What Is Bond 11+?
Bond 11+ is one of the UK's longest-established 11+ preparation brands — a wide range of practice books and an online subscription platform published by Oxford University Press. If you've spent any time researching 11+ preparation, you've almost certainly come across it.
Bond has been producing 11+ materials for over 50 years and, by its own account, is the most widely used 11+ practice provider in the UK by volume of books sold. The range covers the same four subjects tested by most 11+ exam boards — English, Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning — through two genuinely different product lines: printed books, and a separate online subscription called Bond Online.
This guide compares Bond fairly against ExamTutor's own practice papers, so you can see exactly how the two differ and decide what's right for your child — including, for many families, using both.
Key Takeaways
- Bond 11+ is published by Oxford University Press and has over 50 years of history in the UK 11+ market.
- Bond books and Bond Online are separate products — printed self-marked workbooks vs a digital auto-marked subscription.
- Bond Online costs £55/year (or £6.50/month) per child — each child needs their own subscription.
- Bond's core range is general-purpose, not built around one specific exam board's exact format.
- The biggest structural difference from ExamTutor is marking: Bond auto-marks or self-marks; ExamTutor includes a tutor-led video walkthrough for every question.
Bond Books vs Bond Online
These are two distinct products, and it's worth being clear on the difference before buying either.
📖 Bond Books
Physical paperback workbooks that children write directly into, with answers at the back for self-marking (or a parent marking alongside). Benefits include no screen time, straightforward timed practice, and — because there's no subscription — no ongoing cost once bought. The trade-off is that marking and feedback are entirely manual: a child (or parent) has to check their own answers and work out why a mistake happened, with no worked explanation beyond what's printed in the answer key.
💻 Bond Online
A separate digital subscription with auto-marked questions, instant feedback, and a parent/tutor dashboard showing progress by subject and question type. The higher tiers (Premium and Premium Plus) add AI-personalised practice paths. This solves the "who marks it" problem that pure books leave open, but — like the books — the feedback is generally a mark and a correct answer, rather than a video walkthrough of the method.
Oxford University Press itself markets the two as complementary rather than competing, and many families do use both: books for offline, structured practice, and the subscription for tracked, auto-marked sessions.
Which Bond Books to Buy, in Order
This is one of the most common points of confusion, and it's a fair one — Bond's catalogue is large. Books are organised along two dimensions:
- Subject: English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning (bought separately, or as a 4-book bundle covering all four)
- Age band: roughly 5–6, 6–7, 7–8, 8–9, 9–10, 10–11, and 11–12+ years, with some bands split further into Book 1 and Book 2
Within an age band, Bond also publishes different series for different purposes — Assessment Papers (fuller practice tests), 10 Minute Tests (short, bite-sized daily practice), and Standard Test Papers (closer to full exam-style conditions). The practical approach: identify your child's current age band across all four subjects, work through that band's Assessment Papers and 10 Minute Tests together, then move up to the next age band once it's complete — rather than trying to buy the entire catalogue at once.
Tip: If your child is in Year 5 preparing for a September Year 6 exam, the 9–10 and 10–11 age bands are typically the relevant starting point, moving toward exam-condition practice as the test approaches — check the specific title's stated age range before buying, since bands can overlap.
Bond Pricing in 2026
Based on current published pricing directly from Oxford University Press:
| Product | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Bond book | ~£10–£17 | One subject, one age band |
| 4-book subject bundle | ~£15–£40 | One age band, all four subjects, often discounted vs individual |
| Bond Online — annual | £55/year (inc. VAT) | Per child — each needs a separate Learner Profile |
| Bond Online — monthly | £6.50/month | Rolls over; costs more than annual across a full year |
A family covering multiple age bands over a couple of years of preparation, plus an online subscription, will typically land somewhere in the £80–£200 range in total — and that scales up further if preparing more than one child at once, since Bond Online subscriptions aren't shared between siblings.
ExamTutor vs Bond — Side by Side
Both are legitimate, widely used 11+ preparation resources. The honest comparison comes down to format and how each handles marking and explanation.
| Bond 11+ | ExamTutor | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Printed books + separate online subscription | Downloadable practice papers with video explanations |
| Exam-board specificity | General-purpose, some GL-labelled and CEM titles | Built per exam board: GL Assessment, CEM-style, Independent, SEAG |
| Marking | Self-marked (books) or auto-marked (online) | Self-marked, with a tutor-led video walkthrough for every question |
| Age range covered | 5–6 through 12–13+ years — very broad | Focused on Year 5–6 (direct exam preparation) |
| Pricing model | Pay per book, or £55+/year subscription per child | Pay per pack (from £35), 12 months' access included |
| Screen time | Books are entirely screen-free | Video-based, requires a screen for explanations |
Which Should You Choose?
This isn't really an either/or decision for most families. Bond's broad, graded book range is a genuinely strong way to build core skills gradually from an early age, well before a specific exam board matters — and the lack of any subscription cost for the books themselves is a real advantage if budget is tight. Where a video-led, exam-board-specific approach like ExamTutor's tends to add the most value is in the final 12–18 months before the actual test, once you know exactly which board and format your target school uses, and when a child's mistakes need explaining rather than just marking.
A common, sensible pattern: Bond books for Year 3–4 foundation-building across all four subjects, then exam-board-specific GL Assessment, CEM, Independent or SEAG practice papers from Year 5, when precise format and worked explanations matter most. You can also download a free ExamTutor sample paper to compare the video-walkthrough style directly against your child's current Bond materials before deciding.