Doing two at once halves some of the work and doubles the hardest part of it.
The logistics are easier than families expect. The comparison is harder, and it is the thing that is underestimated.
What genuinely gets easier
Real advantages, worth taking:
- One set of materials, one set of research, one timetable design.
- One lot of dates. Registration, access arrangements, the test, the preference form, all once.
- They can work in the same room at the same time, which is far easier to sustain than two separate slots.
- Reading aloud works well as a pair, a paragraph each, which is how it is done in class anyway.
- A group class costs less per child than two sets of one to one.
So on the practical side, two is not twice the burden. Use that, because you will need the capacity elsewhere.
The comparison problem
Here is the real difficulty, and it does not have a tidy solution.
Competition helps some children and harms others. A child who sees a sibling doing well may be motivated by the proof that it is reachable. A child who does not like to compete reads the same thing as a verdict on themselves, and is demotivated by exactly the situation that lifts the other one.
With two children in the same house, sitting the same test on the same day, you cannot separate them from that. What you can do is refuse to supply it:
- Never compare scores out loud. Not as encouragement, not as a joke.
- Mark separately, and at different times where you can.
- Separate journals, not a shared chart on the wall.
- Measure each against their own last score only.
- Head off the question. "What did he get?" answered with "that's his" from the start, consistently, until it stops being asked.
See our guide to motivation and rewards, which is the companion to this.
When their abilities differ
Usually they do, and the instinct to level them is the thing to resist.
- Work at each child's own level, even in the same room at the same time. Same slot, different material.
- Do not hold the stronger one back to protect the other's feelings. They both notice, and it helps neither.
- Do not drag the weaker one up to a level where they fail constantly. A child who always loses stops trying, which is a rational response.
- Expect different weak subjects, and plan around both rather than averaging.
- Let them be different out loud. "You're quicker at maths, she reads more" is better than pretending not to notice.
Keeping it separate
Two things help more than anything else in the method:
Give each child something that is only theirs. A subject, a time, a session where the other is not present. Ten minutes of undivided attention does work that an hour together cannot.
Talk about the test in the plural rarely. "Your test" rather than "your test", said to two children at once, is a small thing that stops them being treated as one candidate with two bodies.
The outcome families do not plan for
This is the part worth thinking about in advance, because it arrives on one morning in October with no warning.
One may get a place and the other may not. It is a common outcome, and the scores can be a handful of marks apart.
Plan for it now, while it is hypothetical:
- Decide in advance how you will handle the day, including where each child hears their result.
- Do not celebrate one in front of the other. Both deserve something, at different times.
- Think about whether you would send them to different schools, and what that means for travel and for them.
- Say beforehand that it is possible, lightly, so it is not a shock.
- Be ready to say the true thing: a few marks between them is not a statement about either of them.
See our guide to results day and our guide to grammar versus comprehensive.
Different year groups
Easier in one way, harder in another.
Easier because the intensities do not collide: one child is in their test year while the other is building foundations, and you are not running two Easters at once. The younger one also gets a genuine advantage, which is a parent who has done it before and knows the dates, the scoring and the common mistakes.
Harder because the younger child watches the whole thing happen to their sibling, including results day. They will draw conclusions about what is expected of them, and they will usually draw them wrong. Worth saying explicitly, more than once, that their year will be their own.
See where your child stands today
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The logistics halve, the comparison doubles
Two at once is less work than parents expect on the practical side. One set of books, one set of dates, one plan, and they can sit in the same room at the same time, which is much easier to keep going than two separate slots in an evening.
What families underestimate is the comparison. Competition motivates some children and demotivates others, and with two in the same house sitting the same test you cannot take that away from them. What you can do is refuse to add to it: do not compare their scores out loud, mark them separately, and measure each one against their own last score and nothing else.
And plan for the split result before October, because it is common and the marks between them can be very few. A handful of marks is not a statement about either child, and that is a much easier thing to say if you have thought about it beforehand.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
Is preparing two children for the 11+ twice the work?
No. One set of materials, one set of dates, one timetable design, and they can work in the same room at the same time, which is easier to sustain than two separate slots. The harder part is comparison rather than logistics.
How do you stop siblings comparing 11+ scores?
Refuse to supply it: never compare scores out loud, mark separately and at different times, keep separate journals rather than a shared chart, and measure each child only against their own last score.
How do you prepare two children of different abilities?
Same slot, different material. Do not hold the stronger child back to protect the other's feelings, because they both notice, and do not push the weaker child to a level where they fail constantly, because a child who always loses stops trying.
What if one child passes the 11+ and the other does not?
It is a common outcome and the scores can be a few marks apart. Decide in advance how you will handle the day, do not celebrate one in front of the other, and be ready to say that a few marks between them is not a statement about either of them.
Is it easier to prepare siblings in different year groups?
In some ways. The intensities do not collide, and the younger child benefits from a parent who already knows the dates and the scoring. But the younger one watches the whole thing happen, including results day, and usually draws the wrong conclusions about what is expected.