7+, 11+ and SATs exam preparation
taught by experienced qualified teachers
A firm foundation, laid in a class of a handful. Helping children to feel confident, capable and ready to succeed.
Whatever a child's starting point, our Maths and English course is built to grow both ability and appetite for learning, through a structured, step-by-step method.
Foundation Topic — Consolidating core number sense: mental arithmetic, fractions, telling the time, 2D and 3D shape, and the other building blocks of primary maths.
Challenge Set — Strategies for multi-step, exam-style questions, laying the groundwork for independent problem-solving.
Phonics and handwriting come first, giving children the tools to decode words and form letters with confidence.
From there we build spelling, punctuation and grammar, teach children to read closely and comprehend what is in front of them, and introduce creative writing so they enjoy putting ideas of their own on the page.
Set each week to reinforce what's covered in session, and reviewed together at the start of the next class to check understanding and keep progress moving.
Classes of around six, kept small enough to foster a warm, cooperative spirit.
Progress is tracked continuously across both subjects with regular reports.
Our 11+ course builds directly on these foundations, consolidating Year 4 basics before moving into the sharper problem-solving and critical thinking that Years 5 and 6 demand, ahead of exams and the move to secondary school.
Foundation Topic — Consolidating core number sense: numeracy, algebra, geometry and the wider mathematical toolkit.
Challenge Set — More advanced strategies for complex, multi-step, exam-style questions, building genuine problem-solving stamina.
Comprehension, spelling, punctuation and grammar are worked to SATs standard, with regular practice on past papers.
Alongside this, creative writing gives children room to develop their own voice and write with real purpose.
Dedicated practice in the reasoning papers that sit at the heart of the 11+. Pupils work through code, sequence, analogy and pattern questions, building the vocabulary, visual thinking and timed-exam technique these papers reward.
Reinforces what's learned and is reviewed at the start of the following class, so understanding sticks.
Around six students, encouraging cooperation, peer learning and active participation.
Mock exam results are monitored and progress is tracked continuously. Parents are kept updated.
“We believe every child deserves to be truly known by their teacher, and not simply taught. Through small-group tuition for ages four to eleven, Foundation Tuition brings real individual attention, academic rigour and creative spirit to The Study Rooms, nurturing confident, curious learners ready to thrive, in the classroom and beyond.”Our Mission
A child's education is more than a record of marks. Our aim, always, is the whole child: academic, social and emotional, encouraged to the full extent of their ability, and helped to see that they have something worth contributing to the group.
Somewhere between the crowd of a classroom and the isolation of a solitary desk sits the small group, and it’s where children learn best.
In groups of six, not classes of thirty, every child is noticed, corrected and encouraged, every single session.
Children find their voice alongside peers who are learning too. The collaborative spark of a classroom, without getting lost in the crowd.
Our tutors stretch a child who’s ready to move on, and give one more explanation to a child who needs it, in real time, within the same class.
The personal attention families want from private tutoring, shared across a small group, at a fraction of the price.
How a child learns best changes as they grow. Our method is built to change with them.
Key Stage 1 · Reception–Year 2
Letters are traced and felt before they are written; quantities are built and exchanged before they are calculated; words are assembled from moveable pieces before they are spelled unaided. We find that ideas take root most securely when a child can first touch and move them, a particular help to those whose early schooling was disrupted.
Key Stage 2 · Years 3–6
The emphasis shifts toward calm, structured practice: a new idea is explained plainly, tried together, and only then attempted alone. A mistake, in our lessons, is simply part of the working, never a judgement. Work set between sessions reinforces what has been learned and reveals, gently, where more attention is needed.
Each term, progress is recorded against the National Curriculum, so that parents may see plainly what is secure, what is still forming, and where our attention will turn next.
Alongside our regular terms, we offer short, focused programmes built around the specific milestones a family may be facing.
Preparing the youngest children, gently and thoroughly, for the step into formal schooling.
Building the skills, poise and stamina a child needs for entrance assessment at four.
Helping a child present themselves calmly, clearly and honestly at a school interview.
Structuring ideas, sharpening sentences, widening vocabulary, and editing with a critical eye.
Reading, grammar, arithmetic and reasoning, practised calmly and without undue pressure.
Verbal and non-verbal reasoning brought together with English and maths, and rehearsed under timed conditions.
Reading, grammar, arithmetic and reasoning, practised calmly and without undue pressure.
Verbal and non-verbal reasoning brought together with English and maths, and rehearsed under timed conditions.
Our tutors are chosen as much for their manner with children as for their command of a subject, the two, we find, are rarely separable. Each begins by understanding precisely what a child needs, then shapes their teaching to match that pace, not the other way about.
South London is unusually well served for selective schools, and each sets its entrance papers a little differently. We teach to the papers children in this area actually sit.
11+ · Sutton, Kingston & Bromley
Selective entry turns on timed accuracy under pressure. We drill the SET and GL formats, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, and the habit of finishing a paper calmly.
7+ & 11+ · Clapham, Dulwich & Wandsworth
These schools look for genuine quality of thought. We prepare children for their English and Maths papers, and for the interview that follows, so they can speak about their work with confidence.
Schools are listed to show the entrance papers we prepare children for. Foundation Tuition is independent of, and not affiliated with, any school named here.
At most selective schools the interview carries as much weight as the written papers. It is where a child stops being a set of marks and becomes a person the school can picture in its own corridors.
We rehearse the real thing in a supportive setting, so that on the day a child sounds like themselves rather than like a prepared script.
Children learn to hold a conversation with an adult, answer a question fully, and sit comfortably with a pause while they think.
We read and discuss what is happening in the world, and encourage children to form a view and give a reason for holding it.
No two schools interview alike. We tailor the preparation to the format, the manner and the expectations of the schools each child is sitting for.
The aim is not a polished performance. It is a child who can think on their feet, show what they are genuinely good at, and be remembered warmly for it.
Every family may see, before a single lesson begins, evidence of our DBS checks, our public liability insurance, and our safeguarding policy. A short information form allows us to understand a child before they arrive, and a plain parent agreement sets out our terms without small print. Our privacy notice explains, simply, how family information is kept and used.
Every child is placed individually, so each class stays well-matched in level and atmosphere, and every student gets the most from their lessons.
Fill out our enquiry form and you'll be added to our waitlist straight away. A member of our team will be in touch with a trial date as soon as a place opens in a suitable class, whether an existing group or a new one.
We'll invite your child to try the class, charged at the standard session rate. If you'd like to continue afterwards, we'll send an invoice to secure their place for the term.
Please note: the details on your enquiry form are used to help us find the most suitable class for your child, so do make sure everything is accurate.
Complete the enquiry form below and a member of our team will be in touch with your child's trial date.
We have successfully received your details and your child has been added to our waitlist. Our class sizes are strictly capped at a maximum of 6 students to ensure personalised attention, so we allocate spaces on a first-come, first-served basis.
We'll reply from enquiry@foundationtuition.com — please check your junk or spam folder and mark us as safe so you don't miss it.
Return to Website