I have a 15 year old pupil who has been with me for 18 months and is progressing quickly through the grades in both piano and theory. He decided he wanted to take practical exams, but not any of the theory exams until grade 5. Having finished most of the work in the Grade 4 book, he's now ready to work at Grade 5 level and take the exam next March.
I've been using the Lina Ng books up until now, but wonder if the AB Theory of Music in Practice or Theory Time might be more suitable for Grade 5. He's a very clever boy, doing GCSE music at school and picks up things very quickly.
Any suggestions?

If you have a few different grade 5 theory books to hand I'd let him have a quick look at them to see which he likes the look of.
Sometimes people prefer one format over another.

Good point, but at the moment the only one I have at home is an old AB one, with the answers mostly filled in. I've used the Lina Ng ones for all my pupils recently and I do like them, but wondered what other teachers thought was the most suitable for a bright 15 year old. I've never used the Theory Time books, so would appreciate advice on those.
I think there is also a book called How To Pass Grade 5 Theory - or some such name. Do any of you know this and would you recommend it?
Thanks!

From what I remember the Josephine Koh ones have less text for those who don't want something as text heavy as the AB books.
Is Theory time the one with the answers (on the next page)? This might be good for someone who can work independently and who will ask when not sure about something.
You'd need to do some work on the composing a meldoy question but you probably would have to anyway.
the thing I'm not so keen on in the Lina Ng book for grade 5 is that some of the openings for the composing question are too well known so if you can sight read reasonably it makes it more difficult to think of an original next few bars.

I use:-

Take Five and Pass First Time..an excellent resource by Christopher Dunn. If this is the one you are thinking of, I would certainly recommend it.

First Steps in Music Theory Grades 1 to 5, by Eric Taylor.

The AB also do the Theory is Fun (also Harmony is Fun) series, which are good little books that go from grades one to five. These also have exercises in.

Another good book is The Right Way to read Music by Harry and Michael Baxter. This one has exercises to do at the end of each chapter to reinforce learning.

Read Music from Scratch is a good book for the basics of theory. It's published by Boosey and Hawkes.

Apart from these, I use past exam papers and the Eric Taylor pink and blue books (though the blue book is post grade 5).

That's the one - many thanks. It sounds perfect for him. I've just ordered it.

I had many of the books DaisyChain mentioned and also Dorothy Dingle's 'Pass Grade 5 Theory' which I found really useful

also referred to Theory Time (Grade 5) by David Turnbull (Bosworth)

I shall have to duck and run away after saying this, but I personally find the Trinity Guildhall workbooks better than the AB. They don't expect that you will also own the AB guide or the little red book that accompanies the series, everything is there in front of you. There is a nice, clear introduction to what you need to know and why you need to know it and some worked examples. You might need to supplement the work if he finds a section difficult as there are not nearly as many examples as in the AB version, but for someone working quickly and "getting it" easily the TG is nice and easy to follow.

Don't forget that Practical Musicianship is also an option! You need a certain amount of theory to understand the PM syllabus, and it may appeal more to a student who is doing it as a stepping stone to higher grades. If he's willing and able to sing and do aural tests then a change to PM might contextualise the theory for him. After all, I did my grade 5 theory but it didn't help my higher grades one bit because I never learned to link what I learned to practice, why I should know which is a passing note, what it actually mattered how you wrote out an appogiatura.