For most children, a group class. That surprises people, because one-to-one costs more and feels like it must therefore be better.
It is also not a universal answer, and the exception matters.
The short answer
| Group classes | One-to-one |
|---|---|
| Competitive drive and pace | Full attention on one child |
| Familiar conditions, like the test | Work pitched exactly to them |
| Lower cost, from around £150 a month | £300 a month and up |
| Best for most children | Best where attention or confidence is the problem |
Costs are covered properly in our guide to tutoring costs.
What a group gives you
The thing a group has, and one-to-one structurally cannot, is other children.
In a one-to-one session all the focus is on that child's strengths and weaknesses, which is genuinely valuable. What is missing is any sense of pace set by anyone else. A child works at the speed that feels comfortable, with nothing to measure it against.
In a group, a child who is struggling can see another child doing well, and for many that is motivating in a way no adult encouragement manages. It makes the standard visible.
The reason nobody mentions
Here is the argument I find most persuasive and almost never hear from anyone else.
The test is sat in a room full of children. Rows of desks, an invigilator, an audio recording giving instructions, strangers either side, and no adult who knows your child.
A child who has prepared only at a kitchen table with one familiar adult meets those conditions for the first time on the morning that counts. A child who has sat in a class every week finds the room ordinary.
That familiarity is worth real marks, and it costs nothing extra.
When one-to-one is right
Two cases, and both are clear.
Attention. A child who genuinely struggles to sustain concentration, and that includes many children with ADHD, usually needs one-to-one to build the focus the test demands. In a group they drift, and drifting cheaply is worse than concentrating expensively.
The child who is demotivated by comparison. This is the honest counterpoint to everything above. A child who does not like to compete, and who sees another child ahead of them, can be discouraged rather than driven. For that child a group makes things worse.
You usually know which kind of child you have. If you do not, a term in a group will tell you quickly.
It depends on the teacher
All of which really comes down to whether the person running the group can manage it.
A group only works if the teacher is watching each child's mindset as well as their marks: noticing who is being lifted by the comparison and who is being flattened, and handling those differently in the same room. That is a skill, and it is the thing to ask about before you enrol.
Ask how large the group is, how children of different abilities are handled, and what happens when one falls behind. See our honest answer on whether you need a tutor at all.
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Ten years of the same question
I have been tutoring for the 11 plus for over ten years and this is the most common question I get asked. I started out as a one-to-one tutor and then moved into group tutoring, so I have done both.
From my experience, group classes are the better option for most children. You get to see different personalities and abilities, and how a child interacts within a class setting and within a competitive environment. The main drawback of one-to-one is that although the focus is entirely on that child's strengths and weaknesses, the competitive drive is simply not there in the way it is in a class. A student who is struggling can see another doing really well, and that motivates them.
The contrary is also true, and I would be dishonest not to say it. A student who does not like to compete, who sees someone ahead of them in ability, can find that a demotivating factor. So a lot of it comes down to the teacher being able to manage that in the room, and working on each student's mindset. But on balance group wins, partly because of the competitive nature and partly because the test itself is held in a group setting. The familiarity of it counts.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
Is group tutoring or one-to-one better for the 11+?
For most children, a group class. It provides competitive drive and a visible standard, it costs less, and it rehearses the conditions of the test itself, which is sat in a room full of children. One-to-one is better where attention or confidence is the real problem.
Why does a group class help with the 11+?
Because the standard becomes visible. A child working alone with one adult has nothing to measure their pace against, while a child in a group can see another doing well, which for many is more motivating than any amount of adult encouragement.
When is one-to-one tutoring the better choice?
Where a child genuinely struggles to sustain concentration, including many children with ADHD, or where a child is discouraged rather than driven by seeing others ahead of them. For that second child a group makes things actively worse.
Does group tutoring prepare a child for test conditions?
Yes, and this is the argument least often made. The test is sat in a room full of children with an invigilator and audio instructions. A child who has only ever worked at a kitchen table with a familiar adult meets those conditions for the first time on the morning that counts.
What should I ask before joining a group class?
How large the group is, how children of differing abilities are handled, and what happens when one falls behind. A group only works if the teacher manages each child's mindset as well as their marks, and that is a skill worth checking for.