Find a 13 Plus Creative Writing Tutor

There is no single UK “13 Plus Creative Writing exam”. ISEB Common Entrance has a defined Writing paper, while individual schools may set their own admissions tasks and scholarship papers may use a different structure again. The most useful first step is to identify the target school, admissions pathway, entry year, assessment date and current official materials.

Starting with the assessment pathway makes tutor comparison more meaningful. Families can look for relevant recent experience, a suitable feedback style and support for the pupil’s actual writing needs rather than choosing on one broad label alone. One-to-one tuition can be especially useful where a pupil needs individual diagnosis, assessment-specific practice, regular feedback or accountability. Where the need is narrow and school support is already clear, focused self-study may be enough.

This page concerns 13+ senior-school admissions, not Year 13 study or a standard qualification resit. Families considering a later or repeat assessment should use the target school’s current admissions information.

There is no single fixed price for 13+ Creative Writing tuition. Tutors set their own rates, so the current figure shown on each profile is the price to compare. Latimer presently gives typical bands of £20–£30 per hour for several student, graduate, teaching-assistant and full-time-tutor categories, and £25–£50 per hour for current or retired teachers, examiners and lecturers.

Price and title are only part of the decision. A qualified teacher may bring formal classroom experience; a creative-writing specialist may be strong on voice and narrative craft; an examiner may understand assessment language. The important question is which part of that background applies to the pupil’s actual 13+ assessment and required writing forms.

Latimer currently describes tuition as pay-as-you-go rather than a mandatory package and states, “The price we present is the price you pay.” Current profile rates and terms should be used when a family makes its comparison.

Latimer describes its service as online first. For Creative Writing, an online lesson can use a shared document, screen sharing and live annotation to review planning, structure, sentence control and redrafting. Timed work can be completed during the session or reviewed afterwards, with expectations for homework and parent updates agreed with the chosen tutor.

Many families search for a 13 Plus Creative Writing tutor near them, but online tuition makes it possible to compare suitable tutors nationally rather than being limited to a postcode. In-person lessons may sometimes be arranged where tutor and family are geographically close, but availability cannot be assumed in every town.

A group course, workbook, school intervention or self-study plan can suit a pupil with a clear, limited need. One-to-one tutoring is most distinctive when the pupil needs individual diagnosis, assessment-specific practice and feedback on repeated writing. Once the assessment is known, current official specimen papers and school materials are more useful than generic worksheets alone.

A useful tutor profile shows evidence that relates to the pupil’s assessment. QTS or a PGCE can indicate formal teaching experience; creative-writing expertise can support voice, character and style; entrance-assessment experience can help with current formats and timing; and examiner experience is useful only where it relates to the assessment being prepared for. No single label proves the best fit on its own.

For younger learners, Latimer’s current safeguarding policy describes remote lessons taking place on an agreed platform such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet. It says a parent or guardian should know the lesson time and platform and remain available nearby. The policy describes checks according to the role and legal eligibility, so families should rely on its current wording rather than assume one blanket DBS description applies in every case.

Tutoring can support understanding, practice, feedback, confidence and performance under timed conditions. It cannot guarantee admission, a scholarship or a particular mark. Families should compare current profile evidence, ask assessment-specific questions and use the published safeguarding information when deciding.

The target school and admissions pathway control the stage, format and date. Common Entrance is one pathway, not a universal description of every 13+ assessment. Named schools below are examples of how current processes can differ.

Charterhouse currently uses school-set creative writing within several 13+ pathways and states, “The written assessment will be a piece of creative writing.” Its published 2026 dates for one Year 8 pathway are school-specific. Westminster’s current process shows that further English assessment for 13+ entry can take place in Year 6. Eton’s published scholarship archive shows that English-paper structures can change over time.

These examples make one preparation rule especially important: use the current information and materials for the pupil’s actual school and assessment rather than treating an older paper or a generic 13+ task as universal.

For ISEB Common Entrance, the currently linked English specification gives the Writing paper 50 marks and 1 hour 15 minutes. Candidates choose two tasks from four. The possible forms include narrative, descriptive writing or report, a persuasive speech and a letter discussing an issue and making recommendations.

ISEB divides the marks into Response, worth 30, and Language, worth 20. Response covers use of the task, organisation and structure, suitable form and purpose, perspective, voice and register. Language covers spelling, punctuation, sentence variety, precise and controlled expression, and consistent tense.

ISEB describes the aim as “original creative work in the form of their choice within the limitation of a timed examination.” That balance of choice and control is why preparation should include task selection, planning, writing and checking under realistic conditions. Reading may be Core or Foundation, but all candidates take Writing; there is no separate Foundation or Higher Writing tier.

As reviewed on 11 August 2026, ISEB lists Common Entrance 13+ written examination windows of 2–6 November 2026, 25–29 January 2027 and 7–11 June 2027. These are session windows, not exact universal English Writing dates. The senior school decides which session, if any, applies to its candidates.

ISEB provides free specimen papers and explains how families and schools can access further past-paper resources. For a school-set or scholarship assessment, use the target school’s current published materials. Do not assume that the newest restricted paper is available to tutors, and do not use an older scholarship paper as though its structure remains current.

The English specification currently linked by ISEB is labelled September 2020 and says specifications can be updated. Dates, specification wording and school links should therefore be reviewed whenever the admissions cycle changes.

“Improve creative writing” is too broad to guide a useful lesson. A tutor can identify whether the main difficulty lies in understanding the task, selecting and organising ideas, controlling form and audience, sustaining voice and perspective, or writing accurately under time pressure.

For ISEB preparation, the Response and Language categories provide a practical diagnostic lens. The same distinction is also useful for many school-set tasks: one pupil may have vivid ideas but weak structure, while another may plan well but lose control of sentence boundaries, punctuation or tense.

Strong preparation values precise and appropriate vocabulary rather than forced “ambitious words”. It can also use wide reading, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading to build control. England’s KS3 English programme provides useful context for those wider writing habits, but it is not a specification for every independent-school admissions test.

Preparation can serve a wider purpose than one admissions paper. Planning ideas, adapting voice and form to an audience, organising a response, drafting, editing and proofreading are useful across secondary English and wider written communication.

Wide reading and attention to writers’ craft can also give pupils more flexible choices of vocabulary, structure and viewpoint. The goal is not to fill writing with decorative language, but to communicate clearly, precisely and appropriately—including when time is limited.

For Common Entrance, the relevant senior school decides access arrangements using evidence of need and the pupil’s normal way of working. A tutor cannot grant extra time, rest breaks or another arrangement. A decision made for Common Entrance does not automatically apply to a school’s own entrance test, GCSEs, A levels or other assessments.

ISEB currently states that qualifying candidates whose mother tongue is not English may use an English-to-mother-tongue dictionary and receive up to 10% extra time if they have studied through English for less than three years, subject to advance agreement with the first-choice senior school. This is a Common Entrance condition, not a rule for every school-set test.

A tutor can adapt explanations, practice, pacing and approved routines to the pupil’s needs. For an overseas or international-school family, the starting point remains the target school’s current admissions process and access rules; EAL arrangements and curriculum coverage vary by school and assessment.

The pupil should remain the author. A tutor can model a technique, ask questions, annotate practice, explain where a paragraph loses focus, demonstrate an alternative sentence and invite a redraft. The tutor should not create work to be presented as the pupil’s own.

Effective tuition moves beyond passive homework completion. It diagnoses patterns, models an approach, gives guided practice, provides focused feedback and gradually expects the pupil to plan, check and reflect more independently. An error log and purposeful redrafting can help the pupil recognise recurring issues without becoming dependent on constant tutor intervention.

Better control, confidence and preparation are realistic aims. No tutor can guarantee admission, a scholarship, a score or a particular mark.

Current profile cards can help families compare subject and level coverage, background, rate and enquiry status, but those details can change. Confirm that Creative Writing and 13+ apply together, then ask whether the tutor can offer a consistent slot through the assessment date.

The strongest questions test assessment fit and teaching method rather than relying on a title alone. Agree homework, lesson reports, parent communication and cancellation terms before regular lessons begin.

This page was reviewed on 11 August 2026. Assessment formats, school dates, tutor rates, availability and commercial terms can change. ISEB and the target school are the appropriate authorities for assessment details; current tutor cards show profile information, while the tutor should confirm the schedule directly.

Before relying on date-sensitive information, use the current ISEB timetable and the target school’s admissions page. Current Latimer process, payment and safeguarding details are set out on the linked first-party pages. Tutor availability should be read from current profile cards rather than assuming a fixed update schedule.