ArielleOrganic Search & Marketing @ PipUpdated June 2026
9 min read
CGP's 11+ books are a parent favourite, cheap, clear and backed by a genuinely generous free tier. But it is drilling rather than coaching: practice through sheer volume, with print at its core. If you want adaptivity, deeper analytics or a screen-native daily flow, here are the six strongest alternatives, prices checked this month.
Short on time? The quick verdict:
Closest heritage rival: Bond, the other OUP books-plus-online name, with an ISEB-endorsed top tier.
Best free and most modern: Pip, unlimited adaptive daily practice, free, in a real app, with Pro mocks at £59 a year.
Most adaptive (and most expensive): Atom Learning, £383.90 to £671.90 a year billed annually.
Full transparency: Pip is our own app, and it appears in this list. Everything we say about every tool here, including ours, is factual, sourced and checked this month, and we tell you exactly who each alternative suits better than us. That is the only way a comparison like this is worth your time.
What CGP is (and why parents look around)
CGP is a parent favourite for good reason: its 11+ books are clear, cheap and comprehensive, most come with a free Online Edition, and the free layer is genuinely generous, free online 10-minute tests and free downloadable practice papers in all four subjects, no paywall. CGP 11+ Online adds unlimited topic tests and full mocks for a low subscription, with around 30% off paying yearly.
Where parents start looking around is when they want coaching rather than drilling. CGP's philosophy is practice through volume: a child who has not grasped a concept gets more questions, not a better explanation or an adaptive path that re-sequences around the gap. There are mocks and progress tracking, but the deep score analytics of platform-first tools sit lighter here, and CGP's centre of gravity is still print. If you want one screen-native, self-driving daily experience, these are the alternatives to weigh.
1Bond Online
Best budget all-rounder from a trusted nameBond Online
PriceBasic £7.50 a month or £65 a year (new-subscriber prices from February 2026). The genuinely adaptive experience costs much more: Premium from £20.66 a month (£247.92 a year) and the ISEB-endorsed Premium Plus from £28.99 a month (£347.92 a year), both powered by CENTURY's AI.
FreeFree sample quizzes and a free mock on the Try It page. Trial references a card upfront, so diary the cancel date.
Subjects & boardsEnglish, Maths, VR and NVR in the GL style; the ISEB-endorsed Premium Plus tier covers pre-tests.
PlatformWeb only
ReviewsTrustpilot 2.2/5, but from only 11 reviews, so treat it as anecdotal either way.
Watch outThe basic platform feels dated, true adaptivity is paywalled behind the pricier CENTURY tiers, and the Trustpilot is thin (2.2/5 from only 11 reviews), with recurring login and billing complaints.
Bond is CGP's direct rival and the natural alternative: the same books-plus-online model from Oxford University Press, with the age-banded series (Up to Speed, Assessment Papers, Stretch) many tutors still build around. Its Premium Plus tier is also the only ISEB-endorsed practice platform, useful if you are eyeing independent schools. The basic platform feels dated and its review base is thin, but as a heritage alternative with a clear curriculum spine it is the obvious counterpart to CGP.
2Pip: 11+ PracticeOUR APP
Best free tier, and the best value ProInside Pip: the Non-Verbal Reasoning skill tree with the 3D Lab (Pro), a 3D nets-and-cubes question, and the Number codes game.
PriceFree for unlimited daily practice. Pip Pro is £7.99 a month or £59 a year (about £4.92 a month) with a 7-day free trial.
What free gets youUnlimited adaptive questions across Maths, English, VR and NVR, five question formats, instant explanations, streaks and leagues, multiple child profiles, no ads, no sign-up, zero data collection. Plus the free printable papers, vocabulary flashcards and the grammar-school catchment checker on this site.
What Pro addsFull timed mock papers in all four subjects with instant marking, answer review and topic breakdowns, the Word Quest vocabulary booster, and 3D and spatial Non-Verbal Reasoning practice.
Subjects & boardsAll four 11+ subjects in the standard GL-style multiple-choice formats, generated fresh daily so children never memorise a fixed bank.
PlatformiOS and Android (App Store and Google Play), plus free practice and printables in any browser.
Honesty cornerPip is newer than the big names, so it does not have years of Trustpilot history yet. That is the full list of caveats.
CGP is excellent value but it is drilling, not coaching: a child who has not grasped a topic gets more questions, not an adaptive path that re-sequences around the gap, and its centre of gravity is still print. Pip is the screen-native, self-driving version of daily practice, free: unlimited adaptive questions in all four subjects that climb in difficulty as your child improves, with instant explanations, in a real iOS and Android app with no ads or sign-up. The free printable papers on this site cover the "we still want paper" side, and Pro adds timed mocks and Word Quest for £59 a year.
ReviewsTrustpilot around 4.4/5 from 1,300+ reviews. Praise for support and results; recurring complaints about price and cancellation friction.
Watch outIt is the most expensive mainstream option by far, and some parents report the real exam felt harder than Atom's questions.
If CGP feels too much like a worksheet and you want genuine adaptivity, Atom is the maximalist upgrade: a huge question bank, weekly plans that target weak areas, and mock tests on the top tier. It costs several times CGP's subscription (£383.90 to £671.90 a year) and is web-only, but for households that want the platform to do the diagnosing, it is the most complete option here.
🆓 TRY THIS TODAY
Reasoning practice that feels like a game
This is the Number codes game, one of dozens of skills inside Pip: crack which digit stands for which letter, then earn XP for speed. Word Quest does the same for vocabulary, the biggest single lever in verbal reasoning, and the 3D Lab (Pro) lets children spin real solids with a finger. Start with the free flashcards on this site, then let the app take over the daily reps.
Price£9.50 a month rolling, or fixed terms: £40 for 6 months (+1 free) and £70 for 12 months (+3 free).
Free7-day full-access trial plus demo tests without payment details.
Subjects & boardsEnglish, Maths, VR, NVR for ages 7 to 11; board-agnostic with GL and CEM-style coverage.
PlatformWeb only
ReviewsNo meaningful Trustpilot footprint; long-standing quiet reputation on parent forums.
Watch outThe interface is plain and there is little gamification, so self-motivated children get the most from it.
BOFA adds the one thing CGP's online product lacks, a real adaptive retest loop, at a similar low price (£70 for 15 months). Every wrong answer comes back later until it sticks. No frills and no gamification, but if you want CGP-level value with proper spaced repetition, this is it.
5Exam Papers Plus (+ Pretest Plus)
Best school-specific practice papersExam Papers Plus (+ Pretest Plus)
PricePay per pack: typical 11+ packs £20 to £30 with 2-year access; school and region bundles run to £85+ (Kent) and beyond. Sister site Pretest Plus sells ISEB, CAT4 and Cambridge Select online tests in bundles (the 15-test ISEB bundle saves £257).
FreeSample content only.
Subjects & boardsGL, CEM-style, ISEB, CSSE and named-school packs, with video solutions on many products.
PlatformDownloadable PDFs + online tests via Pretest Plus
ReviewsTrustpilot 4.9/5 from about 1,560 reviews - the strongest score in the category.
Watch outCosts stack up quickly across packs, and PDFs are not adaptive; this is rehearsal material, not daily practice.
CGP's mocks are light on analytics; Exam Papers Plus is the heavyweight for realistic, school-specific rehearsal, with video solutions and the category's strongest Trustpilot (4.9/5, ~1,560 reviews). Use CGP's cheap daily drilling through the year, then add EPP packs for exam-authentic practice in the final months.
6PiAcademy
Best worked solutions per poundPiAcademy
PriceOne-off 12-month packs rather than subscriptions, e.g. the 11+ SPaG and vocabulary pack at £59; marketing quotes pennies per paper.
FreeA large free hub of past papers with answers.
Subjects & boardsBoard-agnostic paper library: 230+ 11+ maths papers and 100+ English papers, all with step-by-step solutions.
PlatformPDF downloads
ReviewsTrustpilot around 5/5 from roughly 100 reviews (always cite the count: it is a small sample).
Watch outStatic PDFs with no marking or adaptivity, and the perpetual was-price discounts make real prices hard to read.
PiAcademy is the closest match to CGP's "lots of cheap papers" philosophy, minus the books: a large hub of 11+ papers with full worked solutions, sold as one-off packs. The step-by-step answers teach the method, which is exactly where CGP's volume-drilling approach is thinnest.
Side by side
All prices re-checked on the official sites in June 2026; Trustpilot scores include review counts because a 2.2 from 11 reviews and a 4.9 from 1,560 are not the same kind of evidence.
Tool
Price (checked June 2026)
Free
Platform
Trustpilot
Bond Online
£7.50/mo · Premium £20.66 · Plus £28.99
Sample quizzes + free mock
Web
2.2/5 (11 reviews)
Pip: 11+ Practice
Free · Pro £7.99/mo or £59/yr
Everything daily is free; 7-day Pro trial
iOS & Android apps + web tools
New app - no review history yet
Atom Learning
£39.99 to £69.99/mo (annual saves 20%)
5-day trial, no card; free for Pupil Premium
Web
~4.4/5 (1,300+)
BOFA 11+
£9.50/mo · £70/12mo+3 free
7-day trial + demo tests
Web
No profile
Exam Papers Plus
Packs £20 to £30; bundles £85+
Samples
PDF + online (Pretest Plus)
4.9/5 (~1,560)
PiAcademy
One-off packs, e.g. £59
Free past-paper hub
PDF
5/5 (~100)
Start free in the next five minutes
Whichever platform you end up choosing, these three things are free right now and useful with any of them.
📄 Free 24-question NVR paper
Exam-difficulty figures with a full worked answer key. No email, no sign-up, just the PDF.
Pip generates fresh adaptive questions every day, free, with no ads and no account.
Questions parents ask
What is the best alternative to CGP 11+?+
For a heritage books-plus-online rival, Bond. For a free, adaptive, screen-native app, Pip. For full adaptive coaching with mocks, Atom (pricier) or BOFA (much cheaper). For exam-realistic papers, Exam Papers Plus. CGP is excellent value; the alternatives mainly add adaptivity or app convenience.
Is CGP 11+ Online adaptive?+
Not really. It offers unlimited topic tests, full mocks and progress tracking, but it drills through volume rather than diagnosing gaps and re-sequencing a child's path. For genuine adaptivity, Pip (free), BOFA or Atom are built around it.
What is the best free alternative to CGP?+
Pip's daily practice is free and adaptive, with free printable papers in all four subjects. CGP's own free 10-minute tests and free papers are also strong, and GL Assessment's official familiarisation papers are free and exam-authentic.
Is screen or book practice better than CGP?+
Both have a place. CGP's books build careful written working; an app like Pip builds speed and instant-feedback habits. The strongest prep uses a screen tool for daily reps and printed papers for timed exam rehearsal in the final months.
