork dressed up as insight — is genuinely common, and it has a significant effect on exam performance. Students who approach English with anxiety write cautiously, avoid creative risks, second-guess their own clear thinking, and underperform relative to their actual ability.

    The good news is that confidence in English, unlike aptitude for it, is genuinely within a parent’s power to influence. Here’s how.

    Talk About Books, Stories, and Language at Home

    Children who grow up in households where language is treated as interesting and worth discussing develop a relationship with words that is fundamentally different from children in households where it’s treated as a school subject. This doesn’t require anything elaborate or time-consuming — it’s as simple as mentioning what you’re reading, asking “did you enjoy that?” about a book, or commenting on a piece of writing you found striking.

    The message this sends is subtle but powerful: language is something we value, something we find interesting, something worth attending to. That message shapes how a child approaches an English lesson or an English exam — whether they see it as a test of something they care about, or a test of something alien to their experience.

    Praise the Thinking, Not Just the Grade

    When your child writes something and shows it to you, or tells you about an idea they had in a lesson, the most confidence-building response is engagement with the idea: “That’s a really interesting reading of the character — what made you think that?” rather than “Is that going to be enough for your essay?” or “What mark did you get?”

    Children whose intellectual contributions are taken seriously — whose ideas are engaged with rather than evaluated for correctness — develop the confidence to keep having ideas, to defend them under challenge, and to take the risks that English exams reward. Children whose responses are primarily evaluated for their grade learn to produce safe, forgettable answers that minimise the risk of being wrong.

    Let Them Be Wrong Without Catastrophe

    One of the most confidence-destroying things in English is the belief that there is one right answer and you either have it or you don’t. This is a misunderstanding of what English at IGCSE and A-Level tests — but it’s a very common one, reinforced whenever students are corrected abruptly or treated as wrong for offering an interpretation.

    Good English education teaches students that interpretation requires evidence and argument — that you can’t just say anything, but you can say many different things if you can support them. A student who understands this is far less anxious in an exam: they know that their job is to argue well, not to guess what the examiner thinks.

    At home, you can reinforce this by arguing about books and stories with genuine openness: “I thought the ending was sad, but maybe you’re right that it was hopeful — what makes you say that?” Modelling the possibility of different valid readings is one of the most valuable things a parent can do for an English student.

    Celebrate Small Progress

    English improves slowly and the improvements can feel invisible. A student who was writing comma-spliced sentences six months ago and has now stopped doesn’t feel the difference in the way they feel when they’ve memorised a new equation. But the improvement is real and significant, and making it visible — “your writing is much more confident than it was at the start of the year” — reinforces the belief that effort produces results, which is the foundation of confidence.

    If your child’s teacher or tutor provides written feedback, read it occasionally with your child. Not to police or pressure, but to celebrate the specific things they’ve improved on, and to understand what they’re working on. This turns feedback from a verdict into a roadmap — and students who understand their roadmap move along it much faster.

    At Thorogood English, building genuine confidence alongside academic skill is central to how we teach. Small groups mean every student feels known — not anonymous — and the culture is one of participation and intellectual curiosity, not performance anxiety. Join the waiting list for January 2027 classes.

  • 11+ English: The Most Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

    After years of teaching 11+ English preparation, certain mistakes come up again and again — in the comprehension, in the writing, in how students manage their time. The good news is that predictable mistakes are avoidable mistakes. Here are the most common ones and what to do about them.

    Comprehension: Answering Without Evidence

    The most common comprehension error: stating an inference or interpretation without backing it up with evidence from the text. “The character feels scared” is worth almost nothing as an answer. “The character feels scared — the text says her hands ‘wouldn’t stop shaking’” is a complete answer that earns the mark.

    Teach your child this habit: every answer to an inference or analysis question needs a quotation. Find it, use it, explain it briefly. This three-step pattern (point — evidence — explanation) is the backbone of almost every English mark scheme at every level, and building the habit at 11+ pays dividends all the way through A-Level.

    Comprehension: Not Reading the Question Carefully Enough

    Many marks are lost not because a student can’t answer a question, but because they answer the wrong question — a question that’s similar to but subtly different from what was actually asked. A question asking “how does the writer create tension?” is not the same as “what happens in this paragraph?” A question asking for two examples expects exactly two, not one or three.

    Slow down at the question. Underline the key instruction words. Check the mark allocation — a question worth 4 marks almost certainly expects 4 valid points. Then answer what’s asked, not what you wish had been asked.

    Writing: Openings That Start Too Slowly

    “One day, a girl called Emma was walking to school. It was a sunny morning and she felt happy. Suddenly something happened.”

    This kind of opening — scene-setting, vague, slow — is extremely common and earns very few marks. Good writing openings do something immediate: they drop the reader into a moment, they create curiosity, they establish a voice. The reader should feel interested after the first sentence, not patiently waiting for something to begin.

    Practise openings specifically. Write ten different opening sentences for the same story prompt. Then choose the best one. The ability to write a strong opening is learnable, and it has an enormous effect on the overall impression a piece makes.

    Writing: Telling Instead of Showing

    “She was very angry.” This tells us what the character is feeling but doesn’t make us feel it with her. “She didn’t say anything. She picked up her bag and left, and closed the door so carefully that it made no sound at all.” This shows us anger — through action, through detail, through what is conspicuously not said.

    This “show don’t tell” principle is one of the most reliably mark-earning techniques in creative writing at 11+ and beyond. It requires writers to imagine the scene vividly and report its specific details, rather than summarising the emotional content from outside. Practise it until it becomes instinctive.

    Time Management: Spending Too Long on One Section

    Many children arrive at the 11+ without having practised managing their time across the whole paper. They spend twenty minutes on a question worth four marks, rush the comprehension at the end, and have no time to check their writing. This is entirely preventable with timed practice.

    Practice papers should be done under strict exam conditions from the first one — not because it’s fun, but because the time pressure is a significant part of the challenge and children who are unaccustomed to it will find it much harder to manage on the day. Teach the discipline of moving on: if a question is taking too long, mark it and come back.

    Writing: Not Checking at the End

    Most children don’t check their work. Most children who do check their work don’t know what to look for. Build a specific checking routine: (1) Punctuation — is every sentence properly punctuated? (2) Paragraphs — is there a new paragraph for each new idea? (3) Vocabulary — can any basic word be replaced with a more interesting one? (4) Does the ending feel finished, or does it drop off mid-story?

    Five minutes of this kind of focused checking can easily add several marks to a piece of writing.

    These are exactly the skills practised in Thorogood English’s 11+ preparation groups — in small classes where every student’s work gets individual attention. Join the waiting list for January 2027 places.

  • Teaching Your Child to Love Reading: The Single Best Investment for English Exams

    Ask any English examiner — at GCSE, IGCSE, or A-Level — what distinguishes the highest-scoring students from the rest, and you’ll hear the same answer: they read. Not just textbooks or revision guides. They read fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, novels. They read widely, often, and with genuine interest.

    This is not a coincidence. Reading is not a passive activity — it builds vocabulary, sharpens analytical instinct, expands familiarity with different styles of writing, and develops the internal sense of what good prose sounds like that no amount of grammar drilling can replicate. The students who read for pleasure tend to write better and think more flexibly than students who don’t — and the advantage compounds over years.

    So how do you build a reading habit in a child who’d rather be doing almost anything else?

    Start with What They’re Actually Interested In

    The single biggest mistake parents make is trying to build a reading habit with books they think their child should like — literary classics, prize-winning literary fiction, improving non-fiction. These are not bad books, but they’re rarely the books that turn a non-reader into a reader.

    The gateway book — the one that makes a child think “oh, I want to read another one” — is almost never a canonical text. It’s a funny book, an exciting book, a book about something they already care about passionately. Once a child is reading with genuine appetite, the range and ambition of what they want to read tends to expand naturally. The trick is getting them through the gate.

    Read Aloud Together — Even (Especially) to Older Children

    Reading aloud to children has a slightly unfortunate reputation for being a thing you stop doing once they can read independently. This is a shame, because it’s enormously valuable well into secondary school.

    When you read aloud to an older child — at bedtime, during a long journey, in those odd twenty minutes before dinner — you expose them to vocabulary and sentence structures that are more complex than what they might choose independently. You model what engaged reading sounds like. And you give reading a social, warm dimension that purely independent reading sometimes lacks, which matters enormously for children who associate books with solitude and effort rather than pleasure.

    Remove Competition from Devices

    This one is simple to say and hard to do: reading is in constant competition with more immediately rewarding alternatives. Screens, games, social media, streaming — all of these are designed by people who understand attention and dopamine, and they’re very good at their job.

    Creating conditions where reading is the natural default — a quiet time each evening without devices, a basket of books in the room where children relax, long journeys without screens — makes reading much more likely to happen. The competition is not between books and boredom; it’s between books and extremely engaging alternatives. You need to tilt the context.

    Books Before Bed

    The bedtime reading habit is probably the most valuable and durable of all. A rule of “twenty minutes of reading before the light goes off” — enforced as consistently as any other bedtime routine — will build a reading habit faster than almost any other single intervention, precisely because it creates a regular slot where there’s nothing else to do and a book is the most appealing option available.

    Children who read for twenty minutes every night before bed read for more than 120 hours a year. Over a primary school career, that’s an extraordinary volume of text — and every page of it is building the verbal intelligence that English exams reward.

    Talk About Books

    Children who grow up in households where books are discussed — where adults talk about what they’re reading, share opinions about characters and plots, argue about whether an ending was satisfying — absorb a set of analytical habits that transfer directly to English exams. They learn to form opinions about text, to find evidence for their views, to change their minds when someone makes a good point. These are precisely the skills that separate a C grade English response from an A grade one.

    You don’t need to conduct formal discussions. “What do you think of the main character? Do you think she made the right decision?” at the dinner table is enough. The point is treating books as things worth thinking and talking about, not just things worth completing.

    Thorogood English’s Reading List has curated recommendations for 11+, IGCSE, and A-Level students — books that stretch and engage young readers while building the vocabulary and analytical instincts that exams reward. Browse it here, and join the waiting list for January 2027 classes.

  • How to Help Your Child Prepare for the 11+ Without Burning Them Out

    The 11+ is one of the most pressurised educational moments in a child’s life — and one of the most pressurised for parents too. The competition is real. The stakes feel enormous. And in that context, it’s easy for preparation to tip over from focused and productive into relentless and counterproductive.

    Here’s how to support your child’s 11+ preparation in a way that’s effective, sustainable — and doesn’t teach them that learning is something to be feared.

    Start Earlier Than You Think — But Don’t Start Too Early

    The optimal window for structured 11+ preparation is roughly 12–18 months before the exam. Starting earlier than that often means children plateau before the exam arrives and feel burnt out by September of Year 6. Starting later than about six months before the exam makes it very difficult to cover enough ground comfortably.

    In Years 4 and 5, the most valuable preparation isn’t exam practice — it’s reading broadly and widely, developing vocabulary through conversation and books, and building the general confidence and curiosity that underpin strong 11+ performance. This is enjoyable preparation that doesn’t feel like preparation at all.

    Separate Preparation from Performance

    One of the most common mistakes in 11+ preparation is treating every practice paper as a performance rather than a learning opportunity. When a child gets a question wrong on a practice paper and the response is disappointment or concern, the child learns to fear mistakes rather than learn from them.

    The purpose of a practice paper is to find out what the child doesn’t know yet — and then address it. A low score on a practice paper in Year 5 is information, not a verdict. Treat it accordingly: “Let’s look at the questions you got wrong and understand why. That’s exactly what this practice is for.”

    Vocabulary Is the Foundation — Invest in It Early

    The 11+ English paper rewards strong vocabulary more than almost anything else — in comprehension, in writing, and in the vocabulary-specific questions that appear on some papers. The good news is that vocabulary builds gradually over time through reading and conversation; the bad news is that you can’t build it quickly through cramming in the final few months.

    The most effective vocabulary investment is reading books that are slightly challenging — books where the child encounters unfamiliar words regularly, has to infer meanings from context, and has the opportunity to ask “what does that mean?” Books written for adults but accessible to bright ten-year-olds (Roald Dahl, C.S. Lewis, Michael Morpurgo) are excellent. So are newspapers at a level slightly above what feels comfortable.

    Practice Under Conditions — But Not All the Time

    Timed practice under exam conditions is necessary preparation for the 11+ — the time pressure is one of the hardest aspects of the exam, and children who haven’t practised working at pace will struggle regardless of their underlying ability. But timed practice every day, relentlessly, is exhausting and counterproductive.

    A better rhythm: one or two timed practice sessions per week, with careful review afterwards; other sessions focusing on skill-building in areas of weakness without time pressure. The ratio should shift as the exam approaches — more timed practice in the final two months.

    Be Careful With Your Own Anxiety

    This is the hardest piece of advice to give — and receive — but it matters enormously. Children absorb their parents’ anxiety about the 11+, often without anyone saying a word. A parent who visibly stiffens when the topic comes up, who checks homework with tight-jawed concentration, who asks “how many did you get right?” before “how did it feel?” — that parent is communicating something about the stakes of failure that a child carries into the exam room.

    This is not a counsel of indifference — you care about your child’s future and that’s right and appropriate. But the most useful thing you can model is the belief that your child is capable, that mistakes are part of learning, and that the outcome of this exam does not define them. Children who sit the 11+ believing that their worth as people is contingent on the result do not perform as well as children who sit it knowing they’ve prepared well and will do their best.

    On the Day

    A good breakfast. An early night. Familiar clothes. A straightforward conversation: “You’ve prepared well. Do your best, read carefully, and if you get stuck move on and come back.” Then let them go.

    What you do on the day of the exam cannot meaningfully change the outcome. What you’ve done in the months before it can.

    Thorogood English’s 11+ English preparation groups are designed specifically for this — effective, focused, and confidence-building rather than anxiety-inducing. Small groups mean every child is known and supported. Join the waiting list for January 2027 places.

  • Creative Writing for 11+: How to Write a Story That Stands Out

    Creative writing is one of the most misunderstood parts of the 11+ English exam. Many children can write a perfectly decent story — but “decent” isn’t what earns top marks. Examiners are looking for writing that shows genuine craft: vivid imagery, varied sentence structure, a sense of control.

    The good news is that the qualities examiners reward can absolutely be taught. Here’s what they’re looking for — and how to help your child deliver it.

    What Examiners Want to See

    Before looking at technique, it’s worth understanding what earns marks. 11+ creative writing is assessed on:

    • Content and ideas — is the story engaging, imaginative, and original?
    • Structure — does it have a clear beginning, middle, and end? Is the pacing controlled?
    • Vocabulary — is word choice precise and varied? Are there moments of genuine descriptive power?
    • Technical accuracy — spelling, punctuation, and grammar
    • Sentence variety — do sentences vary in length and structure, or are they all the same?

    The writing that scores highest tends to feel controlled — like the writer knew exactly what effect they wanted and chose their words deliberately to achieve it.

    Tip 1: Plan First — Even Just Two Minutes

    The most common mistake is diving straight into writing without any plan. Stories written without a plan tend to meander, run out of ideas, or end abruptly because the child has written themselves into a corner.

    Before your child writes a single sentence, spend two minutes on a brief plan: who is the main character? What is the central problem or moment? How does it end? Even a three-bullet plan produces a noticeably more structured story.

    Tip 2: Start in the Middle of the Action

    Most children begin their stories with slow, scene-setting introductions: “It was a dark and stormy night. My name is Jack and I am twelve years old.” This immediately signals an inexperienced writer.

    Strong stories begin in medias res — in the middle of the action. Compare:

    Weak opening: “One day, Tom decided to go to the old house at the end of the street. He had always been curious about it.”

    Strong opening: “The door was already open when Tom arrived — which meant someone had got there first.”

    The second version creates immediate tension and pulls the reader in. It also signals a confident writer who understands that stories should grab attention from the first line.

    Tip 3: Show, Don’t Tell

    This is the most famous piece of writing advice for a reason. “Telling” gives the reader information directly: “She was scared.” “Showing” lets the reader feel it through specific detail: “Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. She pressed them flat against her thighs and told herself to breathe.”

    Showing is harder and slower to write — which is why it earns more marks. Encourage your child to pick two or three moments in their story to “show” rather than “tell”, even if the rest is more straightforward narration.

    Tip 4: Vary Sentence Length Deliberately

    A sequence of sentences that are all roughly the same length creates a flat, monotonous rhythm. Varying sentence length — long sentences for description, short ones for impact — gives writing energy and pace.

    The easiest technique to teach: follow a long descriptive sentence with a very short one. “The forest was dense and dark, the branches overhead so thick that even in midday the light barely reached the ground, filtered into pale, thin slivers that barely illuminated the path ahead. He stopped. Something was watching him.”

    Short sentences after long ones create tension. They signal something has changed.

    Tip 5: End with a Punch

    Endings that trail off (“And then they went home and had dinner and went to bed”) lose marks that were almost earned. The ending is the last impression the examiner receives — make it count.

    Strong endings either: resolve the central tension with a satisfying twist, echo the opening (creating a circular structure that feels deliberate), or leave the reader with a single, resonant image. Any of these works. What doesn’t work is simply stopping because the time is up.

    Teach your child to write their ending before they write the middle. If they know where they’re going, the story hangs together far more effectively.

    Practice Makes the Difference

    Creative writing under timed conditions is a specific skill. Practising it — regularly, with feedback — is the most reliable way to improve. Simply writing stories without guidance tends to reinforce existing habits rather than building new ones.

    At Thorogood English, our 11+ English Preparation course covers all of this: planning techniques, descriptive writing, story structure, and how to write confidently under exam conditions. Classes run online via Zoom in small groups of no more than six students.

    Classes launch in January 2027. Join the waiting list now — places are strictly limited.

  • 11+ English Exam: What to Expect and How to Prepare

    The 11+ English exam can feel daunting for children and parents alike — particularly if it’s your first time navigating the process. But with the right preparation, and a clear understanding of what the exam actually tests, it becomes far more manageable.

    In this guide, we’ll walk through exactly what to expect from the 11+ English paper, which skills examiners are looking for, and how to help your child prepare effectively.

    What Is the 11+ English Exam?

    The 11+ is a selective entrance examination taken by children in Year 5 or Year 6 (typically aged 10–11) who are applying to grammar schools or independent schools. English is one of the core components, alongside Verbal Reasoning and sometimes Mathematics.

    The specific format varies between schools and regions, but English papers generally test two broad areas: reading comprehension and creative writing.

    What Does the 11+ English Paper Test?

    Reading Comprehension

    Children are given an unseen passage — typically an extract from a novel, a newspaper article, or a non-fiction text — and asked a series of questions. These test:

    • Literal understanding — what does the text actually say?
    • Inference — what can you deduce from what’s implied?
    • Language analysis — why has the writer chosen this word or phrase?
    • Vocabulary — what does this word mean in context?
    • Summary and retrieval — finding and organising information

    Creative Writing

    Most 11+ papers include a creative writing task: a short story, a descriptive piece, or occasionally a letter or report. Examiners are looking for:

    • Clear structure and planning
    • Varied vocabulary and sentence types
    • Correct punctuation and grammar
    • Imaginative, engaging content
    • Accurate spelling throughout

    It’s worth noting that quality matters far more than quantity. A tightly written, well-crafted piece of 250–300 words will outscore a rambling 600-word attempt every time.

    When Should Preparation Begin?

    Most families begin focused 11+ preparation at the start of Year 5 — roughly 18 months before the exam. This gives children time to develop skills gradually rather than cramming, which rarely produces the best results.

    That said, the best preparation for 11+ English is something that should start much earlier: reading widely and regularly. Children who read for pleasure from an early age consistently outperform those who begin reading practice only in preparation for the exam.

    5 Practical Tips for 11+ English Preparation

    1. Read Every Day

    Encourage your child to read a mix of fiction and non-fiction — not just their preferred genre. Exposure to different styles, vocabulary, and structures is enormously beneficial. Reading broadens the word bank, which is one of the most valuable assets in any English exam.

    2. Practise Comprehension Actively

    Don’t just read — respond. After reading a passage, ask your child to summarise it in their own words. What was the writer’s purpose? What did they notice about the language? Even informal dinner-table conversation about a book or article helps develop analytical thinking.

    3. Work on Vocabulary Systematically

    Vocabulary questions feature in almost every 11+ paper. Keep a notebook of new words encountered in reading and make a habit of learning ten new words per week. Context is key — it’s not just about knowing a definition, but understanding how and when to use a word.

    4. Write Regularly — and Get Feedback

    Creative writing improves with practice and with targeted feedback. Simply writing doesn’t help much if a child repeats the same mistakes. Having a teacher or tutor mark their work and explain what needs to change is far more effective than completing workbook exercises alone.

    5. Learn to Plan Before Writing

    Many children lose marks by diving straight into their story without planning. Spending two minutes on a brief plan — beginning, middle, end; a key image; an interesting character detail — results in a much more structured and engaging piece. This is a skill that can absolutely be taught.

    How Thorogood English Can Help

    At Thorogood English, our 11+ English Preparation course is designed to build exactly these skills: comprehension technique, vocabulary development, writing craft, and exam confidence.

    Sessions run online via Zoom in small groups of no more than six students, ensuring every child receives individual attention. Classes launch in January 2027.

    Register your interest now to secure a place — spaces are limited by design.