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As a county that is home to several of England’s top-performing grammar schools, not to mention competitive academic private schools, tutoring is rife across Essex (and don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise – parents often prefer to keep it hush-hush). Our article on finding a tutor contains useful information for any family weighing up their options. Online tutoring has become widespread thanks to the pandemic, which means parents don't need to just look locally when trying to find a tutor eg JK Educate (great if you also need your child assessed), Keystone Tutors (wow-factor quality, but doesn’t come cheap), Fleet Tutors (majority of their tutoring is now online) and Pegasus Tutors (outstanding tutor CVs). But face-to-face sessions with an experienced professional tutor is still the go-to for parents keen to tip their youngster over the pass-mark and into a school which will set them up for further exam success in the future.
Experienced 11 plus tutors in Essex will know how the grammar school entrance exams work and should come with a ready supply of past papers to allow your child to really familiarise themselves with what is expected.
In Essex, tutoring starts young, usually around year 4 for 11+ entry to state and independent schools; the few local schools with a year 9 entry point tend to set their own entrance exams rather than Common Entrance, so there is often a push after the age of 11 towards these. Take note - some offer places at 11+ for deferred entry two years later at 13 and this can be a golden opportunity to snap them up early.