About Bloom Academy · Barkingside

Three people who sat these exams themselves, running the small, honest tutor we wished existed.

Bloom Academy was founded by three young finance professionals who have sat these exams themselves: a Haberdashers’ Girls’ School alumna, a Dr Challoner’s Grammar School alumnus and a Chigwell School 90% academic-scholarship winner. We teach small groups at Fullwell Cross Library in Barkingside, we publish what most tutors hide, and we give parents a dashboard that shows exactly how their child is tracking.

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Planting the Seeds of Excellence

Why we started

Born from frustration with the 11+ market.

We have sat these exams ourselves: the scholarship assessment, the grammar papers, the interviews. Too much of the local 11+ market trades on secrecy, oversized ‘small’ classes and promises nobody can check. We built the opposite.

Because we remember exactly what moved the needle and what wasted time, Bloom is the preparation we wish we’d had: small, sharp and completely transparent, run to the same standard we hold in our finance careers.

Up to 8

children per class, across both programmes, small enough that every child is seen and marked each week.

Published

prices, class sizes and exam dates, listed openly on the site, with no hidden figures.

104 floor

every strand tracked against the 115–125 offer zone, term by term.

Meet the founders

The people behind every lesson.

Our founders came through the selective and independent world themselves, and their City and Mayfair finance careers are the evidence-led discipline that keeps our teaching honest.

Co-founder & tutor

Araliya

Pedigree:: Haberdashers’ Girls’ School alumna
By day:: Broker, City of London

Araliya came up through Haberdashers’ Girls’ School and knows the independent and selective world from the inside: the interviews, the writing tasks, the scholarship assessments and the unwritten expectations that catch families out.

By day she works as a broker in the City of London, where evidence-first, no-spin judgement is the whole job. It is the same discipline she brings to every lesson.

Habs alumnaIndependents & scholarshipsCreative writing

Co-founder & tutor

Trinabh

Pedigree:: Dr Challoner’s Grammar School alumnus
By day:: Finance, City of London

Trinabh came through Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in Amersham, one of the country’s most competitive selective grammars, and knows the reasoning-heavy grammar route from the inside: the timing pressure, the question styles and the standard a top place demands.

Away from the classroom, Trinabh works in finance in the City of London, where disciplined, evidence-led judgement is the whole job. It is the same standard that keeps our teaching measured and honest.

Dr Challoner’s alumnusMaths & problem-solvingExam technique

Co-founder & tutor

Disal

Pedigree:: 90% academic-scholarship winner, Chigwell School
By day:: Wealth Management, Mayfair

Disal won a 90% academic scholarship to Chigwell School, so he has lived the high-pressure selective route first-hand, and he is candid with families about which doors are realistically open to their child.

By day he works in wealth management in Mayfair, where being right with numbers is the whole job. It is the reason our teaching is measured, tracked and honest.

Chigwell scholarship-winnerReasoning & VR/NVRProgress data

What we stand for

Four principles you can hold us to.

Radically transparent

We publish our prices, our class sizes and the exam dates on the website. If a tutor hides those things, ask yourself why.

Genuinely small groups

Never more than eight children to a class, across every programme. Small enough that every child is seen and marked every week.

Honest about catchment

Ilford County High and Woodford County High run strict catchments. If you live outside one, we will tell you, and point you to CSSE and independents instead of taking your money.

Data-led, not vibes

Parents see per-strand benchmark bands over time against the 104 qualifying floor and the 115–125 offer zone, plus attendance, homework and a clear written progress review.

Where we teach

Fullwell Cross Library, Barkingside.

We run our classes from a calm, well-equipped community venue in the heart of Barkingside, easy for local families and properly grown-up about safeguarding.

Fullwell Cross Library, Barkingside High Street, Ilford IG6 2LL

A few minutes from Barkingside and Fairlop Central-line stations
Dedicated rooms, so classes stay calm and focused
Central to Redbridge grammar, CSSE and independent-school families

Safeguarding & compliance

Your child comes first, not as an afterthought.

You are trusting us with your child. We treat that as the most important part of the job. These are the standards we are putting in place before our first class.

Enhanced DBS before teaching
Insured before our first class
ICO registration before launch
Named safeguarding lead at launch

Questions about our policies or your child’s safety? Talk to a founder directly.

Meet us before you commit.

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? Book a mock + diagnostic for a full picture and an honest conversation about catchment and fit.

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