The Parent Journey
Four or five years of small decisions.
Getting a child into a selective or independent school isn’t one decision. It’s four or five years of small ones. When to start, which tutor, which schools, which deadlines, how to pay for it.
The Parent Journey walks that with you. It starts as early as Year 3 and runs all the way through.
- per workshop
- £10
- recommended start
- Yr 3
- plus open Q&A
- 45 min
- UK-wide
- Online
Parent workshops
45 minutes, then open Q&A
A tutor sits in to answer the specific questions. In person and online. £10 per person.
Workshops cover
- Starting early: what Year 3–4 prep actually looks like
- Choosing and working with a tutor
- Grammar and selective school applications, forms and deadlines
- Bursaries and scholarships, including sports routes, and how to prepare years in advance
- Budgeting for the real costs: applications at approximately £300 each, uniform, trips, dinners
Pre-11+ preparation
The work that makes the difference starts earlier than you think
Most families come to us thinking about Year 5.
Pre-11+ preparation is the groundwork: solid numeracy and literacy from around Year 3, building reading stamina, getting a child comfortable with timed work long before anything is at stake. No past papers at this stage. The point is that when the 11+ preparation proper begins, your child starts from a position of strength rather than catching up.
We’ll show you what that looks like term by term, what to do at home, and when to bring a tutor in.
What you get
Everything in the Parent Journey
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Parent webinars
Regular online sessions where you hear directly from the people who know how this works: tutors, admissions professionals, teachers from independent schools, parents who’ve been through it, and guest speakers on specific parts of the journey. Come with questions. These are built around what you want to ask, not a script. Recordings available afterwards if you can’t make it live.
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Tutoring, referred and discounted
Every tutor we refer you to holds an enhanced DBS check, the relevant qualifications and references, all verified before they work with us. We refer you to them at a discount through Go To Many. Your child’s school stays central to all of it. We work alongside it, not around it.
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Termly progress check-in
A short form where you record how your child is doing: where they’re strong, where they’re struggling, what you’re unsure about. We bring together what the tutor sees and what the school reports so you get one clear picture, not two half ones. And so you can walk into parents’ evening able to ask the right questions. Upload a school report and you’ll get feedback on it.
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Parents who’ve done it
Experienced parents who’ve been through admissions themselves, on hand to advise. Plus a community space where you can ask the awkward questions about specific schools and get honest answers.
Families whose children end up at the same school often already know each other by then. That’s not a side effect. It’s part of the point.
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A conversation with me
One free 30-minute session with Lisa each term, booked in when you need it. Further sessions available at a fee.
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Reminders that arrive on time
Open days, application windows, deadlines. So nothing gets missed because nobody told you.
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Interview preparation for your child
Most selective schools interview. We help children practise talking about themselves, with peers and on camera if they want to, so they walk in used to it.
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The Oxbridge track
Led by Emma Taylor, a Cambridge graduate who works with the university on widening participation. For Year 13 and up, with earlier groundwork from around Year 7.
Getting started
Come to a workshop first
£10, no commitment, and you’ll leave with a clearer idea of what the next two years look like.