My son has completed his first week of tutoring for Maths and two sessions of Verbal Reasoning. Both have proved a great hit with him plus the home works have been reinforcing his learning. The exam is at the end of the summer holidays and I really needed something to capture his imagination to motivate him for the last stretch and this has been just the trick! He enjoys Maths as it is his stronger subject but even in the short space of 5 sessions, has learned new things. Both tutors are very kind and interesting teachers who really get what he is looking for. Here's to week two and more improvement. I would highly recommend these short courses as a booster for the learning - the 11+ is so competitive that every advantage you can give your child is money well spent.

Good summarized course with adequate material, but probably very basic for a booster course. Well qualified tutors and cooperative staff. Probably it could be a good thing to start with but not to conclude the studies. I have taken a Verbal Reasoning booster course and felt that a similar course could be useful for Non Verbal Reasoning as well.

Apart from a few technical issues the online interactive format worked well. The headset provided was easy to set up but I agree with the previous review that it would probably need an adult to do this. My child did the Verbal Reasoning course. I know that Bond are aware of a few issues with the tutor and have acted upon this very quickly. The course itself was fast paced and aimed at quite a high ability cohort. My son found the sessions fun and lively. Homework was set and we found this to be quite challenging. The questions were a lot harder than anything he had encountered before and as he had been practising for multiple choice papers before that fact that these weren't multiple choice made it seem harder as well if that makes sense. My impression is that anyone who hadn't encountered any Verbal Reasoning questions before might find this course a bit too challenging and would probably need to have an introductory course first. My son did gain from doing this course, his confidence and ability has improved and I think not having the multiple choice format has benefitted in some ways as it made him have to really think more. I believe that this course is helpful even if your child is not entering for any selective school tests. Many comprehensive schools use VR/NVR tests as part of their setting process as well.

My child took the Bond 11 plus Live, Maths Skills Builder course in preparation for the 11+ exams later this year. Each lesson takes the form of an online tutorial with interactive white board, slides and a place for the children to complete their answers. They are able to talk to each other and to their tutor throughout. It is a very user friendly system. Parents will need to complete the initial set up to ensure the microphone and headset is ready before the first lesson but after that, the child can log in and begin each lesson at the allocated time. The most obvious benefit of this service is the cost – much cheaper per hour than any group or individual tuition and without the hassle of travelling to attend classes after school. My two initial reservations were that group tutorials may feel a little crowded and that an hour’s lesson may be too long. Both of these worries were unfounded. My child’s tutor was fun but professional and managed the group very well making sure each child got a turn, all were included and nobody was struggling. In fact a group session rather than 1:1 learning made it much more relaxed because the children compared answers and enjoyed competing on some of the exercises. The hour was broken into segments of practice questions, teaching new concepts, quick fire questions and more complicated examples. It was fast paced but not overwhelmingly so. A small amount of homework was set relating to each lesson’s topic. Parents are also able to access the resources used in each lesson if their child wishes to look at some questions again. The whole concept is well thought out and works well because the tutors are very good at what they do. When teaching maths at home, parents don’t always know how children are taught at school so pitching it at the right level can be difficult. My child’s tutor covered a lot of ground but was able to explain methods and concepts in a way that ensured all the children understood. Quite often I heard my child say “Oooooh I get it!” as they moved onto the more complicated questions and were given tips and hints on how to tackle them. I would recommend this course to anybody with a child about to take 11+ exams, other school entrance exams or even parents who want to give their child extra confidence in maths before SATS.

I really enjoyed my online tutorials, it is an excellent way to learn. You can do it in the comfort of your own home and without any distractions. The good thing is that I had a chance to practice the subject because homework is provided by e-mail and I had more than one chance to complete the work. Once the homework was completed and submitted, I got instant feedback. The tutors were friendly, helpful and easy to understand; they were patient when I needed time to think - not rushing through the hour. The layout of the classroom was very easy to use and the tools that were given were very simple to locate. Unfortunately, the internet connection sometimes dropped on my side but once reconnected it was good as gold. Overall, the ten week lessons were an excellent help, boosting my confidence and helping me to prepare for the forthcoming 11+ exam. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my tutors and everyone at the company.