Many parents feels that it is a lottery who passes a 4+ on a given day. However, we notice that children who pass one 4+ tend to pass many. By contrast, a child who fails one, tends to fail many or all of the assessments. In short, the schools are consistent looking for the same attributes and are successful in using the days to identify them.
Firstly, they are looking for readiness for school – can your child start learning from early on in reception or do they need to learn the unspoken rules of school for the whole of reception?
Secondly, they are looking for aptitude for learning. We call these the 4 Plus Pillars and we guide all our children and parents through these.
Thirdly, the most academic schools are looking for some ability to do simple literacy and numeracy tasks. Parents fixate on these but actually they are signficantly less important that the 4 Plus Pillars which are around aptitude for learning.
The teachers will take your child into as assessment room. They will not take the parent with them. If your child will not go then that is invariably a fail. About 10% of children fail at this stage.
In the room some of the activities replicate a classroom environment, sometimes there is a group reading exercise followed by a Q&A session. Then there is a series of tests in which the child’s cognitive ability is assessed. These appear as games but actually put some unresolvable dilemma for the child to attempt to find a solution. The child also needs to show that they are able to express themselves and can explain themselves clearly.
Some schools also have some sort of fine motor skill test and a few even have a gross motor skills test.
Many of the North London schools use this test as well as the Dulwich schools in South London. A few prep schools also use the test. The schools that we typically prepare children for include:
Our approach also prepares children for preparatory schools which use a 4+ assessment like The Hall, Dulwich Prep or the Thomas’s schools
There are many misconceptions about the 4 Plus exam. In fact, much of what you read on parent forums is counter-productive and can damage your chances of admission. Our staff include assessors from the top independent schools in London. Our package:
Our full list of services includes:
Most parents buy our comprehensive assessment and preparation package. This provides you with a detailed initial view of where your child is with regard to passing the 4 plus. We then work with you to help your child develop and overcome any barriers. We then do a further assessment which allows for any fine tuning. This package costs £1,500. We believe it is the most thorough package of its type and is built on several years of successful experience, helping over 100 children, talking to teachers who conduct the 4 plus at all the main schools and a partnership with Cambridge University to ensure we have the best testing approach.
Paying for the full bundle (£1500) gives you two mock assessments, four tutorial assessments, a nursery report review, a three part webinar series and extensive, regular, verbal feedback on your child’s current attainment and the work that you need to do with them.
The most successful candidates have a 12 month run in. We begin working with parents around January / February. We typically work on the individual aspects with the child and the parents. Our approach is to work with parents so there are lots of things for you to do with your child during the Easter and Summer holidays. Things shift gear from September because by now children are better equipped to work on the emotionally intelligent skills such as the collaboration and sharing skills. This sees us get more group assessments and activities in to help children master these critically important elements of the 4 plus.
Typically, the acceptance rate for most 4+ assessments is around 10-20%. Our rate is around 60-70%. We have a rule that we only help a maximum of ten children each year for the each school’s 4+ assessment. If we helped everyone, then practically we would be helping no one. These were our offers results for children applying in 2023/24 to start in September 2024
School | Mentor Applicants | Number of Mentor Children who passed | Mentor Pass Rate % |
Alleyn’s | 16 | 10 | 63% |
Bromley High | 2 | 2 | 100% |
Channing | 3 | 2 | 67% |
DPL (Dulwich Prep) | 6 | 6 | 100% |
DUCKS (Dulwich College) | 8 | 8 | 100% |
JAGS (James Allen’s Girls School) | 10 | 7 | 70% |
Habs (girls) | 5 | 5 | 100% |
Habs (boys) | 4 | 3 | 75% |
Herne Hill | 3 | 3 | 100% |
Highgate | 14 | 8 | 57% |
Manor Lodge | 3 | 3 | 100% |
NLCS (North London Collegiate) | 10 | 8 | 80% |
Oakfield | 1 | 1 | 100% |
St Albans | 2 | 2 | 100% |
St Christopher’s | 2 | 2 | 100% |
South Hampstead High | 5 | 4 | 80% |
Sydenham High | 4 | 3 | 75% |
The Hall | 3 | 2 | 67% |
UCS | 4 | 3 | 75% |
Clapham: We run these during the week every day, during the day out of our Clapham office. These are located very close to Clapham South Station. We also run intensive courses on literacy and numeracy over the summer and in the autumn from here.
Dulwich: We run sessions out of Oakfield Preparatory School, on the South Circular just by West Dulwich station, every Saturday morning in term time.
Hampstead: We run sessions out of Hampstead Parochial School, just by Hampstead tube station, every Saturday morning in term time. We also run intensive courses on literacy and numeracy over the summer and in the autumn from here.
West Hampstead: We run sessions out of Emmanuel Church in West Hampstead, just opposite the Waitrose by West End Green, every Tuesday morning.
While we do the individual assessment dates on an ad hoc basis around you at our offices or our school sites, we need to create cohorts of children for the group assessment dates. We do these later in the year to give children the time to develop more of these skills. By this stage families have usually been working with us for six to nine months and so their children are well prepared. The Mentor Education Group Mock Assessment dates for 2024 are:
Dulwich area:
Hampstead area:
As well as large group assessments we also run paired coaching sessions. Almost all the 4 plus assessments involve paired exercises which force children to complete tasks together. This ability to collaborate tends to be an emerging skill until the summer. We organise set days were we gather children together and run these paired activities. The Mentor Education Paired Days for 2024 are:
Dulwich area:
Hampstead area:
As we have a strict rule that we only help ten children each year for each school’s 4+ entry, please do not delay in booking. If you would like to find out more and make a booking please call us on 020 8883 2519 or alternatively you can book using the form below.
You can book here for either our full coaching and mock assessment package (£1,500), or just for our double mock assessment with feedback package (£750). You can book one mock assessment with feedback (£500). If you are unsure yet but want to reserve a slot with us you can just register (£100) and we will make sure you are in our cohort (once we have 10 boys and 10 girls for each of the North London, West London and South London groups of schools we take no more children).