What parents say...

Prezton has done really well and we are very proud of his achievement so thank you all again
Mrs A Laborde
Thank you for all your support with our son, Thomas. His hand writing, spelling, maths and reading is progressing beautifully. I would highly recommend your setting to anyone who wishes to give their child a boost or to work on specific learning goals. It has been invaluable. All your tutors are warm, welcoming and professional and Thomas is always made to feel valued. Positive praise and lots of stickers, stamps, rewards, prizes and certificates give that extra special touch to reward and recognise the children’s efforts. Thomas is certainly always proud of his achievements from your centre.
Laura (Thomas’s mum)
At the time of writing this testimonial, my daughter has had only 5 sessions and her confidence and ability has increased significantly!  (Now) she talks of enjoying maths and of her abilities in maths instead of her inabilities, participates more in maths lessons at school and is keen to do her maths homework, both from school and from the sessions.  As a parent I am thrilled that her confidence has grown significantly and would recommend I Love to Learn without hesitation.
S BondParentPortsmouth
“Joshua got his GCSE results today and I just wanted to let you know how he got on. He got an 8 in English Language and a 7 in English Literature, he has always struggled with English and wouldn’t of been able to achieve these amazing grades without yours and Adam’s help, if you could please let him know how Joshua done. So once again thank you for all the work you did with him.” Emily (parent) 2021
Emily EvansparentI Love to Learn Portsmouth
GCSE Maths
Alex says ” I learned more in three months than my whole time in the maths classroom at school. I went from dreading it to feeling much better about being there.” This Summer he was overjoyed to find that he had gone from a Grade 2 in his mocks up to a Grade 4 (C) pass in his final exam.  
Alex
We brought him to the centre in Year 6 because he just had no idea about maths.  This year won the ‘Most Improved in Maths’ certificate for his year.  He also came top of his class in 2 out of 3 maths exams.  Coming to here is the best thing we ever did!
Mr S White
Firstly, I would like to thank yourselves and your staff for all your help and dedication to helping my daughter Saoirse with her maths.  She has shown an improvement with her confidence at attempting to handle the mathematics she is give by her school.  And I feel this is due to the staff at your centre, she had a very rough year in Year 4, with her very unsympathetic teacher and you all helped her through that.  For that I’m very grateful.
Mrs R Wall
“Thanks for all your hard work with Rebecca Kivlin. She has started Milton Cross this week. Rebecca is in the top set for maths and science, and the second group for everything else. Without coming to Love to Learn she would never have achieved this.  Thanks”    
Julie Powell
Thank you so much for helping me with my maths!  I have come along much more in maths lessons at school! Hopefully, depending on whether I need help when I go to Secondary School I might come back again. (I hope so)  Thank you again. Madison.
Mrs H Breen
Thank you very much for your help and support in helping Tomek achieve his goals in English
Monica (Tomek’s mum)

11+ Entrance Assessments 2025/26

Independent Schools in Portsmouth, Fareham & Havant

Greetings, parents! In the Portsmouth area, you’ll find a variety of independent schools, each offering its own unique blend of educational ethos and environment, ranging from the grand to the intimate, and spanning a spectrum of academic rigour. We take great pleasure in assisting children with their preparation for the 11+ common entrance assessments, recognising the significance of this milestone. Additionally, we recognise the importance of ensuring everyone is well-informed regarding relevant dates and schedules. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on that front.

Scholarships

Academic Scholarships may be awarded to the top achievers based on the results of the school’s 11+ assessment. The criteria for this will vary from school to school, so you must apply directly to them.

Additionally, some schools offer scholarships for excellence in Art, Drama, Music, and Sport at 11+, 13+, and Sixth Form. These need to be applied for, and applications are usually submitted by the end of November preceding the September of entry. You can apply for more than one scholarship.LovingIt

Financial Assistance

Some schools may offer financial assistance (means tested on income and exam performance) for Year 7 and Year 9 entry, and the deadline for applying is normally the end of November (September in the case of Portsmouth Grammar School), prior to the year of entry. Often, financial assistance is allocated first and foremost based on the child’s exceptional performance in the Entrance Assessments; the financial information you provide is then considered.

N.B. Please note that advice given here may vary between individual schools. It is important that you get in touch with individual schools to find out their exact criteria for entry requirements, scholarships, and financial assistance.

Common Entrance Assessment or 11+

This exam is so called as it is taken at the age of 11 years at the beginning of secondary education. Not all independent schools are selective, but almost all schools will want students to take an entrance assessment exam of some kind.

The entrance exams always cover maths and English to a high level. Children are also usually tested on their verbal and nonverbal reasoning. These tests are designed to be more difficult to prepare for as they are not school subjects. Verbal reasoning is concerned with language and word problems, while non-verbal reasoning includes logic, shape, and number patterns.

The 11+ Assessments typically consist of the following: Maths (50 mins); English (45 mins); Reading Comprehension (30 mins); Non-verbal Reasoning (30 mins); plus an Interview (20 mins).

Full Bursary

Student“We are so pleased that Mahera has got a FULL BURSARY for the local girl’s high school in Portsmouth. She has been to your centre before for tuition, but we came back in November so she could get ready for the exams. She has worked so hard and Linda has really encouraged her in her writing! Thanks so much!”

Click here to read more about our success…..

 

Portsmouth Grammar School

11+ and 13+ Entrance Assessment

Saturday 8th November 2025

(Deadline for registering is Friday, 26th September 2025)

Mayville High School

All Candidates Sit Exam

Saturday 15th November 2025

Portsmouth High School for Girls

Music, Art, Drama & Sport Scholarship Day

Monday 5th January 2026

11+ Assessment Day

Tuesday 6th January 2026

The Gregg School

11+ Entrance Assessment

Saturday 24th January 2026

Meoncross School

Open Week:  22- 26th September 10.45am 2025

Open Morning November Friday 21th November 10.45am 2025

Boundary Oak School

Assessment can be booked all year

Are you considering entering your child for an independent school?  Then book a Free Assessment today!

NOW IS THE TIME

If your child is currently in Year 5, then NOW is the time to start preparing for the entrance assessment exam in January.

Experienced 11+ Tutors

During your child’s free forty-five-minute assessment we will:

  • Test your child’s reading age, spelling age and maths ability.
  • Give you honest feedback on your child’s ability to pass the entrance exams for each school.
  • Discuss our previous experience preparing students for entrance exams for local independent schools.
  • Give you a breakdown of the topics your child needs to cover to prepare for the entrance exam.
  • Explain our materials and teaching methods to you.
  • Give you the chance to ask any questions and to tap into our expertise.

 

Click here to find out more about tutoring for Entrance Exams …

 

Free 11+ Assessment Days

Looking For Expert Help for 11+ and Common Entrance?

Friday the 23rd June (Portsmouth) Wednesday 21st June (Fareham)

Find out if your child is suitable for the challenge of 11+ entrance exams!  Are you thinking about entering your child for entrance assessment for local independent school such as:

  • Boundary Oak School11+ exam
  • Mayville High School
  • Meoncross School
  • Portsmouth High School GDST
  • Stroud School
  • The Gregg School
  • The Portsmouth Grammar School
  • Twyford School

The standard of literacy and numeracy for these assessments can be high.  If your child is strong in one or both areas you may want to find out which areas need attention.

Book a place on our excellent Summer School or Booster Lessons for 11+ preparation.

Each booking is 45mins long, and we will look at numeracy, literacy, verbal and non-verbal reasoning.  We will give you free advice about your child’s readiness and learning needs.

Click here to find out more about our recent common entrance exam success…

Call us on 01329 738 100 or email tutors@ilovetolearn.co.uk Why not book now by filling in the form below to avoid disappointment?

General Enquiry

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Click here to find out more about how we help common entrance students…

Wow 100% Pass Rate for 11+Exams!

11+ Entrance Exam Success

Well done to all our 11+ and common entrance exam students for passing their tests.  All  students, who attended our sessions regularly, passed their 11+ exams in at least one of the schools they applied for.  They included; Christ’s Hospital, St Catherine’s, Badminton, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, PGS and PHS.  One of our students even got a full boarding scholarship, including all music tuition and exams paid in full!

Over the years we have had a lot of success, but this is definitely the best year ever.  In order to celebrate we invited them all to Playzone on us!  Quite a few were able to make it and really love the event.  One mum said “Once again thanks you and Linda for organising this evenings party, the children had an amazing time and it was such a special treat to celebrate the end of the ordeal from the past few months! ”

It was really fun to celebrate together and we hope we can do it again soon.

Double Success in Common Entrance Assessment!

Common Entrance Assessment

Common Entrance 11+Success
Amazing progress

Some schools have a common entrance assessment for entry to senior school.  Twins, Tom and Sophie came to I Love to Learn as their parents were told that they were below expected level for their year.  This would put them in danger of not being able to progress to the senior school of their choice.  After only 9 months, they have caught up and surpassed the expected level for English Comprehension and maths.

Both of them loved coming to the centre and looked forward to their session each week.  They have massively grown in confidence and they love their improved performance in class tests (they are both very competitive)!

Malcolm (their dad) said, “Great communication and feedback was key, and we loved the guidance of how to continue to make progress during the holidays.  We can’t fault it.  We have stopped for a bit as we are moving house, but we will be back in the summer term.”

Click here to find out more…..

 

Entrance Assessments for local Independent Schools

Here are the 11+ entrance assessment dates for independent schools in Portsmouth 2017.

One of the fastest growing areas of our business is children wanting to prepare for independent school entrance exams.  I thought it might be a good idea to make sure everyone has the dates they need.

The entrance exams always cover maths and English to a high level.  They also usually test something called verbal and non verbal reasoning.  These are designed to be more difficult to prepare for as they are not taught in school.  Verbal reasoning is concerned with language and words problems while non-verbal reasoning looks are logic, shape and number patterns.

Here is a testimonial we received earlier.

“We are so pleased that Mahera has got a FULL BURSARY for the local girl’s high school in Portsmouth.  She has been to your centre before for tuition but we came back in November so she could get ready for the exams.   She has worked so hard and Linda has really encouraged her in her writing!  Thanks so much!”

Portsmouth High School

11+, 12+, 13+ or 14+

Saturday 21st January.

Portsmouth Grammar School

11+ and 13+ Entrance Assessment

Saturday 28th January

Mayville High School

All Candidates Sit Exam

Saturday 14th January

Boys Assessment Day

Wednesday 18th January

Girls Assessment Day

Thursday 19th January

St John’s College

11+ Entrance Assessment

Saturday 21st January

Call us if you want to find out how we can help for next year.

 

FREE Assessment

Simply complete our form to book your FREE assessment.

Book a Free Assessment Now


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