11 Plus 5-Day ISEB Common Pre-Test English Comprehension, Punctuation and Grammar Course (Online) October Half-Term

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Key Details

Course length: 5 days.

Single workshop length: 1.5 hours (including a 5-minute break).

Total course length: 7.5 hours.

Start date: Monday 27th October 2025.

Time: 9:00am-10:30am.

Exam style: suitable for students sitting the ISEB 11+ Common Pre-Test, CEM Select or other online multiple choice comprehension exams.

Message us on WhatsApp or email us if you’d like to check the suitability of this course for your target school.

Appropriate for: year 5 or 6 students.

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Course Dates

Workshop 1 — Monday 27th October 2025, 9:00am-10:30am

Workshop 2 — Tuesday 28th October 2025, 9:00am-10:30am

Workshop 3 — Wednesday 29th October 2025, 9:00am-10:30am

Workshop 4 — Thursday 30th October 2025, 9:00am-10:30am

Workshop 5 — Friday 31st October 2025, 9:00am-10:30am

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Course Outline

If your child is preparing for the 11+ ISEB Common Pre-Test for independent school entrance, there will always be an English exam. This exam will focus on comprehension, punctuation and grammar. During an ISEB comprehension exercise, students are required to quickly read through a passage of text (fiction, non-fiction or poetry) and answer different types of questions about the text. These questions test a student's understanding of the text, as well as the role of specific phrases and words within it. Questions cover skills such as:

• Recall

• Inference and deduction

• Word meaning

• Language techniques and imagery

• Types of words or phrases

In an ISEB punctuation and grammar exercise, students will be presented with several question types to test their understanding and use of both punctuation and grammar.

In this course, we will teach students the comprehension exam technique and thought processes our students have used successfully in the past. Students will then practise these skills on exam paper texts (including fiction, non-fiction and poetry).

We will then explain and practise each possible type of ISEB punctuation and grammar question. Through this, we will ensure students’ understanding of correct punctuation and grammar usage has improved. Overall, this will result in them feeling confident and prepared for their ISEB English exam.

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Tutor

This course will be delivered by The Exam Coach’s team of tutors. All of our tutors have:

• Passed competitive exams such as the 11 Plus.

• Attended a Russell Group University within the last 5-10 years.

• Received two weeks of training to deliver expertly within our online workshop format.

• Taught our 11 Plus exam preparation curriculum on a regular basis within the last two years.

In every session, two members of staff will always be on hand: the tutor and a technical support assistant. This means sessions always start smoothly and on time with a seamless teaching experience throughout.

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Key Comprehension, Punctuation and Grammar Skills Covered

1) Fast and accurate reading. Students will learn how to read through a large, unseen text extract quickly and accurately. We will teach them speed-reading techniques that will save them time and improve their accuracy when answering questions.

2) Minimising mistakes. Students will be taught how to read questions carefully and spot what examiners might do to trip them up! They will be shown the punctuation and grammar mistakes commonly made in this exam and how to avoid them. We will also show students how to be methodical by using a process of elimination to arrive at the correct answer every time.

3) Vocabulary expansion. As part of this course, we will focus on expanding your child’s vocabulary. We will work through some complex synonyms and antonyms for more high-level vocabulary words within each exam text we study. This will help students answer vocabulary-related questions (in their English comprehension and verbal reasoning exams) as well as their overall understanding.

4) Inference. Inference is the skill of knowing or working out what an author means, even if it is not directly said in the text. We will teach students to become detectives, searching their comprehension texts for answers that make sense based on what information is given.

5) Writer’s tools and literary devices. Students will be taught the key literary devices (or writer’s tricks) they might find in their comprehension exam. They will be taught how to identify devices such as metaphors, similes and personification, as well as their different uses within in a text. Students will also be provided with easy ways to remember these techniques for their exam.

6) Application of skills to real 11 Plus exam questions. Students will be tested on multiple types of comprehension texts and questions, as well as different types of punctuation and grammar questions.

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Course Resources

Worksheets, comprehension extracts, homework and class notes are sent out before the start of the course. These can either be printed or viewed digitally. For all workshops, your child will receive:

1. A worksheet to complete in the workshop.

2. One or two new comprehension extracts per workshop.

3. Class notes to help consolidate learning and give students an opportunity to recap some of what was covered in the workshop.

4. A homework task.

Each workshop’s homework should be submitted before the start of the next where possible. Though, it will still be marked if handed in slightly later.

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HOMEWORK AND MARKING

A 25-minute comprehension task is set for all students after each workshop. They can complete this task after the workshop has finished and it should then be sent to us via email (teamkeen@theexamcoach.tv). Each piece of homework will then be individually marked and reviewed by the tutor (usually within 2 working days). For each submission, you will receive:

1. An annotated copy of the homework, marking correct and incorrect answers.

2. A 5-minute-long voice note from the tutor to your child, celebrating good answers, correcting any mistakes and highlighting areas for improvement. Importantly, our tutors will show your child the process required to arrive at correct answers, as opposed to simply telling them what the correct answer is.

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How To Join

After purchase, you will receive a confirmation email. You will receive the course invitation and all resources during the week before the course starts. These will be sent to the email address entered at checkout.

If you have any questions, please contact us via WhatsApp on +44 7547 645100, you can also send a message here.