Charity seeks to 'level playing field' with 11-plus

By the time they get to the 11-plus exam, some children have had years of preparation.

"I know there are parents who are, I would say, well-off, that started the process while in Year 3," said parent Bernice Hatcher.

Her older boys are at grammar school in Kent after scoring high on the test, which is used to determine entrance to the selective state schools. Her daughter just started Year 6 and sits the test on Thursday.

She has been attending free tutoring sessions intended to "level the playing field" for children from low-income households.

The classes are run by AIM, which helps pupils in Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells to prepare for what is known locally as the Kent Test.

It was set up by parents a decade ago, with some of its first students now graduating from university.

The charity's chair, Zoe Catana, has also heard of parents starting 11-plus tutoring in Year 3, and said her organisation's goal was to give children "equal opportunities to prepare".

"A lot of families haven't got the academic ability to perhaps support their children, or they haven't got the language," she told the BBC.

For some families at AIM, English is parents' second or even third language.

The weekly classes are open to families with an annual household income under £30,000 and start from Year 5.

The professional tuition "massively improves their ability to prepare for that test", Catana said.

Hatcher, a single parent, said she "would not be able to afford the tutoring" herself.

She told the BBC the charity was "trying to bridge the gap" for less well-off children to have "the opportunity of going to grammar school".

But the 11-plus was not a fair system, she said, as it comes down to on-the-day performance "whether you have the tutoring or not".

She added: "The parents that can afford for the children to start from Year 3, their children also fail."

Grammar schools in most parts of England became comprehensives or independent schools under both Conservatives and Labour governments in the 1970s.

Kent and Medway are among only 35 local authorities in England to have retained selective state schools.

The Kent Test and Medway Test include assessments of English, maths and reasoning.

Support from primary schools varies but practice material is available for free online. Parents can appeal secondary school admissions decisions.

Medway Council said it worked with schools to "provide clear information to families and to ensure admissions processes are administered fairly and transparently".

The authority defended the performance of its non-selective schools. Kent County Council did not respond to an approach by the BBC.

Victoria Solly, one of AIM's tutors, said: "At the end of the day, the 11-plus is an exam.

"Not everyone always performs at their best on the day, and for children, they're only 10 and 11. They might just miss it."

But prior support - whether online, from parents or tutoring - can have "a massive impact on how you'd perform", according to Catania.

The AIM chair said the 11-plus was like "any exam or any job" - you need to prepare.

Solly, of The Right Tuition Company, said AIM was "trying to reduce that socioeconomic divide", with tutoring being "very costly to the majority of people, especially in today's climate".

And regardless of the result in the exam, the free tutoring "absolutely sets them up perfectly going into year seven", whether it's selective or not, she said.

According to social mobility charity the Sutton Trust, grammar schools can be a positive for their students but unequal access is a problem.

Schools engagement lead Charlotte O'Regan said reasoning questions "were brought in to try and tutor-proof the tests" but it has not played out that way.

"I would like to think that strong primary schools are supporting students where they can but they do also have a lot on their plates... so largely it does fall to parents," she told the BBC.

Jo Bartley, campaign officer at the 11-plus-opposing group Comprehensive Future, said some "just see the fact that tuition is a big deal and feel they can't afford it", so don't enter their children in the test at all.

While other parts of England have different assessments, she said "every test would select different children on the day" and that any test at all created a "barrier to entry".

In the 2025-26 academic year, one in 10 grammar school pupils in Kent and Medway were eligible for free school meals. In non-selective mainstream schools, the rate was three times higher, according to Department for Education data.

In Catania's view, pupils need to make the best of the current system, as it's "what we have to work with".

Grammar schools typically have better academic performance as the pupils are working at a similar level, she said.

"That's why the grammar school is a good idea in that sense, but I guess it's the access that's the problem," Catania added.

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