Frequently Asked Questions
“The Gold Standard For 11-Plus Preparation” – Tutorful
I love the idea of this service, but I don’t want to spend my money without being sure that it’s right for me.
You can try 11 Plus Lifeline without any risk at all. If you cancel in the first month, I promise to refund your money on request. Please see the T&Cs for more information. The only exception is if you are a Platinum or Super Platinum member and have already used my individual marking and advice service.
What do I get every week?
Bronze members get one original paper and solutions (written by me) every week. These vary between comprehension, writing and maths. If you’re a Silver, Platinum or Super Platinum member, you get all the Bronze papers …. And you also get a verbal and non-verbal reasoning paper, including 3D problems, every two weeks, and my solutions to a real school’s past paper in those weeks when you don’t receive a reasoning paper.
My papers are bursting with content, and they are designed so that your children’s answers can be reviewed carefully using my solutions and improved/repeated as necessary.
What I send each week is more than enough, in almost every case – especially for Silver, Platinum and Super Platinum members, who receive a lot of material.
Doesn’t every 11-plus publisher claim to offer the best resources?
Yes, they do! Nonetheless, I am certain that 11 Plus Lifeline is on a different level.
An 11 Plus Lifeline Silver, Platinum or Super Platinum member will receive around 160 papers over 18 months of membership. A Bronze member will receive around 80.
These papers cover everything that a child needs to know for almost any 11-plus exam, for almost any school, whether grammar or independent. Most of them include 20-50 pages of material.
Many (most?) publishers churn out papers at a great rate, and with little attention to detail. Quantity wins out over quality. On the other hand, every 11 Plus Lifeline paper is – as you will see – a labour of love.
How is this possible, when there are so many papers? Because writing for 11 Plus Lifeline has been the focus of my life for more than a year and a half. By the time I began Lifeline, I had written several 11-plus books: I had developed a clear idea of what the service needed to be, and was ready to put it into practice.
Most publishers’ resources only make full sense if they are explained by a skilled parent or an expensive private tutor. 11 Plus Lifeline resources ARE the tutor, demonstrating and explaining everything. They don’t just offer practice: they teach your child.
All Lifeline resources are made available for a simple monthly fee, far less than the cost of a private tutor, with no extra payments required. If you have a Silver or higher membership, you get absolutely everything.
11 Plus Lifeline also offers an integrated advice service for premium (Platinum and Super Platinum) members. It allows you to get expert guidance about your child’s progress from someone who has seen enough students’ work (thousands of pieces) to offer an informed judgement and clear, practical guidance.
All the resources have been written by me – even the pictures in my non-verbal reasoning papers have been designed by me! Anybody can send me an email asking for advice, whatever their subscription level: you only have to take out a premium membership if you want marking and assessment of your child’s written work. I will answer your email personally.
(For information about my experience as a teacher, click here.)
In other words, even as the service has grown, it has remained truly personal.
For all those reasons, I am not embarrassed to claim that 11 Plus Lifeline is the best 11-plus preparation service you will find.
How do Platinum and Super Platinum subscriptions work?
Email me your work as a scanned pdf or a set of clear photos. I provide line-by-line comments and advice, mainly as voice and video comments, and email the file back to you. Platinum members get an hour of marking time every month (and you can pay for more). Most people use this service for stories and for comprehensions. Of course, Platinum members also receive all the same papers as for Bronze and Silver.
You can send tasks from 11 Plus Lifeline for marking, or you can send other work which your child has done. It’s up to you!
This video shows how I review students’ work and suggest improvements.
I’m thinking of becoming a Silver member. Will I miss anything?
Silver members get ALL 11 Plus Lifeline resources, but not my individual marking service.
At what age will my child be suitable for 11 Plus Lifeline?
Lifeline is likely to be suitable for children from the start of Year 5 (or older) and in Year 6. Some children are ready for it a little younger, but only if they feel very confident. Of course, if you sign up when your child is a bit too young, you can print the papers and save them for later.
My child’s exam is coming up very soon. Will Lifeline still be useful?
Even the first few papers should help your child to write far better answers in their exams. What’s more, you’re entitled to a full refund if you cancel in the first month: use the service for 3 or 4 weeks and you can have it for free! (See terms and conditions if you are a Platinum or Super Platinum member.)
You keep mentioning your “Example Answers and Uniquely Detailed Explanations”. Is this just a marketing slogan?
You’re probably used to practice books with the answers stuffed into a few pages at the back, in a tiny typeface and with minimal explanations (if any at all).
On the other hand, I write at least one example answer for every question, and my explanations discuss these example answers carefully, as though I’m giving a one-to-one tutorial to the student. I explain the key techniques and the potholes to beware of; revise core skills frequently; and always maintain a gentle, encouraging tone. Everything is clearly and elegantly formatted.
Perhaps the ultimate example of this is my writing papers, which take your child through the perfect essay or story, paragraph by paragraph, showing them exactly how to do it themselves.
If you still need to be convinced, you might like to read Lifeline members’ feedback and some of my 11-plus books’ reviews on Amazon. 11 Plus Lifeline offers different materials (I never re-use content from my books), but written to absolutely the same rigorous standard.
Indeed, Lifeline has been written after my 11-plus books, and I have used all my experience to make it even better.
Will your papers be relevant to my preferred school?
The answer is almost certainly “Yes, highly relevant”!
Everything is focused on the core 11-plus/Key Stage 2 syllabus. There is also a huge amount of specialist content designed around everything from the CEM and GL grammar school exams to the requirements of independent schools, including those as competitive as St Paul’s Girls’ (to give only one example). Shortly after you sign up, I’ll be in touch to check which schools you are aiming for, and I use this information to keep my service relevant.
I see the variety of my papers as their strength: I offer children an outstanding all-round academic workout. In the end, your child will almost certainly perform better than if they had simply crammed for one structure of test.
But are they more suitable for independent or grammar schools?
All 11 Plus Lifeline content is designed to be suitable for all schools – but there are also a large number of papers written specifically for individual schools, for the CEM and GL grammar school tests, for the CSSE and the Kent Test, and so on.
For example, you won’t find CEM and GL papers with such detailed answer pages anywhere else.
Nobody has told me about other resources with better answers – ever. I am certain that such resources do not exist.
11 Plus Lifeline subscribers have achieved great success in independent and grammar school exams across the country. I work for hours every day to make sure that the content is useful for everybody.
How does the Real Papers service (for Silver, Platinum & Super Platinum members) work?
Every two weeks I send Silver, Platinum & Super Platinum subscribers an 11-plus past paper published by a popular school (with a link to the original), along with a set of worked solutions and my usual thorough advice: in exactly the same style as the solutions to my own papers. Just like my other 11 Plus Lifeline papers, these Real Papers move between Maths and English, always maintaining a healthy variety.
Silver, Platinum & Super Platinum subscribers also receive Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning resources – along with all the material for Bronze members.
You say I can cancel for a full refund in the first month. Is there any catch?
No. If you cancel in the first month you will get your money back on request. That’s it.
The only exception is if you are a Platinum or Super Platinum subscriber and have already used the consultation (work assessment and advice) included in your subscription, in which case you can’t have a refund for that month.
Do I have to commit to several months’ subscription? Is there a cancellation fee?
No and no. You can cancel whenever you want, without paying a penny more than you already have. I rely on my customers being sufficiently impressed by the service that they don’t want to cancel!
Do you include Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning?
Yes! Silver, Platinum and Super Platinum members receive a wide range of VR & NVR resources.
Can I have just English/just maths?
I’m afraid not. However, people who sign up just for the English papers (for example) often discover that my maths resources are also very useful. There is so much content of all kinds that very few people find the mix of papers unsuitable for their needs.
I’m a teacher/tutor. Can I share the papers with my students?
If they have their own subscriptions you can. Otherwise, sharing or copying 11 Plus Lifeline papers is against the service’s terms and conditions (and an infringement of my copyright): if many people did it, I would go out of business. Please don’t!
If you get in touch, I will be glad to discuss creating a special discount code for your students.
I also offer licenses for use of 11 Plus Lifeline resources by tutors, schools and tuition centres. Send me an email if this is of interest.
If I subscribe to the Platinum service, are you able to offer advice by phone/Skype?
If you would like me to have a conversation with your child, the best thing is usually to read my written advice about their work, then schedule a Skype chat to go through any points which need clarification.
This can be especially useful when children need encouragement: I have had a lot of practice in helping insecure children feel confident about their work!
Can I upgrade/downgrade my subscription after signing up?
Yes, very easily! The best way is to send me an email – by replying to any of my 11 Plus Lifeline emails – with your upgrade or downgrade request.
Can I buy lots of papers at once?
If you do feel that you need more material all at once, please get in touch and we can discuss prices. However, I send so much material to members each week that this is rarely necessary.
How you will process my personal data?
Your card details are stored securely by the payment provider, Stripe, and RSL Educational has no way of accessing them. Furthermore, if you pay by credit card, you have the benefit of your own card company’s payment protection. With regards to all personal data, RSL Educational Ltd is registered with the United Kingdom Information Commissioner’s Office and complies with all relevant law and best practices in order to keep your data safe.
I can’t pay by credit or debit card. Can I still subscribe to 11 Plus Lifeline?
We’ll find a way to get you on board! Send me a message with your phone number, and we can talk things through. Some subscribers pay by bank transfer each month, for instance.