Is tutoring a bad thing?

[capers123]

Since we have three GS within a few miles, in spite of this being a rural area, all who 'can' will take the exam, so that's generally at least half the class, but no extra support from school.

Very, very few primary schools give extra support for those taking the 11+.

As for 'summer-born', that is allowed for by the weighting that the exam company gives to the raw score, which not only allows for the month of birth, but even the day of birth within the month. 2 equally bright children, one born in July & the other in September will get the same weighted mark and thus have the same chance of gaining a place.

[Bugsiejane]

My DS genuinely enjoyed going to his tutor. He would come out of his sessions on a real buzz - he told me he always learnt something new with his tutor, he didn't always learn new things at school (I know it sounds cliched but he enjoys a challenge and was not being very challenged at school). My advice would be take your daughter along for a trial lesson and if she enjoys it, go for it.

[Watermelon8]

We did all our prep at home. At least the prep for the current test is useful for their education. When DD did the previous test, it was so much easier to 'learn' question types which really going forward weren't that useful. DS doing extra maths, reading comprehension & vocab for the test last September was really useful for his education generally as well as prepping to pass the test.