Questions we hear a lot

We prepare children for CEM, GL, ISEB and independent school 11+ entrance exams.

The easiest groups are the ones parents arrange themselves, with children their child is already comfortable working alongside. You can also simply ask to join a group and we will look for a fit — though we cannot promise one, since it depends on finding other children of a similar year who also want to work that way. Being in a group does not mean everyone does the same work: Shalaka has taught groups spanning different ages and different objectives for years, with each child working towards their own.

One month’s written notice is required to withdraw from the Prep School.

A single, no-commitment lesson can be arranged whenever the tutor and your child are both free. It is charged at the usual rate for that lesson — there is no separate trial price and no free session. Time is set aside at the end to feed back to you on how your child got on and what we would work on next. After that you decide whether to carry on with regular lessons; there is nothing to cancel if you would rather not.

Prep School pauses in August, replaced by a two-week Summer School.

Homework can be set, but it is never mandated. How much is set — or whether any is — follows what you want for your child and what they have capacity for, so tell us and we will work to it. Nothing is set over half terms or holidays. Where homework is set, it helps to have it back in good time, ideally 48 hours before the next lesson, so it can be marked and used to shape what we do next rather than arriving on the day.

Prep School runs in person on Sundays — see the Prep School page for full venue details. Summer School runs in person at our Kenton venue in August. Everything else (Momentum Classes, private and group tuition, masterclasses) runs online or at home.