Hertfordshire 11 Plus Tuition

Introduction to the Hertfordshire 11 Plus (Academic Ability Test)

Partially selective schools in SW Herts

• There are seven partially selective schools within the South West Hertfordshire Schools Consortium, each with their own admissions criteria.
• Six of the seven South West Herts Consortium schools allocate between 10% and 35% of their Year 7 places based on academic abilty; if your child is ineligible to join one of these schools under other criterion, such as sibling or proximity, they can be considered for entry based on their academic ability.
• Some of the schools also test musical or sports aptitude; Croxley Danes does not offer academic places but offers a small number of places based on music aptitude.

Applying for an academic place with the Hertfordshire 11 Plus Exam

• To apply for a place at South West Herts Consortium schools under the Academic Criterion, your child will need to sit the South West Herts Consortium Academic Ability Test (Hertfordshire 11 Plus exam) in Mathematics and Verbal Reasoning.
• Children born between 1st September 2014 and 31st August 2015 will take the Herts 11+ exam on Saturday 6th September 2025 to be eligible to apply for an academic place for September 2026.
• The tests are administered by South West Herts Schools Consortium and your child will only need to sit them once, regardless of which school they are applying for, as all six schools use the same test.
• The Hertfordshire 11+ tests are provided by GL Assessment and there is no 'pass mark'; places are offered in accordance with each school’s admission policy and students are ranked in order of their score.

If your child does not sit the Hertfordshire 11 Plus Academic Test, they may still be able to apply

• If your child does not take the Hertfordshire 11 Plus 'Academic Ability Test' prior to applying for a place at one or more of the schools, it will not be possible for their application to be considered under academic testing.
• However, their application can still be considered under other criterion (such as sibling or proximity). They can also apply for other places by taking the South West Herts Consortium Music Aptitude Test (Parmiter's, Queens', Rickmansworth, St Clement Danes, Watford Boys, Watford Girls and Croxley Danes School and Sports Aptitude Test (Queens' School only).

Skip to our useful FAQs about the Hertfordshire 11+ exam (Academic Ability Test) >

How many academic places are available for students sitting the Hertfordshire 11 Plus (SW Herts Academic Ability Test) and what score is required?

• The South West Herts Consortium schools (with the exception of Croxley Danes School), allocate a proportion of their Year 7 places based on academic ability, as measured by a student's score in the Hertfordshire 11 Plus (Academic Ability Test).
• To ensure that younger students are not disadvantaged (i.e. those born later in the school year), the scores are age-standardised.
• There is no pass mark for the Hertfordshire 11 Plus and instead, students are ranked in order based on their score. It is therefore important that your child aims for as high a score as possible.
• You will not know until Allocation Day (3rd March 2025), whether your child has been successful in securing an academic space. However, as a helpful guide for when you apply for a place, the schools provide the minimum scores that students were admitted with in previous years; you can find the most recent scores below. Please bear in mind that even if your child scores higher than the previous year’s lowest admitted score(s), it does not automatically mean that they will be offered a place. Ensure that your child is fully prepared, with our Hertfordshire 11 Plus tuition.
• You can see the lowest admitted scores for the last few years on our Parmiter’s School, Queens’ School, Rickmansworth School, St Clement Danes School, Watford Grammar School for Boys and Watford Grammar School for Girls pages.

Data-Led approach with SuccessTrack® by Marie Redmond

In addition to weekly spelling tests, our term-time students undergo formal assessments twice per term—at half-term and at the end of the term—covering all topic areas. These assessments provide a valuable measure of progress over time, ensuring that we can track genuine improvements in attainment without being overly influenced by short-term fluctuations. Testing more frequently risks skewing results due to the occasional ‘off week,’ whereas our structured approach strikes the perfect balance between regular monitoring and meaningful insight.

Based on the initial assessment and your child's specific answers, we create a personalised tuition plan that sets individual targets for each subject area that is relevant to them, such as English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Every lesson is designed to develop these areas. We continuously monitor progress, allowing us to refine tuition plans to ensure they suit your child's needs and challenges.

Parents are always welcome to contact us at any stage during their child's 11+ course for feedback on their development. They can speak with their child's teacher after lessons or contact Marie directly by phone or email for further insight. As a smaller provider, we take pride in our ability to offer tailored guidance and maintain a close, supportive relationship with families.

Marie Redmond Tuition 'Bag of Knowledge®'

During your child's first term-time course lesson, they will receive a Bag of Knowledge®, carefully curated to support their learning journey. This exclusive collection includes Marie Redmond's Superbrain® resources and a selection of books from leading publishers—ensuring they have everything they need to excel.

Each student receives their materials in a premium Marie Redmond Tuition® rucksack, designed to reflect the exceptional quality of our tuition and resources. Inside, they'll find an electronic thesaurus, a tin of Marie Redmond's Superbrain® vocabulary flashcards and a dry erase whiteboard.

Students also receive notebooks dedicated to spellings, vocabulary and maths, as well as a plain notebook for additional notes. Completing the set is a pencil case stocked with essential stationery including HB pencils, an eraser, sharpener and a dry erase pen.

Best of all, the cost of the Bag of Knowledge® and all resources for the course is fully covered within the Hertfordshire monthly course fees.

Starting in September 2025, all students will receive our new purple rucksack designed to enhance their experience and reflect our commitment to excellence.

Students attending our Year 5 11+ Easter and 11+ summer holiday courses receive a Superbrain® English and verbal reasoning holiday course book for each week they attend, further reinforcing their skills. Plus, all term-time students receive Marie Redmond's Superbrain® 11 Plus Flash Cards upon joining—an interactive resource designed to supercharge their vocabulary and accelerate exam preparation.

Explore our full Superbrain® collection and discover how these exclusive resources support students on their journey to 11+ success.

The Marie Redmond Tuition® Book Club

Sharing our enjoyment of books is a fantastic way to encourage reading and therefore develop vocabulary and comprehension at home. The Marie Redmond Tuition® Book Club is open to all students attending our term-time 11 Plus tuition courses in Hertfordshire and is an excellent platform for discussions about books, opportunities for creativity and promoting reading for pleasure. Discover our book of the month.

Creative Thinking Course

The virtual Creative Thinking Course is particularly useful for boys preparing for the revised Reading School 11+ exam in September 2025 but is open to all our term-time students.

Students attend one creative thinking lesson per week on Zoom, which lasts for 45 minutes. Students are taught to use innovation and problem solving. They will become adept at approaching situations in different ways, using diverse strategies.

Every lesson includes a fun thinking skills warm-up activity followed by the main focus of the lesson. Strategies like group discussions, questioning, mind mapping, and thinking 'outside the box' are employed to encourage creative learning approaches. Students learn various writing techniques and how to draft, review, and edit their work.

Homework is assigned weekly to consolidate the skills taught during the lesson. Homework is submitted via email, and the creative thinking teacher annotates the text and writes a short report. General points about the texts are reviewed at the start of the next lesson.

Course Details:

• One lesson per week on Zoom, lasting 45 minutes
• Fee, including books: £25 per lesson

For further information, including fees, term dates and FAQ's, please visit our Creative Thinking Course page.

Creative Writing Course

Enrol your child in our virtual creative writing course, open to all our term-time students. This offers a fantastic opportunity for your child to enhance their spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary skills, whilst also fostering their creative writing abilities. If your child is preparing for Reading School, we recommend that you select the Creative Thinking Course instead of creative writing.

Students attend one creative writing lesson per week on Zoom, which lasts for 45 minutes. During every lesson they participate in a fun writing skills warm-up activity which might focus on grammar or a literary device, they might read and analyse a writing example or use a story prompt, and then work on creating their own text.

Every week there is a focus which can include story settings, characters, openings, events / problems and resolutions. Students practise writing in a variety of formats such as stories, plays, newspaper articles and letters. They are taught to use a variety of literary techniques and we show them how to draft their work, as well as reviewing and editing.

Homework is set every week. Students build upon the tasks in their lesson to create their own text. The texts are then reviewed at the start of the next lesson.

Course Details:

• One lesson per week on Zoom, lasting 45 minutes
• Fee, including books: £25 per lesson

For further information, including fees, term dates and FAQ's, please visit our Creative Writing Course page.

11+ Mock Exams with Marie Redmond 11+ Intelligent Video Learning®

Get exam ready with Marie Redmond Tuition® 11 Plus Mock Exams for the Buckinghamshire, Kendrick, Slough and Reading exams. Our SW Herts 11 Plus mock exams will be available from 2025.

Students who sat our mock exams in 2023 said they were very similar to the actual tests, which made them feel prepared and confident when sitting the exam.

Herts 11 Plus tuition costs

We offer a straightforward monthly payment plan for our Herts 11+ tuition courses, which you can see on our Bushey course fees page. Many parents take advantage of the government's Tax-Free Childcare scheme to save 20% on their fees.