A Weekly 11+ Study Plan for English and Maths
By NeurofiED Editorial Team · Reviewed by NeurofiED Learning Science Team
NeurofiED resources are written for UK 11+ families and reviewed against the platform's retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving and feedback principles.
Adaptable weekly 11+ templates that balance English, Maths, teaching, practice, review and rest without turning suggested timings into rigid rules.
A workable weekly 11+ study plan gives English and Maths regular attention while separating four jobs: teaching, focused practice, review and rest. Start with the lightest template your family can repeat, keep sessions purposeful rather than long, and change the following week when the child's work shows overload, an unresolved misconception or readiness for greater independence.
The schedules below are adjustable editorial suggestions, not empirically proven timetables. They do not diagnose a child's starting point and they are not a last-week exam plan. Their purpose is weekly allocation: deciding what belongs in the week, balancing subjects and leaving enough capacity for correction and ordinary family life.
Contents
The four jobs in a balanced week
A timetable is useful only if each slot has a job.
Teaching
Teaching introduces or clarifies an idea through explanation, modelling and guided examples. A child who does not understand equivalent fractions needs teaching, not a larger independent worksheet.
Focused practice
Focused practice applies one recently taught idea while the method is still clear. It helps parent and child see whether the explanation can be used on fresh questions.
Review
Review brings back previously taught material. It may use a short attempt from memory, a mixed set or correction of an earlier error. The retrieval-practice guide offers a fuller prompt–attempt–feedback routine.
Rest
Rest means a genuine evening or day without planned 11+ work. It should appear in the plan rather than being what happens only when the plan fails. School homework, clubs, illness and family events still consume attention; a study plan must coexist with them.
A session can contain more than one job, but name the main one. “Do English” is vague. “Teach how evidence supports an inference, then try two fresh paragraphs” gives the session a finish line.
Choose a starting template
Choose by available family capacity, not by what another household reports. Count school work, travel, activities and preferred quiet time before adding 11+ sessions. Then select one template for a single week and review it at the weekend.
The suggested minutes are planning limits, not scientific prescriptions. A ten-minute correction that resolves an error can be more useful than completing a planned half-hour while tired.
Use three rules across every template:
Template A: a light three-session week
This version suits a busy week or a child who works best with fewer transitions.
| Day | Main job | Example allocation | | --- | --- | --- | | Monday | English teaching + guided practice | 25 minutes: one reading or language idea | | Wednesday | Maths teaching + guided practice | 25 minutes: one number or problem-solving idea | | Saturday | Combined review | 30 minutes: 15 English, 15 Maths | | Other days | Rest from planned 11+ work | No catch-up unless the family deliberately reschedules |
Keep the Saturday review small: perhaps one reading paragraph with two questions, then four Maths questions drawn from taught material. It is not a mini-exam. Its job is to reveal what should be carried into the next week.
If Monday is missed, do not automatically double Wednesday. Either move the English slot to an open day or let it become next week's first priority.
Template B: a standard four-session week
This version separates teaching from review more clearly.
| Day | Main job | Example allocation | | --- | --- | --- | | Monday | English teaching | 25–30 minutes | | Tuesday | Rest | — | | Wednesday | Maths teaching | 25–30 minutes | | Thursday | English and Maths focused practice | 20–25 minutes | | Friday | Rest | — | | Saturday | Review and corrections | 30 minutes | | Sunday | Rest and five-minute parent planning | Child does no planned work |
Thursday need not split perfectly in half. If Monday's English idea was secure but Wednesday's Maths method was fragile, use ten minutes for English and fifteen for Maths. Balance should be judged across several weeks, not forced into every evening.
Saturday begins with one or two prompts without notes, followed by feedback. End by correcting one important error and deciding what the next week should teach. Do not fill unused minutes merely because the table allows thirty.
Template C: a split-session week
Some children prefer brief, frequent contact. This is an organisational option, not a claim that frequency is inherently better.
| Day | Main job | Example allocation | | --- | --- | --- | | Monday | English teaching | 15–20 minutes | | Tuesday | Maths teaching | 15–20 minutes | | Wednesday | Rest | — | | Thursday | English practice and correction | 15 minutes | | Friday | Maths practice and correction | 15 minutes | | Saturday | Mixed review | 20–25 minutes | | Sunday | Rest | — |
Use this template only if starting and stopping does not create family friction. Five short slots are not “lighter” if each one triggers negotiation. In that case, return to three longer but still bounded sessions.
Worked English session
Suppose the weekly English focus is inference from a short passage.
> Mina left her untouched toast on the plate. She checked the hall clock again, pulled her bag onto her shoulder and stood by the front window.
Ask: Why is Mina probably waiting by the window? Use two details.
A reasoned answer is: She is probably waiting for someone or some transport because she keeps checking the clock and stands by the front window with her bag ready.
The answer is not stated directly. The child combines two details—checking time and being ready with a bag—to support a plausible inference. “She is hungry” conflicts with the untouched toast and does not explain the window.
A 25-minute teaching session might be:
Thursday's focused practice can use a new paragraph. Saturday's review can ask the child to state the two-part rule—conclusion plus evidence—before answering one item. For lesson style and scope, parents can browse the English Mastery examples.
Worked Maths session
Suppose the weekly Maths focus is finding a fraction of an amount.
Question: A box holds 48 pencils. Three-eighths are blue. How many are blue?
Reason from the denominator first. Eight equal parts make the whole:
48 ÷ 8 = 6 pencils in one eighth.
Take three parts:
6 × 3 = 18 blue pencils.
Check: three-eighths is less than one-half, and 18 is less than half of 48, which is 24. The answer is plausible.
A 25-minute session might be:
The checked answers are 18, 18 and 35 respectively. If the child calculates 5/6 of 42 as 30, inspect whether 42 ÷ 6 was found correctly before assigning more questions. Maths lesson examples can help parents see how worked reasoning may be presented.
A parent planning sequence
1. Fix the available windows
Mark school commitments, clubs and rest first. Add only study slots that can realistically remain calm.
2. Set one current focus per subject
Write one English focus and one Maths focus. Examples are “justify inference with two details” and “find a fraction of an amount”. Avoid a weekly list containing an entire curriculum.
3. Give every slot a job
Label each as teaching, focused practice, review or rest. If a session contains two jobs, place the more demanding one first.
4. Prepare the smallest useful materials
Choose the passage, worked example and questions before the session. Searching for resources during study time makes a short plan expand.
5. Record one line afterwards
Use: focus — evidence — next action.
> Fraction of amounts — method explained; one division slip — practise one related division fact, then one fresh fraction question.
6. Review the week, not the child
Ask whether the allocation worked. Which slot was rushed? Which task needed teaching rather than practice? What can be removed? Plan the next week from those answers.
Common mistakes
Filling every day
An occupied calendar can look committed while leaving no room for rest, school demands or correction. Blank days are part of the design.
Counting minutes instead of outcomes
Reaching thirty minutes is not the goal. Stop when the named learning job is complete or when attention has clearly fallen.
Treating practice as teaching
Repeated incorrect answers usually need explanation, a representation or a worked comparison—not another identical page.
Letting one subject disappear
A current weakness may justify extra attention, but keep a small slot for the other subject so the weekly plan remains balanced over time.
Using review as an ambush test
Tell the child what the session is for. Review can begin without notes while still being predictable, low-pressure and followed by feedback.
Carrying every missed task forward
Automatic catch-up creates a growing debt. Reschedule the highest-priority task and drop or defer the rest.
Changing the template every day
A plan needs enough stability to reveal whether it fits. Make exceptions when needed, then review the pattern at the end of the week.
Adjustment cues
Reduce or simplify next week when:
Reduce one slot, shorten sessions or narrow each subject to one focus. Do not compress the same workload into fewer minutes.
Keep the template but change the teaching when:
Replace a practice block with explicit explanation and guided examples.
Allow more independence when:
Independence might mean choosing the order of two tasks, checking against answers after completion or writing the one-line review record.
Frequently asked questions
How many hours a week should an 11+ plan include?
This guide does not set a universal number. Start from realistic family capacity and the child's response. A repeatable light plan is preferable to a crowded suggestion that produces rushed work and missed correction.
Must English and Maths receive equal minutes?
No. Keep both visible, but adjust the split around current learning needs. Recheck over several weeks so a temporary priority does not become permanent neglect.
What belongs in the review session?
Use a small sample of material that has already been taught: a prompt from memory, one fresh application and correction of a revealing error. Do not introduce several new ideas during review.
What should happen after a missed session?
Protect the week's most important teaching need. Move it if there is a genuine open slot; otherwise carry that priority into the next plan and drop lower-value catch-up.
Is this a first-month diagnostic plan?
No. These templates organise an ordinary week after learning priorities have been chosen. They do not provide a baseline assessment or first-month audit.
Is this suitable for the final week before an exam?
It is not a last-week exam plan. Final-week decisions may need a different balance of familiarity, logistics and rest.
Should we sign up before trying a timetable?
You can test a simple paper plan first. If you later want to create an account, use the sign-up page; the weekly routine should still be adjusted around your child and family.
Next step
Choose one template, write one English focus and one Maths focus, and run it for one week. At the weekend, keep what worked, remove what created pressure and change only the clearest weak point. Explore English and Maths lessons.
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