The best books and papers for 11+ preparation
5 min read · updated 2026-08-31
Walk into any bookshop's 11+ shelf and you will find fifty titles. Most families need far fewer than that: a small, well-used set beats a shelf of untouched workbooks. Here is how to build it.
Start with official-style practice papers
Practice papers that match your target school's supplier are the backbone. GL Assessment publishes official practice papers for its own format, and many schools publish familiarisation materials free on their websites. Download those first; they define what your child actually needs to practise.
Workbooks worth having
- ✓ Bond 11+ series: long-established workbooks and assessment papers per subject and age band
- ✓ CGP 11+ practice books and ten-minute tests: friendly, affordable, good for short daily sessions
- ✓ GL Assessment official practice papers: closest to the real format for grammar school entry
- ✓ Older SATs KS2 papers: free to download, excellent for the maths and English foundations the 11+ assumes
The free material parents forget
Your target schools' own websites often publish familiarisation guides and sample questions, and past KS2 SATs papers are free on the government site. Reading is also free: twenty minutes a day of proper books does more for comprehension and vocabulary than any workbook. Build the free layer before buying anything else.
How to use the shelf
One workbook in progress at a time, papers on a fixed weekly slot, and everything marked the same day. A shelf of completed-and-reviewed papers is worth ten shelves of fresh ones, and a tutor who marks against the real format (as ours do) turns those papers into a data-driven plan.
FAQs
Which publisher matches my school's exam?＋
Check the school's admissions page: it usually names GL Assessment or describes its format. Match the practice papers to that supplier, because formats and timing differ.
How many books do we actually need?＋
Typically two workbooks (reasoning plus maths or English), one pack of practice papers refreshed each half term, and a strong reading habit. More books rarely means more progress.
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