The Highgate 4+ Assessment Report (2026 entry)

The most controversial 4+ report yet.

We prepared 8 children for their 4+ at Highgate. They all had between 1-12 months of 4+ Assessment preparation. 3 children have been offered a place to study at Highgate (1 girl and 2 boys). 1 child (a boy) has been waitlisted.

My recommendation is at least 12 months of 4+ assessment preparation for Highgate. However, this year the Highgate 4+ assessment was rather different. Several of my very gifted and highly intelligent and articulate students were not offered a place after round 1. Many of those children who didn’t pass round 1 were offered places at the likes of Westminster, South Hampstead and Habs.

Only two of my students who passed didn’t have siblings at Highgate.

My other student who passed has siblings already at Highgate.

My student who is Waitlisted does not have siblings at Highgate.

I will not be giving reasons for successes and failures because for the first time ever, I cannot tell you with certainty and clarity what these are. I know that my students who passed and were offered a place are both highly intelligent, had covered the EYFS curriculum to a very high standard and are simply a delight to teach and just generally to be with. But I can also say that about my students who were not offered a place following their round 1 assessment at Highgate.

If you are preparing for Highgate for 2027 entry and beyond, it is important that you have a selection of schools that you are targeting at 4+ and not just this one. Several of our clients were preparing for this school alone. And this is something that I have never encouraged anyone to do (with any school).

Preparing for 2027 entry and beyond? Book your Sample Lesson Today.

The UCS 4+ Assessment Report (2026 entry)

We prepared 9 boys for their 4+ at UCSs. They all had between 3 -12 months of 4+ Assessment preparation. I didn’t hear back from 2 clients that I personally supported so I will not count them in these results. 6 boys have been offered a place to study at UCS.

My recommendation is at least 12 months of 4+ assessment preparation for UCS.

3 Key Reasons for Success

Boys who perform highly across the board (in all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum) and thorough prep for both rounds.

Regular communication between parents and teacher during the week between the lessons, parents taking on board feedback and putting it into place during the weeks.

Consistent daily activity - Boys completing all of the home learning sent every single day in preparation for this assessment (or as close to this as possible!).

3 Key Reasons for Not Being Successful

All of our boys have passed so far (that I have heard from!) but do not take this to mean that passing the 4+ assessment at UCS is ‘easy’. Far from it. it is really not an ‘easy’ assessment to pass. So do get that thought out of your heads. If you think that all boys are just offered a place to study at UCS, you are wrong.

The boys who have not passed were:

Not thoroughly prepared in the 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum.

Not able to answer questions at the level expected from the school

Boys who needed to further develop their communication and language skills.

It is important to note that all of our boys’ parents put in hours of dedicated focused learning with their sons over the course of their time preparing them for this assessment. They worked hard. They dedicated their time and attention to their sons. They persevered when it got hard (It got hard countless times!). They trusted in the learning process and despite a lot of negativity from their nurseries/friends/families, they continued. I admire their dedication. They are my ideal clients. They are the clients we want to be working with.

UCS is a highly competitive school at 4+ and we are delighted to have supported 9 gorgeous boys this year to be more than ready for this school. Will all 5 go to UCS? Let’s wait and see shall we?

Preparing for 2027 entry and beyond? Book your Sample Lesson Today.

Unpopular opinion - Your child will not make accelerated progress based on the schools you choose to send them to. Your child will make accelerated progress based on what YOU do with them.

Unpopular opinion

Your child will not make accelerated progress based on the schools you choose to send them to.

Your child will make accelerated progress based on what YOU do with them.

Parents are so fixated on choosing the ‘best’ schools for their children - as they should be.

But do not get it twisted.

Your child will not make accelerated progress based on the schools you choose to send them to.

Having worked in both the state and private sector in many, many primary schools let me tell you this with certainty and clarity. The quality of teaching will not be superior in a private school compared to a state school.

You will have exceptional teachers in both state and private schools.

You will also have teachers who are not exceptional in both state and private schools.

Sorry if that offends anyone. It is my belief.

I’ve worked with amazing teachers in both state and private schools. I’ve also worked with those who are not exceptional in both state and private schools. Sorry if that offends anyone. It is my experience.

We teach children who go to schools such as Haberdashers, NLCS, City, Forest and Glendower, to name a very few.

Out clients fully understand that it is up to them and them alone to support their children to make accelerated progress. And if they take the foot off the gas, guess what? What will happen?

It’s obvious to me.

It’s not so obvious to so many of you.

And it’s so easy isn’t it to place blame on the school?

‘Well, I’m paying them 25k/30k/40k/50k a year - what is my child doing all day?’

Do you know how many times I hear that ridiculous sentence!

Your child’s teacher has 16/20/24/30/32/34+ students to look after.

Why place all of that responsibility on that one human being?

That is far too much to ask.

They have their own life and problems (and most likely their own children!) to also think about!

So if you would like your child to make accelerated progress (whatever that means to you), it is on you. And only you.

And if you don’t like that, continue to give all the responsibility to the school. See how that goes for you. And see how that feels. It feels pretty powerless.

Take back your power. Only YOU are in control of the accelerated progress your child will ever make with their learning whichever school you send them to or however your choose to educate them.

Your child's behaviour is YOUR responsibility!

I’ve worked with thousands of children over the last 20 years.

I’ve seen children who know how to behave beautifully.

I’ve seen children who really do not.

And I truly believe that there is no point in teaching your children to be super academic if they don’t even have the basic manners down.

And I would like to see this improving over the next 20 years and not deteriorating (which I firmly believe is what will happen).

The first piece when teaching your child good manners is that you have good manners yourself. If your child observes you not having good manners, it’s kind of obvious that they will copy that behaviour. Don’t act all surprised about it.

If you are rude to people because you have some sense of entitlement or whatever your problem with life is, guess what? Your child will be rude to people too.

Model the behaviour that you would like your child to demonstrate to their peers.

The second piece is explaining the behaviours that you would like to see your child demonstrating. If you don’t explain it to them, how will they ever know.

And do not have double standards about this. If you expect these behaviours from your child, you must expect the same from yourself too.

Basic manners to me personally consist of the following:

Being kind to everyone and not just to who you feel like being kind to.

Being polite to everyone and not just to who you like being polite to.

Treating everyone with respect regardless of who they are.

Not believing that you are somehow better than someone - you are not.

Being gentle and calm when speaking to others and not speaking aggressively under any circumstances.

If someone is rude to you, you don’t need to match their energies. I know this is really hard.

It’s something that I’ve really worked on for years and I’m still not perfect at it but I’m certainly much better.

I want my son to show all of these basic manners to others. It is very important to me. And I teach him everyday how he can show up in his daily life.

Everyday, he makes me so proud.

We all have times in our lives where we go through something or whatever. Still show manners otherwise just be quiet.

The Habs' Girls' 4+ Assessment results (2026 entry)

We prepared 8 girls for their 4+ at Habs. (2026 entry).

They all had between 1 -18 months of 4+ Assessment preparation. 5 girls have been offered a place to study at Habs.

My recommendation is at least 12 months of 4+ assessment preparation for Habs’ Girls’ School.

3 Key Reasons for Success

• Girls who perform highly across the board (in all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum) and thorough prep for both rounds.

• Regular communication between parents and teacher during the week between the lessons, parents taking on board feedback and putting it into place during the weeks.

• Consistent daily activity - Girls completing all of the home learning sent every single day in preparation for this assessment (or as close to this as possible!).

3 Key Reasons for Not Being Successful

Not thoroughly prepared in the 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum.

• Not able to answer questions at the level expected from the school

• Girls who needed to further develop their communication and language skills.

• Behavioural expectations not being met.

It is important to note that all of our girls’ parents put in hours of dedicated focused learning with their daughters over the course of their time preparing them for this assessment. They worked hard. They dedicated their time and attention to their daughters. They persevered when it got hard (It got hard countless times!). They trusted in the learning process and despite a lot of negativity from their nurseries/friends/families, they continued. I admire their dedication. They are my ideal clients. They are the clients we want to be working with.

Habs’ Girls’ is a highly competitive school at 4+ and we are delighted to have supported 8 beautiful girls this year to be more than ready for this school.

Will all 5 go to Habs’ Girls’ School?

Preparing for 2027 entry and beyond? Book your Sample Lesson Today.

The Westminster 4+ assessment report (2026 entry)

Over the course of 12-18 months we prepared 14 boys and girls for their 4+ assessment at Westminster.

It was the most misunderstood school by parents.

Because it was new, most parents chose to be blinded by confusion and most parents did not take the prep very seriously at all. Out of the 14 boys and girls, many started and stopped tuition, many cancelled lessons, many just simply did not put in the work required to actually be in with a chance of passing this 4+ assessment.

Remember.

500 applicants.

100 pass round 1.

32 pass round 2 (16 in each class).

Take it seriously for 2027 entry and beyond or please just do not bother. Do not bother myself or my teachers and do not bother your children with going into a 4+ at the likes of this school.

Out of the 14 parents that we supported, I’ve heard back from 7!

I will not be chasing the others.

Out of the 7 students 2 girls were prepared consistently by either myself or Emily and PASSED, 1 of the girls attended my one month success programme and PASSED. Out of the remaining 4, 3 children stopped and started tuition and had less than 3 months of 4+ assessment preparation. Those children did not pass the Westminster 4+ assessment. After writing this report, I heard back from one more client and her son was initially waitlisted and was then offered a place. So 4 of our students have been offered a place to study at Westminster for 2026 entry. This is incredible.

Obviously, I cannot count the 7 I’ve not heard back from! But I will assume they’ve not passed. Maybe I’m wrong. Let’s see - maybe they’ll respond back here!

My recommendation is at least 12 months of 4+ assessment preparation for The Westminster 4+ assessment.

3 Key Reasons for Success

Children who perform highly across the board (in all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum) and thorough prep for both rounds.

Regular communication between parents and teacher during the week between the lessons, parents taking on board feedback and putting it into place during the weeks.

Consistent daily activity - Children completing all of the home learning sent every single day in preparation for this assessment (or as close to this as possible!).

3 Key Reasons for Not Being Successful

Not thoroughly prepared in the 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum.

Not able to answer questions at the level expected from the school

Boys and girls who needed to further develop their communication and language skills.

It is important to note that all of our clients and students put in hours of dedicated focused learning with their sons over the course of their time preparing them for this assessment. They worked hard. They dedicated their time and attention to their sons. They persevered when it got hard (It got hard countless times!). They trusted in the learning process and despite a lot of negativity from their nurseries/friends/families, they continued. I admire their dedication. They are my ideal clients. They are the clients we want to be working with.

Westminster is a highly competitive school at 4+ and we are delighted to have supported so many children this year to be more than ready for this school. Will all 3 go to Westminster? I actually think only one of them will. Let’s wait and see.

Preparing for 2027 entry and beyond? Book your Sample Lesson Today.

The Habs' Boys' 4+ Assessment Report (2026 entry)

We prepared 9 boys for their 4+ at Habs. I’m still waiting to hear from one of my clients so I won’t count them in my results for now. (2026 entry). They all had between 1 -18 months of 4+ Assessment preparation.

My recommendation is at least 12 months of 4+ assessment preparation for Habs’ Boys’ School.

3 Key Reasons for Success

Boys who perform highly across the board (in all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum) and thorough prep for both rounds.

Regular communication between parents and teacher during the week between the lessons, parents taking on board feedback and putting it into place during the weeks.

Consistent daily activity - Boys completing all of the home learning sent every single day in preparation for this assessment (or as close to this as possible!).

3 Key Reasons for Not Being Successful

All of our boys have passed so far (that I have heard from!) but do not take this to mean that passing the 4+ assessment at Habs’ Boys’ School is ‘easy’. Far from it. it is really not an ‘easy’ assessment to pass. So do get that thought out of your heads. I have already spoken to a handful of parents whose sons have not passed this 4+ assessment. The boys who have not passed were:

Not thoroughly prepared in the 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum.

Not able to answer questions at the level expected from the school

Boys who needed to further develop their communication and language skills.

It is important to note that all of our boys’ parents put in hours of dedicated focused learning with their sons over the course of their time preparing them for this assessment. They worked hard. They dedicated their time and attention to their sons. They persevered when it got hard (It got hard countless times!). They trusted in the learning process and despite a lot of negativity from their nurseries/friends/families, they continued. I admire their dedication. They are my ideal clients. They are the clients we want to be working with.

Habs’ Boys’ is a highly competitive school at 4+ and we are delighted to have supported 9 gorgeous boys this year to be more than ready for this school. Will all 9 go to Habs’ Boys’ School? Let’s wait and see shall we?

Preparing for 2027 entry and beyond? Book your Sample Lesson Today.

Who are the boys who have passed their Habs’ Boys’ 7+ assessments?

They are the boys who met with their teachers every single week for at least 12 months (my recommendation is 24 months for the 7+ in general).

They are the boys who focused so well in the lessons and absorbed everything that was taught to them.

They are the boys who persevered when things got tough (they did get tough - often!)

They are the boys who understood exactly what was expected from them in both rounds.

They are the boys who were resilient and determined. They did not take the summer break off nor the Christmas break off!

Was it easy?

No, of course not.

Did we have huge ups and downs?

Yes, we did.

Did we give up?

No, we did not.

We kept going and we got the results!

We prepared 4 boys for their 7+ at Habs’ Boys’ School (2026 entry).

1 boy started assessment preparations exactly 2 years before the round 1 assessment in 2025. He passed and will be studying at Habs from September 2026.

1 boy started with us 1 year before the round 1 assessment in 2025. He passed and will be studying at Habs from September 2026.

2 boys started 3 months before the assessment. They did not pass.

Whether you like it or not, time matters when it comes to the 7+.

There is far too much to cover and it would be impossible for any child to cover all of the curriculum in just 3 months. In fact, I will not longer be offering this for the 7+ from this year. If parents want to start preparing their child correctly for the 7+, they can start with us 2 years before which is what I always recommend.

Even starting in Year 1 is far too late.

Why waste the whole of the Reception year? Why? Think carefully about your reason for doing this. Circumstances beyond our control can happen of course but usually it’s a case of not planning early enough. Usually it’s the case of ‘going with the flow’ and ‘seeing what will happen’ and then deciding far too late.

I’ll be publishing our 7+ report for Habs’ Boys’ and Habs’ Girls’ (2026 entry) this week.

Congratulations to our boys who will be studying at Haberdashers from September 2026.

Is it ‘abusive’ to prepare a child for a 4+ assessment?

The definition of abuse is someone causing us harm or distress.

So you answer the question I just asked you for yourself.

Is it ‘abusive’ to prepare a child for a 4+ assessment?

What a ridiculous question to even ask.

But I ask it for a reason.

I ask it to encourage you to really think carefully about other people who will JUDGE you and who will SHAME you when you tell them that you are preparing your child for a 4+ assessment.

I ask it to you to encourage you to really drown out that ridiculous noise (which makes zero sense by the way).

There is far too much arrogance around 4+ assessment success. There are far too many people telling lies to other people. There is far too much ignorance when it comes to the 4+ assessment process.

Basically what people really are telling you is this…

You are abusing your child by learning with them.

I’m not here to defend what we do and of course people are entitled to their opinions.

I have never abused my child and none of my clients ever have either. We adore our children just like all of you adore your children.

My son ADORES learning with me.

So if doing a puzzle, lego, reading, cutting or drawing with my son is abusive, why is it not abusive to send children to school for 6-9 hours a day?

Oh but that’s fine yeh?

Continue doing what you love doing. And if other people want to judge (they’ll judge you either way!) - let them!

Stop being so hard on yourselves.

I’ve been speaking to so many of you lately who are having to make huge decisions for your children’s education. And so many of you are being so hard on yourselves and I’m here to encourage you to not do that.

It’s easy to say.

It’s not easy to do.

I am also so hard on myself when it comes to my boy.

I want to make the ‘best’ decisions - as you all do.

But what is the ‘best’ decision is merely an illusion.

What if there really is not a ‘best’ decision to be made.

What if there is just a choice. A decision based on what we know about our child. Oh and by the way you know your child better than anyone else so do stop listening to your mother, your father, your sister or your brother and your well meaning friends and neighbours.

Just stop.

Drown out the noise.

You are the mother or the father.

You decide. And obviously your child will ultimately decide.

I have personally made the decision to home educate my child from September 2026 so he will essentially not be going to a formal Reception classroom. I have many reasons for this and I love my decisions.

My family and some of my friends do not.

And that is just fine. I’m not here to please them!

My son will have pretty much covered all of the EYFS curriculum by the time September hits so I do feel it’s pretty pointless to send him to a Reception classroom. We will be fully immersed into the Year 1 curriculum and beyond by September 2026. He will need social interactions - yes- I do know! He will be continuing ad hoc to go to his current nursery setting to have social time with his friends. He will also be enrolled onto several activities where he can make new friends and have time for social interaction.

If it the ‘right’ decision?

Only time will tell.

My son has already told me that he wants to ‘go to school!’

So if that’s the case, I will need to have a very open and honest discussion with him.

So if you are choosing the schools or the education paths for your children right now, please be kind, loving and full of compassion for yourselves.

Drown out the noise.

And stay fully focused on yourselves and your child.

Do what you think is best for your child. Not what anyone else tells you is best.

The Glendower 4+ Assessment Report (2026 entry)

We prepared 5 girls for their 4+ at Glendower. I’m still waiting to hear from one of my clients but so far all girls (4) have been offered a firm place to study at Glendower (2026 entry).

They all had between 3 -16 months of 4+ Assessment preparation. My recommendation is 12 months of 4+ assessment preparation.

It is not ‘easy’ to pass the 4+ assessment at Glendower and if you think this, you are so wrong. With a 1:5 chance of passing this 4+ assessment (they assess 200 girls each year), your daughter will need thorough preparation.

Three key reasons for success at Glendower:

• Girls who perform highly across the board (in all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum)

• Regular communication between parents and teacher during the week between the lessons.

• Consistent daily activity - Girls completing all of the home learning sent every single day in preparation for this assessment.

It is important to note that all of our girls’ parents put in hours of dedicated focused learning with their daughters over the course of their time preparing them for this assessment. They worked hard. They dedicated their time and attention to their daughters. They persevered when it got hard. They trusted in the learning process and despite a lot of negativity from their nurseries/friends/families, they continued. I admire their dedication. They are my ideal clients. They are the clients we want to be working with.

Key reasons for not being successful.

All of our girls have passed so far but do not take this to mean that passing the 4+ assessment at Glendower is ‘easy’. Far from it. With a 1:5 chance of passing, it is really not an ‘easy’ assessment to pass. It is also 100% not an ‘easy’ assessment. So do get that thought out of your heads. I have personally spoken to several parents who have called me to tell me that their daughters have not passed the Glendower 4+ assessments (not my clients) or have called me to tell me that their daughter has been waitlisted.

• Girls not thoroughly prepared in the 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum.

• Girls who were not able to answer questions at the level expected from Glendower.

• Girls who need to further develop their communication and language skills.

It is important to note that all of our girls’ parents put in hours of dedicated focused learning with their daughters over the course of their time preparing them for this assessment. They worked hard. They dedicated their time and attention to their daughters. They persevered when it got hard. They trusted in the learning process and despite a lot of negativity from their nurseries/friends/families, they continued. I admire their dedication. They are my ideal clients. They are the clients we want to be working with.

Glendower is a highly competitive school at 4+ and we are delighted to have supported 5 beautiful girls this year for this school. Will all 5 go to Glendower? Let’s wait and see shall we? We are still completing other assessments currently and patiently awaiting results.

Well done to our beautiful girls who have been offered a place to study at Glendower in September 2026. You are all amazing and we are delighted and thrilled for you all.

Preparing for Glendower for 2027 entry and beyond? Book your Sample Lesson Today.

How to FAIL for 4+ assessment success- part 2

What if you made a conscious decision way before the 4+ assessments take place that even if your child does ‘fail’ an assessment that you will still be fully there for yourself and for your child. That you won’t make it mean a single thing about your child and about yourself.

There is 100% nothing wrong with your child if they do not pass a 4+ assessment.

It’s just that there will be hundreds of children that will NOT pass a 4+ assessment. If you are aware of this ahead of time, you will go into the process with a lot more calm.

What if you made a conscious decision way before the 4+ assessments take place that even if your child does ‘fail’ that you will still be kind, loving and respectful to yourselves. What if you decided that even if your child does ‘fail’ that you will not QUIT. Instead you will keep going?

So many of you (sadly) stop taking action completely because you are so afraid of this presumed ‘failure’.

But it is really important to remember this.

In order to have success, you must have failure.

Failure builds strength and confidence in both yourself and your child.

The more you fail, the more willing you will be to fail.

As a child and a young adult, I was super resistant to failure and it really held me back in more devastating and catastrophic ways than you can ever imagine. As I said, I do not dwell in the past. Rather I learn from it.

When I worked in schools, I saw this trait in many of my colleagues. They did not want to fail. Whatever that meant for them. In turn they did not want their students to fail. They would get cross with me when I would encourage their students to fail more! They simply didn’t like it or understand it!

I was the opposite (not initially however!). I failed fast. I failed often. My students did the same.

My classes were always the top classes with the best results. And do you know why?

Simply because we learnt to embrace failure.

Come out of your fake comfort zones and fail more. It doesn’t feel good in the moment. But your lives will be far more interesting and fulfilling with greater levels of failure.

And if your child ‘fails’, as in if your child is not offered a place at one of your dream schools? Don’t STOP. Keep moving. Keep going. Keep learning. There will be other chances to try again.

But guess what? If you STOP - most likely there won’t be.

Join my FREE Webinar - The 4+ Success Engine on Saturday January 31st at 3pm to learn the TRUTH that could change everything (you think) you know about the 4+ assessments.

As part of joining the FREE Webinar, you will also receive the opportunity to meet with me daily in your very own Private Live Q&A’s which will take place every day from WC 26/1/26.

Do not miss out! I rarely do these - and for FREE.

Learn how to FAIL for 4+ assessment success- PART 1

Most parents don’t achieve their 4+ dreams because they don’t want their child to ‘fail’.

Most parents don’t achieve their 4+ dreams because they have too much ego to admit to others that their child was ‘unsuccessful’.

Most of us do not like to fail.

I do not like to fail!

But…

I’ve learnt over the years to embrace failure. To become friends with failure. To sit with failure daily.

Failure simply means that something did not turn out as you expected it to.

Many parents lower their 4+ expectations because they want to avoid failure. And that’s up to them of course! No judgement at all. I didn’t send my son to one single 4+ assessment either (not because I was afraid of him failing however). Many parents do not want to feel the feelings that they will have to feel if their child ‘fails’.

One of my clients put it very well in a conversation we had last week.

She very wisely said this.

‘If she didn’t pass it is simply because the school is not right for her.’

So true. Their loss. 100%.

We are in charge of how we feel. If you go into this process knowing this, you are golden.

‘If you want success, you need to double your rate of failure’ - Thomas Watson.

The better you become at failure the better you’ll become at meeting your expectations.

And what an amazing life skill to teach your children.

Failing.

I guarantee they will be far more successful than the children who are taught to get things right all the time.

That’s what I was taught and guess what?

I only started being successful when I let go of that ridiculous notion.

I don’t look back. I look forwards. And I know that at the rate I fail, I will be incredibly successful. Just as my students who ‘fail’ every single day will be.

Book your FREE Assessment Consultation Discovery Call today

A single thought can sabotage your 4+ assessment success

Here are just 10 top thought saboteurs that can completely derail your 4+ assessment success...

1. I don’t need to prepare him/her

2. It’s just a 4+ assessment

3. He/she is only 2/3/4

4. How hard can it be?

5. My child will be just fine

6. He/she won’t need to know how to read

7. He/she won’t need to know how to write

8. They will see just how amazing he/she is.

9. Why should I spend money preparing my 2/3/4 year old for a silly little assessment.

10. This is just ridiculous.

I could give you 100 more but I simply don’t have time!

The reason our students have the incredible success that they have in their 4+ assessments is because we take action. We don’t waste our time on pointless thoughts. We don’t procrastinate and we definitely do not listen to mumsnet or our neighbour down the road. We have too much to do to waste time on that nonsense.

Taking massive action is what truly sets us apart from other parents embarking on this 4+ journey.

It really is very simple. How you think about 4+ assessment success will determine how successful your child will be - and then obviously how your child does on the day!

The thoughts you have about the 4+ will either be your driving force or they will completely stall you.

You must really pay attention to your thoughts along this 4+ assessment prep journey.

You need to think about how you can use your thoughts to drive you forwards and create the success your child deserves to have.

Thoughts like the following 3 can be far more helpful than the ones above:

1. I understand that this process is highly competitive and I will go all in to make sure that my child will go into any assessment and truly shine.

2. I will make a clear and structured plan that will support my child with their learning every single day.

3. I will allocate 3.5 hours per week to work on my child’s learning.

Do not sabotage your chances for success.

Take time to understand this highly complex process and then go all in to prepare your child.

Book your Sample lesson today.

You cannot prepare for the 4+ assessments the day or the week before.

Parents keep contacting me and asking me which activities they should be doing with their children in preparation for the second round assessments this week and next week.

That’s not how it works.

If that was how it works, I would have week long programmes rather than year long programmes.

Parents all over the country right now are frantically trying to find out what has come up in the 4+ assessments and quite frankly, it won’t help them.

Cramming never works.

People can tell you - ‘Reading came up, cvc words came up, writing came up and numbers to 20 came up!’ for example and so what?

What will you do with this information?

Get out some books and read to your child?

Show them some random cvc words and get them to read them?

Get them to write?

Get them to practise numbers 1-20?

Will that really be helpful?

Think carefully about it.

It won’t be. In fact it will probably just irritate your child. I’m here to build a love for learning across this country and not an annoyance towards it.

Learning is slow and steady. Learning is definitely not a sprint.

Especially at this very young age. Learning can also be very mood dependent at the age of 3 and 4. My son might be in the mood to do learning one day and really not on the next day. I never force learning. I let it flow very naturally.

Preparing for the 4+ assessments the day or the week before for top schools will never work. And if it does work for you, you are the exception and not the rule. And to be honest, I wouldn’t brag about it either. And if it does ‘work for you’, it’s because your son or your daughter was already more than ready for their second round 4+ assessment and definitely not because of the last minute learning you did with them.

All the best to all of our amazing clients patiently awaiting their 4+ assessment results. We have a few more next week and then we are done. Now to prepare our new cohort of students, many who started a whole year ago!

There is no GUARANTEE your child will pass their 4+ assessments.

It’s interesting because people rarely shout about the fact that their children have not passed their 4+ assessments and obviously all of these tutoring agencies want to show you how amazing they are and the results that they get. No one is really out there shouting about the children who have not passed their 4+ assessments.

But I’m here to tell you that children actually do not pass their 4+ assessments.

Shocking?

No. Not really.

If you truly understand this process, you will know that this is not shocking at all. This is a highly competitive process. This is a very complex process and one that needs dedicated and focused time and attention.

So when I speak to parents (I speak to at least 10 parents a day now and my team speak to some too!) and they tell me that they do not need to prepare for the 4+ assessments, it makes me very confused.

What makes them think this?

I think it’s because it is a well guarded secret when children are not successful in their 4+ assessments. After all, none of us want to openly speak about our children being ‘unsuccessful’. Many parents don’t even tell anyone that they are going through this process - which is wise by the way! I believe it’s fine to speak about my child being successful and being unsuccessful because I believe that life will always be 50/50. It is 50/50 for me and it will be 50/50 for him.

I think it’s important we speak the absolute truth about the 4+ assessment process so that parents can truly understand how difficult and highly complex this process is and prepare their children in the best possible way.

Know that there are children who pass.

And there are children who do not pass.

Then go all in to ensure that you do everything, and I mean everything in your power to prepare your child to go into any 4+ assessment and have the highest possible chances for success.

The biggest problem I've seen with 4+ Assessment Preparations this Year (2026 entry)

This year has been really eye-opening for me.

You see. this beautiful business grew to levels I didn’t even envision.

We have supported even more parents to be incredibly successful with their children’s 4+ assessments (over 100 children last year).

Preparing for the 4+ Assessments takes a lot of:

TIME

EFFORT

DEDICATION

5% of you are willing to invest in all three of these.

95% of you would prefer to delegate these to someone else.

And it just doesn’t work that way.

You say you put in the work to prepare your child for their 4+ assessments but what you perhaps did was hire an early years teacher who lived local to you and had the ability to come to your home once a week and ask them to prepare your child. Were you in there with your child and this teacher observing exactly what was going on? Were you in there making sure that all 7 area of the EYFS curriculum were being covered? Were you making sure your child had enough learning to get on with during the weeks between seeing your teacher?

YOU have to be willing to put in the work.

Obviously your teacher needs to be putting in the work too - but not just them. This is a team effort.

So when I speak to parents who tell me - ‘I just don’t have time to sit with my child every day!’ and ‘I work and they are at nursery every day!’ those are my red flags. Those parents will never be clients of CMT.

Listen up - I work every day and my son is pretty much at nursery every day full time AND I choose to put in the work to do quality learning with him every single day. It is my choice. And ultimately, it it the choice that over one hundred clients have made this year who have worked with us to prepare their children to be beyond ready for their 4+ assessments.

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There will be THOSE THAT PASS and THOSE WHO DO NOT.

And if you don’t like that, then do not send your child to a 4+ assessment.

I chose not to send my son to a 4+ assessment (he is currently 3.5 years old and will be 4 in July). He would have also been 2026 entry. Not because I was afraid of him not passing (I knew that would be a possibility!) but because I will be home educating him at least in his early years.

I get it though. I take rejection very personally when it comes to my boy - and I know many of you (in fact most of you) do too.

Careful.

I see some rather unpleasant sights at the moment.

I also see humility. I see parents whose children have not passed their 4+ assessments and they take it as a learning experience. They don’t take it personally. There isn’t all this ego around it as I see around some of you. I also see humility from some of you whose children have passed but you don’t go around boasting about it. You keep it to yourselves and this is how it should be- to be quite frank.

Some of you are taking the rejection very personally.

You take it to mean that there is something wrong with your child. There is not.

You are wrong there. There is absolutely nothing ‘wrong’ with your 3 or 4 year old child.

It’s just that this is a competition.

A very complex and difficult competition and sadly one that some of you (most of you) don’t really care about trying to understand.

I will continue to try my best to teach you about it and if you want to listen to me, you will learn more about it and at the very least be empowered by having that knowledge.

Preparing your child to the best of your ability is the best way to guarantee success in the 4+ assessment process.

Can you guarantee that your child will pass? Of course not.

That will be up to your child and how they do on the day. Will they meet the threshold percentage to pass the assessment that they attended? Only they can do that.

But they can only do that by being supported with having the skills that they need to be able to demonstrate in order to ultimately be able to pass and be offered a place.

The JAGS 4+ Assessment Update 2026

The Jags 4+ assessment was last week.

We prepared 3 girls for their 4+ at this very popular school.

I strongly believe that they have all done incredibly well.

Our girls who attended their 4+ had varying time frames of tuition ranging from 3 months to 12 months of 4+ assessment preparation. Based on how challenging the assessment was this year, I strong recommend that you have the full 12 months of Assessment prep for Jags. So the time to start is now!

Fascinating that everything that came up in the JAGS 4+ assessment was everything that our students had covered with us apart from one word that they were asked to read, everything else that we covered in our bespoke Curriculum Programmes came up.

Do you know why that is?

It’s because we have prepared our girls for the 4+ at JAGS for nearly 20 years.

So what actually came up in the JAGS 4+ assessment?

Do you really think that I would reveal that here? Absolutely not!

But what I will reveal is this…

Your daughter MUST cover all 7 areas of the EYFS consistently and frequently over the course of 12 months at a minimum. If you can have longer- better.

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Don't get lost in the 4+ maze of LIES and DECEIT

Deceiving someone means to conceal or to misrepresent the truth.

There’s a lot of that going on currently in the 4+ world.

This is just sad. Very sad. Heart breaking actually.

One of my clients told me yesterday that it was a ‘blood bath’. Another client told me that parents were flat out lying, deceiving and being fake.

I want no part of this.

And I feel compassion for every single one of you who is going through this 4+ assessment process because ultimately all you truly desire is the best of the best for your child. I do too. And I fully know how hard this is and how confusing it can be and how completely overwhelming you might be feeling. I feel it too.

But there are too many lies going around and I will be blocking and deleting certain followers who have insulted myself and my clients deeply with some of their vicious lies. It is wrong. I will have no part of it.

Listen up, if you want to listen to someone who has supported thousands of children to gain entry into top schools such as Habs (boys and girls), NLCS and South Hampstead at 4+ (to name very few), listen very carefully. If a child passes their 4+ assessment (at most schools) it is because they have shown exceptional academic and behavioural capability and capacity.

Merely setting foot into a 4+ assessment does NOT guarantee a place at that school. These top schools will have their own complex criteria that your child has to meet in order to pass their 4+ assessment at that school. Your child will need to meet a certain percentage threshold in order to actually pass their 4+ assessments.

And careful as people will literally lie to you and tell you that their child has passed when really they have not. Call it pride or whatever you want, this is so wrong. You are deceiving parents - stop it. Tell the truth.

People will lie to you and tell you to send your child in unprepared. You are deceiving parents - stop it. Tell the truth.

Please will lie to you and tell you that because of VAT these schools are desperate for kids (heads up, they’re not desperate for anything or anyone). You are deceiving parents - stop it. Tell the truth.

Don't get lost in the 4+ maze of LIES and DECEIT.

Work with teachers who actually know how to support all of their students to have tremendous success in their 4+ assessments.

Book your Sample Lesson today.