The Bloom System
A documented system, not ad-hoc tutoring.
Most tutoring is a worksheet and good intentions. Ours is a written curriculum with a clear path from teaching a skill to proving it on a timed, full-length GL-format paper — and a live dashboard that shows exactly where your child stands, term by term. It is the evidence-led discipline we sat these exams under ourselves not long ago, and hold to the same standard as our finance careers.
Applying is free and takes no payment. Or see fees & programmes
The curriculum
Four strands, taught in full
The Redbridge GL exam is two papers covering four distinct skill sets. We teach all four deliberately — none is left to chance or ‘natural ability’.
English
EngComprehension, vocabulary and spelling, punctuation & grammar — the backbone of Paper 1.
We build reading age first, then drill the question types GL actually asks: inference, retrieval, word meaning in context and SPaG.
Verbal Reasoning
VRThe 21 GL verbal-reasoning question types — from codes and letter sequences to compound words and logic.
Taught one type at a time, then drilled to timed automaticity so nothing is met cold in the exam.
Maths
MathsThe full Key Stage 2 syllabus plus the applied, multi-step problems GL favours.
Concept taught, then speed-built — mental fluency and method, then timed mixed-topic papers.
Non-Verbal / Spatial
NVRNon-verbal and spatial reasoning: sequences, matrices, rotations, reflections and folding.
Pattern types are made explicit and rehearsed, turning ‘guessable’ questions into reliable marks.
Paper 1 carries English and Verbal Reasoning; Paper 2 carries Maths and Non-Verbal / Spatial. Both are entirely multiple-choice and age-standardised, with a qualifying floor of 104.
Verbal reasoning
Taught type by type, drilled to timed automaticity
Verbal reasoning is where well-prepared children pull clear. There are around 21 recurring GL question types — and almost none of them are intuitive the first time.
- Each type is introduced on its own: the pattern, the fastest method, and the trap that catches most children.
- We then drill it in short timed sets until the method is automatic — no working from first principles in the exam.
- Types are interleaved and re-tested so they stick under the pressure of a full mixed paper.
- By September, every type has been met dozens of times — nothing is encountered cold on exam day.
Because GL papers are multiple-choice and tightly timed, accuracy without speed is not enough. Automaticity is the goal: recognise the type, recall the method, commit the answer — and move on.
The Bloom System
Measured, tracked and taught to the child.
Most centres teach to the room. We teach to the child. Every pupil is diagnosed, tracked across four strands, and given work aimed squarely at their weakest topics — with a dashboard that keeps you in the loop the whole way.
Diagnostic assessment
Every child begins with a full diagnostic that pinpoints strengths and gaps down to the individual topic — not just “Maths”, but “fractions”.
Four strands, tracked
Every mock and piece of homework updates a live profile across English, Verbal Reasoning, Maths and Non-Verbal — measured on the same scale as the exam.
Targeted homework
No generic worksheets. Each child’s homework is built to attack their weakest areas first, then feeds fresh data straight back into the profile.
Parent dashboard
Clear, regular progress you can read at a glance — so you always know where your child stands and what we’re working on next.
Bloom Dashboard · Illustrative parent view
Your child’s four strands
Illustrative layout — a sample of the parent view. Not a real pupil’s data.
The resource ladder
From first lesson to full exam-format paper
Every skill climbs the same five rungs — so a child only meets a full exam-format paper once the underlying methods are secure and fast.
Teach the type
Every question type is introduced explicitly — the underlying pattern, the method, and the common traps — before any paper is attempted.
Speed drills
Short, focused sets that turn a learned method into automatic recall. We track accuracy and time until the type is fast and dependable.
Full papers
Mixed-topic, full-length papers under the real time limit, so pacing and stamina are practised — not just isolated skills.
GL-format mocks
Full-length GL-format mocks benchmarked to a national standard, in the real answer-sheet layout and timing, so the September test feels familiar rather than foreign.
Adaptive homework
Between sessions, homework adapts to each child’s weak types — closing gaps and feeding fresh data straight into the dashboard.
Measurement
Termly benchmark re-tests and reports
Progress you can’t measure is progress you can’t trust. Every term, each child sits a fresh, full benchmark under exam conditions.
- Full, timed re-tests each term — not casual quizzes — scored on the same age-standardised scale as the real exam.
- A written report per strand: where your child sits now, what changed since last term, and exactly what we’re working on next.
- Streaming and homework are adjusted from the data, so teaching always targets the current weak points.
- Every score lands in the live dashboard, plotted against the 104 qualifying floor and the 115–125 offer zone.
What the numbers mean
- Qualifying floor — eligibility only, not a place104
- Realistic offer zone — where in-catchment offers actually land115–125
We are honest about catchment: for in-catchment families the lead grammars are Ilford County High (boys) and Woodford County High (girls). Out-of-catchment, we openly steer families towards Essex CSSE grammars and independent-school routes instead.
Exam technique
The multiple-choice marks most children leave on the table
The GL exam is machine-marked and entirely multiple-choice. Knowing the content is necessary — but technique is what converts knowledge into a standardised score.
Answer-sheet transfer, drilled separately
Every GL paper is machine-marked, so a correct answer in the wrong row is a lost mark. We practise transferring under time until it is second nature.
Pacing by the clock
Children learn to budget seconds per question, leave nothing blank, and recognise when to move on rather than sink time into one hard item.
Intelligent guessing
GL has no negative marking, so we teach eliminate-then-commit — narrow the options, take the best remaining answer, and never leave a bubble empty.
Pre-flight checks
Name and candidate number, reading the instructions once carefully, and keeping the answer line aligned with the question number throughout.
Small groups — never more than eight, most just six — mean we can watch each child’s technique under the clock and correct it session by session, not at the end of the year.
See the system work for your child.
Applying is free and takes no payment — tell us about your child and we’ll review every application personally. Prefer to see where they stand first? Start with a GL-format mock and a strand-by-strand diagnostic.
Questions first? Read how the Redbridge 11+ works.