Thorogood English

Category: 11+ Preparation

Guides for parents and students preparing for the 11+ English exam. Covering comprehension, creative writing, vocabulary, and how to build confidence under time pressure.

  • 11+ Preparation: How to Help Without Adding Pressure

    The 11+ is one of the first major academic challenges many children face — and the parental anxiety that surrounds it can be as damaging as inadequate preparation. Children are acutely sensitive to the stress of the adults around them, and a parent who is visibly anxious about the outcome communicates that the stakes are very high — which increases the child’s anxiety, which reduces their performance. Here’s how to stay involved and supportive without inadvertently making things worse.

    Separate Your Anxiety From Their Preparation

    This is the hardest thing and the most important. Your hopes for your child’s secondary school experience are real and understandable — but they’re yours, not theirs. Children who feel they are carrying their parents’ hopes as well as their own work don’t perform better under that weight; they perform worse. The most useful thing you can do is maintain a calm, matter-of-fact attitude to preparation: “This is practice. We’re getting ready. It’ll be fine whatever happens.”

    Make Practice Regular and Brief

    Short, regular practice sessions — 20 to 30 minutes, three to four times a week — are more effective than infrequent long ones and far less exhausting for a 10-year-old. Children who do marathon study sessions in the months before the 11+ often arrive at the exam burned out. Children who’ve maintained a calm, consistent practice routine arrive fresh.

    Praise Effort, Not Outcome

    A child who gets eight out of ten on a practice paper should be praised for the work they put in, not for the score. A child who gets five out of ten having tried hard deserves the same response. Praise that attaches to scores teaches children that their value depends on outcomes they can’t fully control. Praise that attaches to effort teaches them that preparation and persistence are within their control — which they are.

    Have a Plan B — and Mean It

    Know what you’ll do if the 11+ doesn’t go as hoped, and be genuinely at peace with it. Children who know their parents have a real plan B — not just a polite backup they clearly don’t want — experience the 11+ as one option among several rather than an all-or-nothing test of their worth. That psychological safety makes a difference to how they perform on the day.

    Thorogood English’s 11+ English preparation is structured to build genuine skills and confidence — not to cram or to create pressure. Join the waiting list for January 2027.

  • What Is Verbal Reasoning and Why Does It Matter for 11+?

    If your child is preparing for the 11+, you’ve almost certainly come across “verbal reasoning” as one of the subjects being tested. But what is it, exactly? How is it different from English? And why do grammar schools and independent schools test it? This guide answers all three questions.

    What Is Verbal Reasoning?

    Verbal reasoning is the ability to think logically and solve problems using language. It’s distinct from general reading comprehension or writing ability — it tests how well a child can identify patterns, relationships, and structures in words and language, often in formats that look more like puzzles than traditional English questions.

    Typical verbal reasoning question types include: word analogies (“hand is to glove as foot is to ___”), finding words hidden inside other words, completing word sequences, identifying the odd one out, codes and ciphers using letters, and rearranging letters to make new words.

    How Is It Different from English?

    English at 11+ tests reading comprehension, inference, vocabulary in context, and creative/analytical writing — skills developed through reading and writing practice. Verbal reasoning tests reasoning ability using language as the medium — it’s closer to a logic test than a literacy test, and the question formats are more constrained and puzzle-like.

    A child can have excellent English skills but find verbal reasoning unfamiliar at first — and vice versa. Both benefit from preparation, but the preparation looks different: verbal reasoning improves most quickly through familiarity with question types and timed practice.

    Why Do Schools Test It?

    Grammar schools in particular use verbal reasoning because it’s designed to test underlying reasoning ability rather than the quality of a child’s schooling. The theory is that a child from a school with excellent English teaching and a child from a school with weaker teaching can both demonstrate native reasoning ability through verbal reasoning — making it a fairer measure of academic potential than pure English attainment.

    In practice, verbal reasoning is absolutely coachable, and preparation makes a significant difference — so the “fairness” argument is imperfect. But it remains the primary tool for this reason.

    How to Prepare

    Familiarity is the biggest single factor. Children who’ve never seen a verbal reasoning paper before often lose marks simply because the format is unfamiliar and the time pressure is unexpected. Working through a range of question types and doing timed practice papers is the most efficient preparation — alongside the vocabulary building that comes from wide reading.

    Thorogood English’s 11+ English preparation builds the vocabulary, comprehension, and analytical skills that underpin strong verbal reasoning performance. Join the waiting list for January 2027.

  • 11+ English: How to Tackle Reading Comprehension Questions

    Reading comprehension sits at the heart of most 11+ English papers — and it’s the section where well-prepared children most often lose marks they should have kept. Not because they didn’t understand the text, but because they didn’t answer the question that was actually asked. Here’s the method that fixes this.

    Read the Questions Before the Passage

    Before reading the passage, skim the questions — particularly the specific ones that direct you to particular lines or ask about particular details. This means your first read of the passage is active and purposeful: you know what you’re looking for, so you notice it when you see it.

    Underline as You Read

    As you read, lightly underline or annotate parts of the passage that seem significant — moments of description, changes in tone, key character details, moments of tension or surprise. This is not note-taking for its own sake; it’s keeping your attention active and giving yourself anchor points to return to when answering questions.

    Answer the Question That Is Asked

    This sounds obvious but is the single biggest source of lost marks. “What impression do you get of the character in lines 5–10?” is not asking you to describe what happens in those lines — it’s asking you to make an inference about character. “Give two reasons why…” is not asking for one very detailed reason — it’s asking for two distinct points. Read each question word by word before answering.

    Match Your Answer Length to the Marks Available

    A one-mark question needs one point, in one or two sentences. A four-mark question needs four distinct points, or a developed two-point answer with evidence and explanation. Writing a paragraph for a one-mark question wastes time; writing a single sentence for a four-mark question wastes marks.

    Inference Questions: Go Beyond the Surface

    11+ papers often include inference questions — “what can you infer about…” or “what does this suggest about…”. These require reading between the lines: not just what the text says, but what it implies. A character who “glanced quickly at the door” is probably anxious, or waiting for someone, or wanting to leave — the text doesn’t say this directly, but a careful reader infers it. Practice this kind of reading deliberately.

    Use Evidence From the Text

    Where a question asks you to explain or justify your answer, quote briefly from the text. This shows you’re basing your answer on the evidence rather than your general impression. Keep quotes short — one or two words embedded in your sentence is usually more effective than a long extracted quotation.

    11+ reading comprehension — including inference, vocabulary in context, and written response technique — is covered thoroughly in Thorogood English’s 11+ English preparation programme. Join the waiting list for January 2027.

  • Grammar Schools vs Independent Schools: What’s the Difference?

    Parents preparing their children for selective secondary school entrance often use “grammar school” and “independent school” interchangeably. They’re not the same thing. Understanding the difference helps you prepare more effectively — and choose the right path for your child.

    Grammar Schools

    Grammar schools are state-funded, academically selective secondary schools. They’re free to attend — no fees — but entry is competitive and based on passing the 11+ examination. There are around 163 grammar schools in England, concentrated in certain counties: Kent, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and parts of the West Midlands and South East have significant grammar school provision; most of the country doesn’t.

    Grammar schools follow the national curriculum and enter students for standard GCSEs and A-Levels. Teaching quality varies, but the most sought-after grammar schools consistently produce excellent results and have strong cultures of academic expectation.

    Independent Schools

    Independent schools (also called private schools or public schools — confusingly, “public school” historically refers to the most prestigious independent schools) charge fees and are not state-funded. Entry is typically through their own entrance exam, interview, and sometimes a report from the child’s current school. Many use the 11+ or their own equivalent at 11; others have 13+ entry points.

    Independent schools have more flexibility over curriculum, school day, activities, and ethos. Some offer the IGCSE rather than standard GCSE, which is why IGCSE preparation is particularly relevant for children applying to or attending independent schools.

    Key Differences at a Glance

    • Cost: Grammar schools are free; independent schools charge fees (typically £5,000–£15,000+ per term)
    • Availability: Grammar schools exist only in certain areas; independent schools exist across the country
    • Entry: Both use selective exams, but independent schools also often interview and assess holistically
    • Curriculum: Grammar schools follow the national curriculum; independent schools have more flexibility
    • Qualifications: Both typically offer A-Levels; some independent schools also offer IB or IGCSE

    Which Is Better for Your Child?

    There’s no universal answer. Grammar schools offer excellent education at no cost — a genuinely transformative opportunity for academically able children who wouldn’t otherwise access this standard of secondary education. Independent schools offer breadth, flexibility, and (often) smaller class sizes, but at significant financial cost. The right choice depends on your location, your child’s temperament and interests, your financial circumstances, and which specific schools are realistically available.

    What both paths have in common: they require preparation, and strong English is essential to both. Whether the entrance exam is GL Assessment, CEM, or a school’s own paper, reading comprehension, writing ability, and vocabulary are always assessed.

    Thorogood English’s 11+ English preparation builds exactly the skills both grammar school and independent school entrance exams assess. Join the waiting list for January 2027.

  • 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.