You want your child prepared for the grammar or independent school test, not drilled to the point they dread Saturday mornings.
A 40-minute consultation. Joe calls you back within one working day, then sends two or three tutors with free trial calls.
From enquiry to first session
When you get in touch, Joe calls you back to find a time that works. The consultation is a proper forty-minute conversation about your child, the schools you're aiming at, which test they'll sit and how they're finding the practice so far. From there he starts thinking about which tutors would fit.
Joe sends a short list of tutors he thinks could work for your child, and each one offers a free trial call. You get to meet them, see how they explain a tricky question and, just as importantly, see who your child actually warms to. No commitment after, no card details, no pressure.
You choose the tutor who feels right for your child, and weekly sessions start on Lessonspace, our shared online whiteboard. You pay per session, there are no contracts, and if it ever stops working, you stop.
Why us
A 20-second video from Joe on how The Degree Gap process actually works, from your first call to the tutor your child sits with.
Book your free call with Joe
The hardest part of finding an 11+ tutor is usually the not knowing, a name off a directory, a profile you can't really read. We took that part out. Harry and Joe interview every tutor on the platform personally, and only about one applicant in thirty makes it through, so by the time a name reaches you it has already been past people who know what the 11+ actually tests and how a young child copes with it.
The 11+ isn't one exam. A GL grammar paper, an ISEB pre-test for an independent school and a school's own written paper ask for different things, and preparing for the wrong format wastes the months you've got. If you're not sure which one your child will sit, Joe works it out with you on the first call, before any tutor is matched.
Most parents who reach us can't quite name what's wrong, only that their child is bright and the practice papers keep going badly, or that the nerves are the real problem. That's what the call with Joe is for. A proper conversation about the target schools, where your child is now and how they handle a bit of pressure. From there he puts together a short list of tutors who suit a child of that age.
Verified Google reviews
Real reviews from real Degree Gap families, all verified on Google. We picked ones that speak to what matters most when a young child is preparing for something this big: patience, steadiness, and a tutor who takes the pressure down rather than piling it on.
Our tutor is simply amazing with our daughter. He understands her completely and her sessions are helping her with her school work so much. We cannot thank him enough.
This company helped us find a tutor for Geography and my son has excelled so much in just a few months. Our tutor has gone above and beyond, demonstrating incredible patience and encouraging my son to believe in himself. He also manages neurodiversity effectively.
My granddaughter uses the Degree Gap tutoring services across a few subjects. She is not only improving academically but really enjoys the setup and structure too. I would recommend to anyone.
Who runs The Degree Gap
We're Harry and Joe, the co-founders of The Degree Gap. We started this because we kept watching the same thing happen. Bright children were quietly getting lost in a class of thirty, where the pace and the attention couldn't match what any one child actually needed. So we built one-to-one tutoring around the child, matched to the schools they're aiming at and the way they learn. Between us we've spent more than five thousand hours teaching one-to-one, and we hold a firm view on what actually helps a ten-year-old walk into an 11+ exam calm rather than rattled.
Book your free call with JoeJoe will call you back within one working day to set up a 40-minute consultation. He'll ask which schools you're targeting, which test your child will sit and how the practice is going so far, then send you two or three tutors with free trial calls so you can pick the one your child clicks with. If he doesn't think tutoring is the right move yet, he'll tell you that too.
It depends on the child and the test date, but most families we work with start in Year 5, sometimes the year before. There's no prize for starting at seven. Going too hard too early is how a bright child ends up dreading the whole thing. A steady hour a week, built around where your child actually needs the work, does more than months of daily papers.
That comes down to your region and the schools you're aiming at. Some grammar consortiums use GL, many independent schools use the ISEB Common Pre-Test, and some schools set their own papers on top. If you're not sure, Joe will help you work it out on the first call, and we match your child with a tutor who knows that format.
Past papers matter, but on their own they're not enough, and doing nothing but papers is how children burn out. The bigger wins are usually technique and timing, spotting the pattern in a non-verbal question quickly, reading a comprehension for the inference rather than the surface, staying calm when the clock is running. We build those first, then use papers to check they've landed.
Yes, and it's one of the most common reasons parents come to us at this age. A child can know the material and still freeze the moment a timer starts. Tutors bring the timing in gradually rather than all at once, so your child gets used to the pressure in small steps instead of meeting it cold on exam day.
All sessions run on Lessonspace, our shared online whiteboard, where the tutor and your child work through questions together on screen. Most children settle into it quickly, and one-to-one online holds their attention better than you'd expect at this age. We do not do in-person.
Yes. The 40-minute consultation with Joe is free. The trial calls with the tutors he suggests are free too. You only start paying once you've chosen a tutor and weekly sessions begin. No catch, no card details up front.
One free 40-minute call with Joe. Trial two or three tutors before you pay a penny.
Book your free call with Joe