--- type: "Article" title: "Can I tutor my child myself for the 11+?" description: "Yes, you can tutor your child yourself for the 11+. Many parents do. What you need, the common pitfalls, and how to keep it positive and effective." resource: https://pip11plus.com/can-i-tutor-my-child-myself-for-the-11-plus tags: ["11+", "pip"] timestamp: 2026-10-13T19:50:09Z image: https://pip11plus.com/info-hub-cards/tutoring-pip.jpg --- 👩‍🏫 Tutoring # Can I tutor my child myself for the 11+? ![Pip](https://pip11plus.com/media/pip-mark.png) **By the Pip team** Updated June 2026 Yes, you can absolutely tutor your child yourself for the 11+, and many parents do it well. What you need is a simple plan, good resources and a working knowledge of the exam your child will sit. The challenges are real but manageable: keeping up with the format, holding onto motivation, and protecting your relationship when practice gets tense. Get those right and home tutoring can be just as effective as paying someone else, at a fraction of the cost. **TL;DR** - Yes. Many parents successfully tutor their own children for the 11+. - You need a plan, good resources and an understanding of the exam board. - The main challenges are format knowledge, motivation and the relationship. - Teach genuine understanding, not memorised answers, and keep sessions calm. ## Can you tutor your own child? Yes. There is nothing a tutor does that an organised, patient parent cannot do at home with the right materials. The exam is learnable, and you know your child better than anyone. It helps to first be clear that [a tutor is not required at all](https://pip11plus.com/does-my-child-need-a-tutor-for-the-11-plus). Once you see home tutoring as a legitimate route rather than a fallback, the job becomes simply doing it well. If you would rather hand part of the maths to a tutoring tool, see our [Synthesis Tutor review](https://pip11plus.com/synthesis-tutor-review) and the [Synthesis Tutor alternatives](https://pip11plus.com/synthesis-tutor-alternatives). ## What you'll need Three things set you up: a rough timeline, solid resources, and knowledge of the format. Map out the months ahead so practice builds steadily, ideally starting [early enough to avoid cramming](https://pip11plus.com/when-should-you-start-preparing-for-the-11-plus). If you are teaching maths yourself, free video lessons can help, and [our Khan Academy review](https://pip11plus.com/khan-academy-review) shows how they fit UK preparation. [Khan Academy alternatives for UK families](https://pip11plus.com/khan-academy-alternatives) are worth a look if you want exam-style questions too. Then learn which board your target schools use, because [GL and CEM](https://pip11plus.com/what-is-the-difference-between-gl-and-cem) reward slightly different preparation. For the day-to-day, an [adaptive practice app](https://pip11plus.com/adaptive-learning) like [Pip](https://pip11plus.com/index#get) carries the routine practice across maths, English and reasoning, so you can focus your own time on explaining and encouraging. _To tutor at home you need three things: a simple plan, good resources, and knowledge of your child's exam board._ ## The real challenges Home tutoring is not effort-free. You have to keep up with how the exam works, which changes from school to school, and you have to keep your child motivated week after week. The toughest part for most parents is emotional rather than academic. Practice can become a flashpoint, and pressure from a parent lands harder than the same words from a stranger. Naming that risk in advance is half the battle. **Protect the relationship first** If a session is turning into a row, stop. A calm ten minutes beats a tense forty, and no amount of practice is worth your child dreading time with you. The relationship matters more than any single worksheet. _Home tutoring works best when it stays calm: a relaxed ten minutes beats a tense forty, and the relationship matters more than any worksheet._ ## Keeping it positive Small habits keep home tutoring healthy. Keep sessions short and predictable, praise effort rather than scores, and try to separate "parent" time from "practice" time so the whole day does not revolve around the 11+. Letting a tool own the routine practice helps here too, because it takes you out of the role of daily taskmaster. Sizing the work sensibly, in line with [how much your child should study](https://pip11plus.com/how-many-hours-a-week-should-my-child-study-for-the-11-plus), keeps the mood light and the progress steady. ## Teach understanding, not answers The biggest trap in self-tutoring is drilling answers to specific questions. It feels productive but builds little, and it falls apart the moment a question is phrased differently. Aim for genuine understanding instead, so your child can handle a problem they have never seen. This matters most for broader, mixed papers, and wide [reading](https://pip11plus.com/how-important-is-reading-for-the-11-plus) quietly supports it by deepening [vocabulary](https://pip11plus.com/ks2-games-arcade/11-plus-vocabulary-games/) and comprehension across the board. ![Pip](https://pip11plus.com/media/pip-mark.png) Written by **The Pip team** The Pip team builds Pip, the 11+ and KS2 practice app for children in years three to six. We write these guides from real exam formats and past papers. ## Keep reading [Does my child need a tutor for the 11+?](https://pip11plus.com/does-my-child-need-a-tutor-for-the-11-plus): Tutoring When tuition helps, and when it does not. 5 min read · Tutoring [When should we start 11+ tutoring?](https://pip11plus.com/when-should-we-start-11-plus-tutoring): Tutoring Timing, and what a good tutor looks like. 4 min read · Tutoring [How much does 11+ tutoring cost?](https://pip11plus.com/how-much-does-11-plus-tutoring-cost): Tutoring Typical rates and cheaper alternatives. 4 min read · Tutoring ## Your plan, Pip's practice Pip turns 11+ practice into five calm minutes a day across maths, English and reasoning, so home tutoring stays light and consistent. [Download Pip on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/pip-11-practice/id6775690698) [Get Pip on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pip11plus.app) [Available at Amazon Appstore](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HKGJ4HTP) [More 11+ guides](https://pip11plus.com/info-hub) Free forever · no sign-up