11+ Tutor in Greenwich: How to Find One You Can Trust

If you are looking for an 11+ tutor in Greenwich, the short answer is: don't hire on adjectives, hire on evidence. Greenwich itself has no grammar schools, so nearly every family here is preparing a child for an exam set outside the borough — most often the Bexley Selection Test — which means the tutor you choose needs to know that specific test, not "the 11+" in general. The safest way to check that is to look past a self-written profile and toward what has actually been verified: identity and DBS status, real qualifications, and outcomes the tutor has genuinely delivered. Tutorwise rolls all of that into a single credibility score on every tutor's profile, so you can shortlist with evidence in hand rather than a persuasive bio.

Why does this matter more here than for an ordinary school-subjects tutor? Because the 11+ is a one-shot, high-stakes exam sat by a ten- or eleven-year-old, the tuition is rarely cheap, and the market is thick with unverifiable claims — "guaranteed place", "11+ specialist", "unbeaten success rate" — that nobody has checked against anything. A directory listing rarely tells you which of those claims is true. A recommendation passed between parents at the school gate might be excellent, or might just be the one name everyone happens to have heard. Either way you are trusting words, not evidence. This guide sets out what the 11+ actually tests, where Greenwich families are really heading, and how to separate a tutor who can prove it from one who merely sounds convincing.

What the exam tests — and why "good at maths" isn't the qualification

The 11+ is not simply harder homework. It tests a different skill set entirely, and understanding that is the first step to hiring the right person. Most selective entrance tests taken by Greenwich families, including the Bexley Selection Test, cover four components: English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. The first two overlap with the primary curriculum. The second two, for most children, do not appear in school at all.

Verbal reasoning asks a child to manipulate language logically under time pressure — letter codes, word sequences, hidden-word puzzles. Non-verbal reasoning does the same with shapes and diagrams: rotations, reflections, sequences, spotting the odd one out. Because neither is routinely taught in Year 5 or Year 6 classrooms, a child who is comfortably top of their class can still find both papers completely unfamiliar on first contact. That is precisely why a general primary tutor, however strong at Key Stage 2 arithmetic, is not automatically equipped to prepare a child for this exam. What the reasoning papers need is someone who has taught the specific question formats, drilled the standard patterns, and — just as importantly — trained the pace, since the 11+ rewards speed almost as much as accuracy. Children are expected to answer quickly on material that sits above their normal year-group level, and that particular combination has to be practised deliberately, not picked up by accident.

Format matters too, and it is worth naming directly. The selective tests set across this part of south-east London are largely produced by GL Assessment, which has its own conventions, answer styles and question banks. A tutor who has actually worked with GL-format papers can prepare a child for the real thing; a tutor who only knows a generic "11+ style" is preparing them for an exam that doesn't quite exist. So the first question worth asking any prospective tutor isn't about their maths ability — it's "which specific test do you prepare children for, and when did you last do it successfully?"

Greenwich's route to a selective place: two roads, neither of them local

This is the piece of local knowledge that shapes almost every decision a Greenwich parent makes. The borough runs no grammar schools of its own — its state secondaries, among them Thomas Tallis in Kidbrooke, The John Roan near Greenwich Park, Harris Academy Greenwich and Plumstead Manor, are all non-selective comprehensives. A family here aiming for a selective place is, by definition, looking beyond the borough boundary, and there are two realistic directions.

Bexley, next door, is where most families go. Bexley is a fully selective authority bordering Greenwich, and it runs one entrance assessment — the Bexley Selection Test — that opens the door to its grammar schools: Townley Grammar School in Bexleyheath, Beths Grammar School, Bexley Grammar School in Welling, and Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School. The test itself is sat right at the start of Year 6, in September, which pushes the real preparation window back into Year 5 — and registration for it closes during the preceding summer, with no second attempt if that window is missed. Because the number of strong candidates comfortably exceeds the number of places, scoring well is necessary but not automatically sufficient; a child also has to perform under genuine exam pressure on the day itself, which is a separate skill from knowing the material.

Independent schools are the other route, and Greenwich, particularly around Blackheath, has a strong concentration of them. Blackheath High School, Colfe's in Lee and Eltham College a little further out all set their own entrance exams, on their own timetables. Many now assess candidates through the ISEB Common Pre-Test — a computer-adaptive test sat once in the autumn of Year 6, with results shared across every ISEB-member school a family applies to — rather than a bespoke paper for each school, though some schools still run additional assessment on top of it. A tutor preparing a child for the independent route needs to understand which of these processes the target school actually uses, since ISEB preparation and a one-off bespoke paper call for different practice. Some Greenwich families also look further out to the Kent grammar system via the Kent Test, though for the majority Bexley remains the realistic first choice.

Knowing exactly which of these routes — and which named schools — your child is aiming at is the single most useful thing you can bring into a tutor search. It turns a vague request for "an 11+ tutor" into a specific, checkable one, and it is the difference between preparation built for the actual exam and preparation that merely looks thorough.

The trust problem, and how Tutorwise actually solves it

Here is where an ordinary tutoring search breaks down. On a standard directory, or through word of mouth, a tutor's reputation is almost entirely self-reported: they write their own biography, choose their own superlatives, and quote their own pass rates, none of it checked by anyone. You typically discover whether any of it was accurate only after a term of paid lessons, by which point a registration deadline may already have passed.

Tutorwise takes a different starting point: a tutor's credibility is a computed score, not a claim they typed themselves. It is assembled from signals the platform actually verifies:

• Verified identity and an enhanced DBS check. A tutor cannot reach a full credibility score without passing identity verification, and a verified DBS is weighted as the single heaviest trust signal on the platform. For 11+ preparation, where a tutor often works closely with a child for a year or more, safeguarding is usually the first thing on a parent's mind — and here it is something the platform has checked, not something you are asked to take on faith.
• Qualifications set against actual delivery. A degree and a teaching background both count, but so does the tutor's real track record on the platform — sessions completed, students supported, work genuinely delivered rather than promised in a bio. The label "11+ specialist" means very little in isolation; a delivery history behind it means a great deal.
• Reviews from families who actually booked. Feedback comes from parents who went through Tutorwise, not testimonials the tutor selected and published themselves. When a review says a tutor kept a nervous child calm through the Bexley test, that is evidence the platform can stand behind.

Those three signals are weighted together into the score displayed on the profile, so what you are reading has been earned and can be checked, rather than simply asserted. When two Greenwich tutors both claim 11+ expertise and both sound plausible, the score is what separates a genuine track record from a well-written page. It is also the direct answer to the exam's most persistent bad habit: the confident, unverifiable promise of a "guaranteed place." No honest tutor can make that promise, but a platform can at least show you whether the underlying claims of experience and safety are real. None of this replaces judging the human fit in an actual first session — it simply means you walk into that session already knowing more than a stranger's own account of themselves.

Choosing between in-person and online across the borough

Greenwich covers a lot of ground. Blackheath, Charlton, Woolwich, Eltham, Kidbrooke and the town centre are genuinely spread apart, and weekday evenings are usually squeezed by school pick-ups and traffic before a lesson can even begin. In-person tutoring — at home or somewhere nearby — tends to suit younger children and anyone who works better with someone physically present, and it fits naturally with the early, hands-on stages of 11+ preparation, where a tutor is often teaching a technique for the first time. Online tutoring has become just as effective for a large share of 11+ work, especially the reasoning papers and timed practice drills, and it opens up your choice considerably: you are no longer restricted to tutors within reach of your postcode, which matters a great deal when the requirement is a genuine specialist in one specific test rather than a general subject tutor. Tutorwise lets you filter by either, and the same verified credibility score applies whichever format you pick — the checking does not get any lighter because the lesson happens on a screen.

When to start, and a practical checklist

Start earlier than instinct suggests. For the Bexley test, sat at the very beginning of Year 6, the substantial preparation work needs to happen across Year 5, and a good number of families begin gently in Year 4 to build reasoning familiarity before the pressure sets in. The 11+ rewards steady, spaced-out practice far more than a late sprint — the reasoning papers in particular take real time to feel familiar, and a child who has practised calmly over months generally performs better on the day than one who has been crammed in the final weeks.

A short checklist worth working through before you book:

• Match the exact exam, not a generic "11+". Ask directly whether the tutor prepares children for the Bexley Selection Test specifically, or for a named independent school's process, and how recently they last did so successfully. Specific experience beats general confidence.
• Use the score to build the shortlist, then judge the person in a lesson. Let the verified credibility score narrow your options to tutors you can actually trust, then decide on fit in a first session — does your child come out of it clearer and steadier, or just quieter?
• Ask specifically how they teach the reasoning papers. Verbal and non-verbal reasoning are where most marks are lost, precisely because school rarely covers either. A tutor worth hiring should have a clear, explainable method for both.
• Check that safeguarding is verified, not just stated. On Tutorwise, DBS and identity checks are visible on the profile itself — don't accept "I have a DBS" as a standalone claim with nothing behind it.
• Treat guaranteed-place promises as a warning sign. No tutor can honestly guarantee a grammar or independent school offer. What a genuinely good one can offer is thorough, well-targeted preparation and a real record of having delivered it before.
• Settle the practical details early. In person or online, frequency, and rate — each tutor sets and publishes their own rate on their profile — so nothing is a surprise partway through what is often a preparation programme lasting the best part of a year.

The underlying goal is straightforward: a child who walks into the 11+ familiar with the question types and comfortable with the pace, rather than meeting either for the first time under exam conditions. An 11+ tutor in Greenwich who has actually been checked — not just described well — is how you get there without gambling on a stranger's account of themselves.

Frequently asked questions

Which 11+ exam do most Greenwich children sit? Because Greenwich has no grammar schools of its own, most families aiming for a selective state place sit the Bexley Selection Test, which serves the neighbouring borough's grammar schools — Townley, Beths, Bexley Grammar and Chislehurst and Sidcup. Others are preparing for the separate entrance processes run by independent schools such as Blackheath High School, Colfe's and Eltham College, several of which now use the ISEB Common Pre-Test. A good local tutor should know precisely which of these your child is sitting.

When is the right time to start 11+ preparation? Earlier than most parents assume. The Bexley test is sat at the very start of Year 6, so the bulk of serious preparation happens across Year 5, and many families start building reasoning skills gently as early as Year 4. Steady, spaced-out preparation consistently beats a last-minute push, both for results and for a child's confidence walking in.

What does an 11+ tutor in Greenwich typically cost? Rates depend on the tutor's experience, whether lessons are in person or online, and how intensive the programme is. On Tutorwise every tutor sets and displays their own rate directly on their profile, so you can compare openly before committing rather than negotiating without any reference point. Online sessions are often slightly cheaper, since there's no travel cost built in.

How can I be sure a Greenwich 11+ tutor is genuinely safe and qualified? Look for evidence that has actually been checked, not simply claimed. On Tutorwise, a tutor's identity and DBS status, qualifications and reviews from real families are combined into a visible credibility score, so both safeguarding and competence are verified before you ever book — rather than something you have to take on trust from a self-written profile or an unverified referral.

Is it better to choose in-person or online 11+ tutoring? Both can work well. In-person tends to suit younger children and the early, hands-on stages of preparation, when a technique is being taught for the first time. Online is equally effective for the reasoning papers and timed practice, and it gives you access to a far wider pool of genuine specialists in the exact exam your child is sitting. The same verified credibility score applies on Tutorwise regardless of format, so the choice comes down to what suits your child and your week.

Find an 11+ tutor in Greenwich you can trust

Start from evidence, not adjectives. Browse tutors verified for 11+ preparation on Tutorwise, compare their credibility scores, and book a first session with someone who genuinely knows the exam your child is sitting — in person across Greenwich or online.

You may also find these guides useful: 11+ Maths Tutor: How to Find One Your Child Can Rely On, 11+ English Tutor: How to Find One You Can Trust, 11+ Verbal Reasoning Tutor: How to Find One You Can Trust, and 11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning Tutor: How to Find One Your Child Can Rely On.