Preparing a Young Child for Entrance Assessments Without Over-Tutoring

Preparing a young child for entrance assessments without over-tutoring means following what the school itself asks for, which across the London prep schools covered here is light, familiar practice at home. The schools differ on detail, so the admissions page of each school you are considering is worth reading first, before any book is bought or any lesson is booked, because what is offered and what is advised differs from one school to the next.

For a child aged four to seven, the activities the pages describe are reading together, number games, handwriting little and often, and some familiarity with the format of the papers. Each is an ordinary part of home life, and each can stay short enough to leave room for play, rest and the things your child already enjoys, which keeps the preparation in proportion.

What do prep schools say about outside tuition and extra practice?

Westminster Under School advises parents to avoid outside tuition, because the school feels it can dull the freshness and eagerness to learn that it values. For its 7+ reasoning papers, the school says no preparation is needed, though familiarity with the format may help; reasoning practice books are widely available, but excessive practice is not recommended. The school says it looks for potential and natural ability, and for a spark and a passion for something.

Latymer Prep School describes a different emphasis, advising that parental preparation should be low-key and that the child's routine should stay as normal as possible. The school adds that keeping up favourite activities helps wellbeing, and its page sums the approach up as a need for balance. The page gives no advice about tutoring, so a parent reading it has guidance on the home routine and none on lessons.

Which schools provide sample questions, exemplar papers or reading lists?

Highgate Junior School publishes sample English and Maths questions and sends an explanatory video, and it suggests practising with the questions and watching the video together with your child. The school says it aims to make the day as fun and stress-free as possible. Its tests are devised and marked by its own teachers, so the school's own samples are the nearest guide to what your child will meet.

St Paul's Prep School says it does not publish past papers, and it links a suggested reading list and Maths and English guidance for 7+ applicants. That guidance describes the English paper as incorporating the knowledge and skills of the Year 2 National Curriculum programme of study, with applicants hoped to be working at a Greater Depth standard within Year 2, and it says the paper may also include word reading and comprehension from the Year 3 programme of study.

Latymer sends exemplar Maths and English papers after registration, to show the expected standard. Because the materials differ, the sensible order is school-supplied papers first, school-recommended reading second and anything else last, with each used in short sessions that leave your child keen to return. Where a page names no samples, ask the admissions office what is available before buying practice books on a friend's advice.

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What does a 4+ assessment involve?

Alleyn's Junior School and Alleyn's Oakfield state that the 4+ assessment, which is the same at both, includes assessment of language development and practical reasoning, and that every attempt is made to make the experience as much fun as possible by replicating activities many children will have met in a nursery following the EYFS. The schools describe the process as a screening process for children who might thrive in a busy, stimulating and academic school environment, with some standardised testing and children assessed alongside others of approximately the same month of birth.

Westminster Under School describes stage one of its 4+ process as play-focused classroom activities, in which children engage with members of the School team and other children in an informal, welcoming and relaxed atmosphere and are encouraged to have fun. Some children are invited back for a second stage. The school's 4+ page contains no guidance on preparation or tutoring, so there is nothing further to follow from that source.

For a four-year-old, that points to the activities of an ordinary nursery day, such as talking about a picture book, counting and sorting objects, taking turns with other children and chatting with adults they have only just met, all of which fit into short bursts. Time spent on these at home or at nursery is the nearest match to what both pages describe.

What does low-key preparation look like for a 7+ child?

Low-key preparation at 7+ usually means short sessions of reading together, number games and handwriting, done little and often, each linked to something a school says it assesses. Familiarity with the format of the papers sits alongside these. The schools' pages name the skills, so each activity can be matched to one, and none needs more than books, dice, pencil and paper.

• Reading together: Westminster lists reading aloud and discussing stories and new vocabulary, and St Paul's includes a comprehension exercise asking boys to retrieve information and draw inferences from a text, so ask where an answer is found and what a character might feel.
• Number games: Westminster lists place value, mental calculation strategies, practical measurement, shape and basic fractions, and St Paul's expects recall of the 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables and missing number problems, which dice, cards and measuring in the kitchen can cover.
• Handwriting little and often: St Paul's dictation exercise expects reasonably neat writing with sound grammar, punctuation and spelling, so a few lines of diary or story at a time, reread by your child for accuracy, matches it.
• Reasoning: Westminster describes verbal and non-verbal reasoning as thinking skills, and everyday puzzles and 'what comes next' games already exercise them.
• Format familiarity: Latymer says children sit at desks with talking discouraged and that pencils, rulers and rubbers are provided, so a few minutes of quiet work at a table, plus the school's own samples, makes the setting familiar.

How can you tell if a young child is tiring or anxious?

A tiring or anxious child usually shows it in behaviour, such as putting off the activity, complaining of tiredness, becoming tearful or unusually quiet, or losing interest in favourite pastimes. Younger children often show worry through behaviour, so a change in mood around practice sessions is worth taking seriously. Asking repeatedly about the assessment, or becoming upset by small mistakes, can also signal that the pace is too much.

When these signs appear, shorten the sessions, return to reading for pleasure, and keep to the usual routine with favourite activities in place. A conversation with your child's class teacher or nursery can show whether the same behaviour appears elsewhere, which helps in deciding whether to pause practice altogether. Pausing is a reasonable response, and the reading, number talk and play that continue in the meantime still cover much of what the school pages describe.

Where does one-to-one tuition fit for families who choose it?

For families who choose it, one-to-one tuition tends to fit as help with one identified gap, such as a topic in Maths or handwriting stamina, once reading together and number games at home have shown where the gap lies. A specific target, a short session and a clear end point keep the work in proportion to a young child's day.

One-to-one help is one option some families use alongside school and home practice, and a school that advises against outside tuition is stating its own position for its own process. If you do choose it, give the tutor the school's own sample questions, exemplar papers or guidance so the sessions follow what that school says, and review with your child, using the signs above, whether the arrangement still suits them.

For families who choose one-to-one help to fill a specific gap, read about our 7+ tutors for English, maths and reasoning, or tell us about your child and the schools on your list and we will reply with tutor recommendations.

How should you read a school's own guidance first?

Read the admissions page for each school from top to bottom before buying any materials, noting the papers named, any samples, video or reading list offered, and anything the page says about preparation. The papers named for 7+ differ between schools. Writing these down for each school in one place makes the differences easy to see, and it shows which pages stay silent on preparation.

Because the schools differ, advice that suits one page may not suit another. Where the page and a friend, a book or a website disagree, the school's own wording is the authority for that school, and the admissions office is the place to ask about anything the page leaves out. Where a page says nothing on preparation, that is an absence of guidance, and a question to the office settles it.

• Latymer: English Comprehension, Creative Writing and Maths
• Highgate: written tests in English and Mathematics
• St Paul's: English, Mathematics and Reasoning
• Alleyn's: English (comprehension and creative writing), mathematics and reasoning
• Westminster Under School: English, Mathematics and Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning

Related guides

• 7+ tutors for English, maths and reasoning
• primary school tutoring
• 7+ exam: format, schools and preparation
• 7+ past papers and practice questions
• The 7+ assessment day: what to expect
• 4+ assessments

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