Channing School: a closer look for your daughter

11+ for 2027: the dates, the test and the interview

Channing’s 2027 entry information says about 75 Year 7 places are available to girls applying from other schools. That is an intake figure, not an acceptance rate. Selection combines the assessment, a confidential reference from the current school and an interview, and all applicants are interviewed whatever the assessment result.

• Apply by 6 November 2026. The registration fee is £180, and bursary and music-scholarship forms share that deadline.
• Channing’s assessment sitting is 27 November 2026.
• The interview day is 5 January 2027, and allocated times cannot be changed.
• Outcomes go out by email on 12 February 2027.
• Acceptances close at noon on 3 March 2027.

Channing uses the London 11+ Consortium assessment: 100 minutes with a break of up to 30 minutes, and a school Chromebook for each candidate at Channing. It mixes adaptive and non-adaptive sections covering maths, English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, puzzles and creative comprehension. Tell the school where your daughter will sit it. Channing prefers her current primary school if it can host the test, and otherwise a Consortium school she has applied to. A candidate sits once. The school’s page links official familiarisation material and the head’s interview-advice recording.

An invitation to interview tells you nothing about how the test went, because everyone gets one. It is still a chance for your daughter to be heard as a person. Put 5 January in the diary early, since the school says allocated interview appointments cannot be changed. Our 11+ interview companion explains what an invitation does and does not mean, with optional conversation practice that is not a rehearsed script.

Room to explore, with one clear rule about languages

The Senior School curriculum includes Latin, philosophy and design and technology from Year 7, alongside the core. Pupils study one modern language from French, German or Spanish for three lessons a week, adding a second in Year 8. Years 7 and 8 study combined science.

The wrinkle is for multilingual families. The first language should be one the pupil is not already fluent in. A girl who is fluent in French, Spanish or German may study the other two and prepare for an early GCSE in her fluent language through the Heritage Language Programme, at the end of Year 9 or Year 10. The school says it cannot support teaching or examining a language it does not offer.

In maths, some setting begins during Year 7 and the school says groups are reviewed. Its highest GCSE maths set also studies the AQA Level 2 Certificate in Further Mathematics. Ask how placement and movement work, and what a girl in each group does when the work is too easy or too hard.

We like the breadth for a child who is not ready to define herself by one strength. For a girl already well ahead in a subject, ask that department for an example of what she would do next. A promise of “challenge” is not an example.

How a new girl finds her people

Channing’s pastoral information describes a form tutor and co-tutor, and a Year 8 “Big Sibling” for each new Year 7 pupil. Counselling works differently by age: Years 7–9 are referred through their Head of Year, while Years 10–13 can self-refer. Phones are locked in pouches in Years 7–11, with family contact through the office.

A Big Sibling is an introduction, not a friendship, and a girls’ school does not by itself prevent the social difficulties of eleven-year-olds. What helps is an adult your daughter would actually approach and a response she could realistically use.

Activities, and the journey that decides whether she can stay for them

The activities page describes drama on stage and backstage, music, debating and other clubs at lunchtime or after school. The timetable it links covers 2025–26. The test is simple: can your daughter name two things she would like to try, and can the school explain how she joins?

The transport page points families to walking and public transport, including Archway and Highgate stations and local buses. Walk the route with her at the time she would travel, carrying an instrument or sports kit. A quiet weekend drive tells you very little, and a route she can manage alone makes it easier to stay for something she enjoys.

For a younger child, the Junior School information describes care from 7.30am until 6pm, so confirm charges and booking terms.

What the results and the inspection say

In August 2026 Channing reported that 90.9% of A-level entries were graded A*–B, with 22.3% at A*. At GCSE, 85% of results were grades 7–9, while 55% of the year group achieved a full set of grades 7–9. Those are two different measures, and the second is the more demanding. Both describe a selective cohort, not a prediction for your daughter.

The 4–6 November 2025 inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) found the relevant standards met, with positive findings on teaching, pastoral care, SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) support and safeguarding. It also found inconsistent use of assessment information across Senior School departments, so some chances to support progress were missed.

The report is broadly reassuring. Turn that one finding into a visit question: what has changed, and how would a parent know if their daughter began to slip behind? A positive inspection line is not a service plan.

Add VAT before comparing the fees

From September 2026, the published termly tuition is £8,220 for Junior School and £9,190 for Senior School, both explicitly excluding VAT. Add 20% and they become £9,864 and £11,028. Senior tuition alone is then £33,084 over three terms, and that is not a quotation for 2027–28.

Lunch is compulsory except for medical exemptions, at £445 a term in Senior School. Public-exam entry fees and optional music lessons are extra. The acceptance deposit is a non-refundable £5,000 (£7,000 for sixth form), and leaving requires a full term’s written notice, otherwise the next term’s fees are due. A contract is formed when the signed acceptance form and the deposit arrive, so read the terms before paying.

A headline without VAT looks cheaper beside another school’s inclusive figure. Compare tuition with VAT, lunch, likely activities and travel, and use our fees and bursaries guide to build the longer budget.

The four-times-fees rule of thumb

Channing’s bursaries can cover up to 100% of tuition for eligible children joining at 11+ or 16+, and are also available to current pupils. They are means-tested, limited, discretionary and reviewed annually.

The school gives one rule of thumb: a bursary is unlikely if gross annual income, with one school-aged child, is significantly higher than four times the annual fees. Assessment looks at assets, housing, dependants and other contributions, not income alone, and may include a home visit.

The school says the Headmistress does not take a bursary application into account when deciding whether to offer a place, and that chance-vacancy bursaries are not offered. The Year 7 bursary form shares the 6 November 2026 deadline with the application. For Year 12 entry, the bursary form is due on 16 October 2026.

Scholarships need less paperwork. Every candidate who sits the 11+ is automatically considered for an academic scholarship of 10% of the fees, with no separate application. A music scholarship must be indicated on the application and can be worth up to 50% of tuition, including free tuition in one instrument or voice through to the end of Year 13, after audition and qualification in the academic exam. The audition day is also 5 January 2027.