You’re doing everything right. You found a reputable 11+ tutor, you’re paying the fees, and your child is diligently attending the sessions. Their maths and comprehension scores are slowly ticking up. But when you look at their creative writing, something is missing. The stories are flat, the descriptions are bland, and the marks just aren’t improving.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. It’s one of the most common frustrations we hear from parents. They feel like they’re wasting money on tuition that isn’t delivering results where it matters most: the one part of the exam where their child can truly shine.

The problem isn’t your child, and it probably isn’t even the tutor. The problem is the traditional tuition format itself, which is fundamentally unsuited to teaching creative writing. Here are the three main reasons why.

1. Lack of Personalised Feedback

Creative writing is deeply personal. A child’s writing voice is as unique as their fingerprint. To improve, they need feedback that is specific to their style, their habits, and their unique mistakes.

In a group tuition setting of 5, 10, or even 15 students, how much personal attention can a tutor realistically give to each child’s writing? The feedback is often generic, rushed, and delivered in a written comment that is easily forgotten. A quick “Good effort, try to use more adjectives” isn’t enough to create real change.

The Truth: To improve writing, a child needs a mentor who can sit down with them, go through their work line-by-line, and explain why a certain sentence works and why another one doesn’t. This is impossible in a group setting.

2. Focus on

” The “Teachable” Subjects

Most 11+ tuition centres focus their time and resources on maths, verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning. Why? It’s because these subjects are easier to teach in a group format. They have clear right and wrong answers, and progress can be easily measured with scores.

Creative writing is different. It’s subjective, nuanced, and requires a different type of teaching. It’s often treated as an afterthought, a 15-minute activity at the end of a long session when children are already tired. Your child might get a worksheet with a story prompt, but they rarely get the dedicated, focused instruction they need to actually improve their core writing skills.

The Truth: A great creative writer is made, not born. But they are made through focused practice on specific techniques like “Show, Don’t Tell”, sentence structure, and vocabulary – not as a footnote to a maths lesson.

3. Generic, School-Agnostic Content

As we’ve shown in our other guides, the 11+ writing exams for top London schools are all wildly different.

• JAGS has its unique “sandwich” format and two different task types.
• City of London Girls’ requires two compulsory essays: one creative, one discursive.
• Trinity requires students to connect their writing to the themes of a reading passage.

Is your tutor preparing your child for these specific formats? Or are they just giving them generic story prompts? Using a generic approach for a highly specific exam is like preparing for a marathon by practising for a 100-metre sprint. The underlying skills are related, but the strategy is completely wrong.

The Better Alternative: Personalised, School-Specific Video Feedback

If you’re serious about improving your child’s creative writing, you need an approach that is personal, focused, and tailored to their target school. This is where our service comes in.

Our school-specific creative writing courses are the perfect supplement or replacement for traditional tuition.

What makes our approach different?

• Personal Video Marking: Instead of a scribbled comment, your child receives a 10-15 minute video from me, where I review their work line-by-line, explaining what they did well and showing them exactly how to improve. It’s like having a private tutor on demand.
• School-Specific Focus: Our courses are designed from the ground up for the unique format of each school’s exam. No generic content, just targeted preparation.
• Flexible and Affordable: You can get started with our £27 trial, which includes your first video marking. It’s a fraction of the cost of a single tutoring session, with far more impact.

Stop paying for tuition that isn’t working. It’s time to try a new approach. An approach that is personal, specific, and proven to get results.