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An 11 Plus Revision Timetable That Fits Your Child

14 September 2026 · The ElevenReady Team

An 11 plus revision timetable can make preparation feel much more manageable, but only if it genuinely fits your child. The best plan is not the prettiest spreadsheet or the fullest diary. It is the one your child can stick to without feeling constantly behind.

For most families, that means starting small, being honest about energy levels, and leaving room for school, clubs and proper downtime. A good 11 plus revision timetable should lower stress, not add to it.

Start with your child, not the calendar

Before you block out revision sessions, take a step back and look at your child as a learner. Some children are sharp straight after school. Others need a snack, a run around the garden and half an hour to switch off before they can focus. Some prefer short bursts; others do better with a longer session and fewer subject changes.

It helps to ask a few practical questions:

1. Which areas feel comfortable, and which ones cause wobbles?
2. How long can they concentrate before the quality drops?
3. What does their week already look like with homework, clubs and family commitments?
4. When are they usually calm and most ready to learn?

If your child is in Year 5, you usually have more time to build steady habits. If they are in Year 6, you may need a clearer weekly structure, but it still needs to be realistic. Trying to do too much too quickly often leads to resistance, tiredness and poor retention.

A useful starting point is to map the week as it already exists, then add revision around it. Not the other way round.

How to build an 11 plus revision timetable step by step

Once you know what your child can realistically manage, keep the structure simple. A strong 11 plus revision timetable balances consistency with flexibility.

1. Choose how many sessions will happen each week. For many children, three to five focused sessions is plenty, depending on the time of year and how long each session lasts.
2. Keep sessions short enough to stay productive. Twenty to thirty minutes can be very effective, especially for Year 5. Longer sessions may suit some children at weekends, but not every study block needs to be long.
3. Rotate topics across the week. Include English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning as needed, rather than doing the same thing on repeat.
4. Give harder topics the best slots. Put the trickiest work at the time of day when your child is freshest.
5. Build in one lighter session. This could be vocabulary practice, mental maths, reading, or reviewing mistakes from earlier in the week.
6. Leave one buffer slot. Life happens. A missed session is much less of a problem if there is space to catch up.

You do not need to timetable every minute. In fact, overplanning often backfires. A child who sees a wall of tasks may feel defeated before they begin.

A simple weekly pattern often works better than a detailed hourly plan. For example: one maths session, one English session, one reasoning session, one mixed or review session, then a practice paper section or mock-style task at the weekend when appropriate.

If you want support with what to cover as well as when to cover it, ElevenReady's 11+ learning approach and 11+ resources for parents can help you turn a plan into something usable.

Make the timetable realistic enough to last

The biggest mistake parents make is creating a plan for an ideal week instead of a normal one. A timetable that looks impressive on paper but collapses by Thursday is not helping anyone.

Try these rules of thumb:

1. Do less than you think you should. You can always add more later if your child is coping well.
2. Protect one or two evenings. Children need time to read, play, see friends and simply be tired after school.
3. Use weekends carefully. A short session on Saturday morning is often better than a long afternoon battle.
4. Allow for school busy periods. Assemblies, trips, tests and clubs all affect energy.
5. Review every two weeks. If the plan is causing friction, change it.

It is also worth separating learning from testing. Not every session should feel like an exam. Some should focus on teaching a method, practising one skill, or going over errors slowly. That is often where confidence grows.

A strong timetable is not the one with the most hours. It is the one that helps your child keep showing up.

Use progress checks without turning everything into pressure

A timetable works best when it includes moments to pause and notice what is improving. Otherwise, it can feel like an endless list of tasks.

You might use one weekly check-in to ask:

1. What felt easier this week?
2. What still needs help?
3. Were the session lengths about right?
4. Did we choose the right days?

This is also the moment to decide whether to swap topics around, shorten sessions, or add more practice in one area. If your child is making the same mistakes repeatedly, that is a sign to slow down and reteach, not simply pile on more questions.

As exam season gets closer, you can gradually add timed work, practice paper sections and occasional mocks. Keep these in proportion. They are useful for stamina and familiarity, but they should sit on top of secure learning, not replace it. If you are also weighing up school options, our grammar school guides may help with the wider picture.

What a good timetable feels like at home

A good plan does not mean your child skips happily to the table every day. Most children will grumble sometimes. What you are aiming for is something steadier: fewer arguments, clearer expectations and a sense that revision is part of the week rather than a constant emergency.

If your child misses a session, do not panic. If one week goes badly, do not scrap the whole thing. Adjust and carry on. The families who cope best are usually not the ones doing the most. They are the ones doing enough, regularly, with a calm routine that can bend when needed.

The right 11 plus revision timetable is the one your child can keep using

In the end, the right 11 plus revision timetable is personal. It reflects your child's pace, strengths and pressure points. Keep it simple, keep it flexible, and let it grow with them. That is what makes an 11 plus revision timetable work for real family life.