On 15th April 2026, the seven Gloucestershire Grammar Schools (G7) appointed Future Stories Community Enterprise (FSCE) as their new admissions test provider for entry to Year 7 from 2028 onwards.
This is a move that we anticipated, though we admittedly did not expect the change to happen so soon.
Ultimately, we welcome this change. FSCE changes the landscape of the 11+ entrance exams and opens so many new doors. It champions more than just box-ticking Maths and English skills, but also logic, curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity.
This is unchartered territory. For parents, it changes the way they look at tuition and how they prepare their children for the entrance exam. For children, it changes what is being asked of them. For us here at 11PlusLeap, it changes the way we write content.
Until now, we have prided ourselves on creating valuable practice materials to help prepare children for the 11+ entrance exams. We write high-quality, authentic content and sell it at an extremely competitive and accessible price.
FSCE, however, intentionally make it impossible for anyone to create practice materials for their exam. They themselves say, ‘No teacher, tutor or parent can know what will be on the test. FSCE does not issue past papers and our test content changes every year’.
So, where does that leave us at 11PlusLeap?
Well, there’s still a great deal of work to be done! In some areas, very little will change. English, Maths, Vocabulary, Spelling, and Grammar, all still play integral parts in entrance exams. Alongside this, we will be expanding into new territories with our content, touching on Art and Design, IT, PE, Science, Music, History, Geography, Computing, Design and Technology, etc.
FSCE ‘want to assess resilient thinkers, not just robots.’ We feel, as a tuition company, that our values are aligned with FSCE here. We have always encouraged children to read, parents to ask questions about what they’re reading, and to really engage with children.
Our approach will shift slightly in that we will no longer focus on preparing children by creating content that they’re most likely to face in the real exam. We can’t create truly authentic practice papers because it won’t be possible to do so. If any tutor claims to be able to deliver accurate materials that will cover the content of the FSCE exams, they aren’t telling the truth.
Instead, we will be exploring various subjects and fostering a sense of curiosity and critical thinking in an effort to build their confidence and creativity. This way, when confronted with unexpected situations and questions they aren’t prepared for, they can respond proactively and positively.
