A six-week plan
for the November TACHS.

Before week one: sit one full exam

Timed, all six sections, in one sitting. Not to get a score — to find out which sections are losing marks. Preparation planned without this is preparation spent evenly, and evenly is almost always wrong.

Weeks 1–2: the ability sections

Figure matrices, paper folding and figure classification. Fifty questions that test nothing taught at school, and the fastest marks on the exam to recover because the gain is familiarity rather than knowledge.

Twenty minutes a day is enough. Fold real paper and punch real holes for a few of them; it fixes the idea faster than any explanation. The detail is in the ability sections, explained.

Weeks 2–4: written expression

The second-best return, for the same reason: spelling, punctuation and usage are rules, and rules can be learned in two weeks. Reading comprehension cannot — it improves over years, and a student who spends October on it will see very little for the effort.

Weeks 3–5: mathematics, but only the weak topics

Work from the diagnostic. A student solid on fractions and shaky on ratios should not be revising fractions because they come first in the book.

Weeks 4–6: full-length practice

One complete timed exam a week. Two hundred questions in one sitting is a long time for a thirteen-year-old, and stamina is a real component of the score. A student who has never done the whole thing in one go will fade in the final section.

The last few days

Rework wrong answers rather than starting anything new, then stop. A student who understands every mistake they have made has done more than one who has seen twice as many questions.

What this needs

Around three hours a week, and three or four full-length exams. We sell them individually because that is what most families actually need. If your child is also sitting the HSPT or the SHSAT, read TACHS or HSPT first — the pacing does not transfer between them.