As an 11 plus exam tutor, I regularly see the the upside and the downside of the 11 plus frenzy.

On the upside, there's the excitement of preparing for the exams, the curiosity of whether your child (or student) will pass and the potential for a child's life to be changed when they obtain a place at their dream school.

However, there's a very big downside.

The endless worry of whether your child will obtain a place. The anguish of watching them go through one of the toughest learning experiences of their life and the fear that they might not do as well as expected.

It's a roller coaster ride that doesn't end until your answers have been resolved.

At this time of year parents wonder whether their child is ready for the exams and this is usually the period where tutors like myself, receive the greatest level of enquiries.

My inbox is flooded with requests and my waiting list is jam packed.

It's that time when parents, teachers, tutors and students worry constantly about the exams.

So how do you know if your child is ready?

There are three simple signs that shed light on how prepared your child is.

1. They know all of the VR types.

2. They know the exam entails- they know whether they're sitting the English, Maths, NVR and/or Verbal Reasoning paper.

3. They've done heaps of practice and are scoring at least 85% on average. Scoring less than this at this stage is a cause for concern in my opinion. If your child isn't hitting the 85% mark, it's a sign that they definitely need to do more practice.

For parents who are teaching their child themselves and aren't hiring a tutor, I strongly recommend buying/downloading as many of the 11 plus practice papers as possible.

If you're a parent who really wants to their child to succeed in the exams then I suggest signing up to the early access list for my 11+ success book. The book is a guide for parents who want to learn about what it really takes to get your child into a top school.

In the book, I spill the beans on all of my top tips, recommendations and advice which is all based on years of preparing students for the exams.

Click here to sign up to the early access list (just enter your name and email and click the 'sign up' button). Once the book is complete, I'll email you the link to download it for FREE.

If you'd like to ask a question about the 11+ exams, leave a comment below.

The Tutoress.