Frequently Asked Questions
“The Gold Standard For 11-Plus Preparation” – Tutorful
How do I access the 11 Plus Lifeline papers?
Your papers are made available in your member portal – once per week by default, but you can increase this. You can view a demo version of the portal, with sample papers, here. Even after you have cancelled, you will still be able to access the portal and download your papers.
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, or have already claimed one of your special benefits (which include books and online courses). Even in this case, you can always cancel your membership without a refund, and you will not be charged again.
What do I get every week?
11 Plus Lifeline members select their own papers from my catalogue every week. This can be increased to several times per week for an extra fee.
Bronze members can select one RSL Original paper with solutions. These include comprehension (many different formats in written and multiple-choice styles), writing and maths. If you’re a Silver, Platinum or Super Platinum member, you have can choose two papers per week – also including verbal and non-verbal reasoning papers (with 3D problems) and my solutions to real schools’ past papers.
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.
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 can receive around 160 papers over a membership – plus a huge amount of extra content through Platinum and Super Platinum subscriptions. 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 was the focus of my life for more than a year and a half. By the time I began Lifeline, I had already written several 11-plus books (which have since sold tens of thousands of copies): 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 complete 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 included in the service.
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.
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.
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?
Marking
Email me your work as a scanned pdf or a set of clear photos. I provide line-by-line comments and advice, mainly in voice and video comments, and email the file back to you. It’s a private tutorial that you can access whenever you like. Platinum members get an hour of marking time every month (and you can pay for more); Super Platinum members get two hours. An hour’s marking typically covers about three pieces of work. Most people use this service for stories and for comprehensions.
Of course, Platinum members also receive all the same papers as Bronze and Silver subscribers.
You can send tasks from 11 Plus Lifeline for marking, or you can send other work that your child has done. It’s up to you!
Additional resources
Super Platinum members receive a voucher allowing free (no cost beyond your subscription fee) order of 2 RSL books per month for their first 9 months. These 18 books cover the whole RSL book catalogue.
They can also choose two of my Exam Expert multiple-choice English courses in month 1 and two in month 2. This means that they receive all four courses across their first 2 months.
Platinum members receive a voucher allowing free (no cost beyond your subscription fee) order of 1 RSL book per month for their first two months.
They can also choose one of my Exam Expert multiple-choice English courses in month 1 and one in month 2.
If a member would be entitled to receive course credits in a given month but already own all four courses, they get an extra book credit instead.
I’m thinking of becoming a Silver member. Will I miss anything?
Silver members get ALL 11 Plus Lifeline papers, but not my individual marking service and no included books or online courses.
At what age will my child be ready for 11 Plus Lifeline?
Lifeline is likely to be suitable for children from the final months of Year 4 (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 focus on the more accessible papers, and even select easier questions from these papers. Everything else will be there for you later in your customer portal!
My child’s exam is coming up very soon. Will Lifeline still be useful?
Yes – very useful! Select the papers that will be most valuable in your child’s final weeks (or days) of preparation. 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 resources with the answers stuffed in 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 helpfully 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 – and download the free sample papers.
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 GL grammar school exams to the requirements of independent schools, including those as competitive as St Paul’s Girls’ (to give only one example).
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. Just as importantly, 11 Plus Lifeline will prepare your child for a strong start to secondary school life.
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 GL grammar school tests, for the CSSE and the Kent Test, and so on.
For example, you won’t find GL papers with such detailed answer pages anywhere else.
Nobody has told me about other resources with better answers – ever. Such resources do not exist.
11 Plus Lifeline subscribers have achieved great success in independent and grammar school exams across the country – by this point, probably to almost every selective school in the UK. I devote a lot of time to making sure that the content is useful for everybody.
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 marking service included in your subscription or have already accessed book or course benefits, in which case you can’t have a refund for that month (but you can cancel for no extra payment).
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 can access a wide range of VR & NVR resources.
Can I have just English/just maths?
Yes – just choose the papers that you want to use, and not the ones that you don’t!
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 the use of 11 Plus Lifeline resources by tutors, schools and tuition centres. Send me an email if this is of interest.
Can I upgrade/downgrade my subscription after signing up?
Yes, very easily! Send me an email 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 offer so much material to members that this is rarely necessary. The best ways to get extra resources are to increase the frequency of new papers to several times per week and/or through my books!
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. We comply 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.