City of London School for Girls: a two-stage 11+ by the Barbican

Look beyond the results at what she would actually study

The June 2026 curriculum policy sets out a broad early secondary programme. Pupils choose two modern languages from Chinese, French, German and Spanish, with later choices narrowing the programme. Year 7 includes Latin and separate sciences alongside arts, humanities and technology. At GCSE age, English, maths, science, a language and a humanity form the core. The usual load is ten or eleven GCSEs or equivalents, with exceptions where appropriate. Ask for the options booklet for your daughter’s cohort rather than assuming every course is a conventional GCSE.

Art is a particularly useful example. The department describes Art in Practice, an EduQual Level 2 award, as its GCSE alternative: coursework rather than a final examination, with a Year 11 exhibition. For a girl who loves developing a body of work, that may be attractive. If she might move elsewhere for sixth form, check the receiving school’s entry requirements rather than assume it treats every qualification identically.

Social, Political and Economic Challenges offers another different kind of work. The school describes projects including a manifesto presentation and a documentary, with older pupils organising Model United Nations or a mock climate conference for younger years. Our view is that these are more illuminating examples of intellectual breadth than a general promise to develop independent thinkers.

There are choices within academic stretch too. The maths department offers Advanced Mathematical Thinking as well as the AQA Level 2 Further Mathematics certificate, which is available at the head of department’s discretion. The former is a school course, not simply another public examination. Project qualifications include the Higher Project Qualification (HPQ) in Year 10 and Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in Year 12. An impressive option is only useful if it is accessible and manageable for your child.

Four A levels at first: ask how the workload settles down

The sixth-form programme starts with four A levels, with pupils normally narrowing to three. This gives some room to explore, but it also means the first term can involve more subjects than a family expecting three from the outset has planned for.

There is a timing detail to confirm. The June 2026 policy allows a move from four to three from December with permission; the sixth-form webpage says February after internal tests. Ask admissions which applies to the incoming cohort. For a pupil managing a heavy outside music commitment or additional learning needs, that difference could matter.

The subject guide currently linked by admissions is labelled 2026–28. A September 2027 entrant should request the booklet and combinations for her own two-year course. Have a first choice and an acceptable alternative, but do not accept a place on the assumption that a timetable clash will somehow resolve itself.

Weekly City+ enrichment seminars bring sixth formers together with City of London School. The schools are separate, but this is one way pupils share academic activities.

The sixth form uses space in the former Museum of London as well as the main school. On a visit, see the places a new Year 12 pupil actually studies and spends breaks. Moving at sixteen is a social transition as well as an academic one.

Try the journey at both ends of the school day

City’s attendance policy requires pupils in their form rooms by 8.40am. Its supervision policy says the school opens at 8am, with earlier arrival only for supervised activities. Pupils ordinarily leave by 4.15pm, or 3.50pm on Mondays, unless staying under an authorised arrangement. These are departure deadlines, not confirmed lesson-ending times.

Main-school library study is available until 5.30pm, with sign-in and sign-out requirements and exceptions such as half-days and term-end arrangements. Sixth-form study at the Museum of London centre is available until 5pm after notification. Neither arrangement is unrestricted after-school care.

Use those times to test the journey from your actual front door. Include the walk through the Barbican, a missed connection and what happens if your daughter needs to get home after a club. The school’s travel information is a useful starting point, but a transport map cannot tell you how tired an eleven-year-old will feel after doing the route all week.

The August 2026 phone policy requires Years 7–11 to switch off and lock phones in Yondr pouches, including during after-school activities. Sixth formers need permission to use phones on the main site. Limited use is allowed in designated Museum of London communal areas outside teaching time and for legitimate private study. Bringing a phone for the journey is different from using it freely at school. Agree with your daughter how to handle a travel problem, and use the Attendance Officer for messages during the day.

A long clubs list is useful only if she can take part

City advertises almost 140 clubs, societies and teams, though provision varies. Robotics, debating and music may interest different children; a low-pressure social club can be just as valuable to a new pupil as a competitive team.

Sport includes a school pool, but some activities use facilities elsewhere, including Mile End Stadium and external cricket grounds. The school describes rowing as mainly indoor with occasional on-water sessions. Do not picture a large playing-field campus or a regular river-rowing programme simply from the sport names.

For a committed musician or athlete, bring the outside schedule to the visit. For a beginner, ask a different question: is there a place to learn without already being one of the best? Both children need an answer more specific than “we offer plenty”.

Find out who notices when a girl is struggling

The school describes Year 7 transition support including induction, early settling-in sessions and Year 8 mentors. Its tutorial system gives forms two tutors and regular daily contact. Those are useful structures; the visit is your chance to find out how they work for a child who does not readily ask for help.

Try a concrete scenario: “If my daughter starts eating alone but says everything is fine, who is likely to notice, and what happens next?” Or ask how tutors respond when a pupil is spending far too long on homework. The answer should help you understand who takes responsibility and when parents become involved.

The learning-support centre is open to pupils across Years 7–13, including help with organisation, revision and literacy. Pupils can approach the team, and teachers can refer them. The school also offers free counselling Monday–Thursday. Published provision does not tell us the current waiting time or the support available for every level of need.

The curriculum policy says parents do not receive attainment grades in Years 7–9. That may help shift attention towards learning, but it makes clear feedback especially important.

What the latest inspection adds to the picture

The ISI inspection of 29 April–1 May 2025 found all required standards met, including safeguarding. Inspectors described effective support for pupils with additional needs and positive work on emotional wellbeing. They also recommended consistently updating policies and fully embedding the school’s assessment and feedback approach across subjects and year groups. Some missing policy detail was corrected during the visit.

The report does not award a current “outstanding” grade.

If you find the 2024 material-change report, its purpose was to assess a proposed capacity increase from 820 to 860. It was not an adverse follow-up inspection. Read the report’s purpose before drawing a conclusion from the fact that another visit took place.

Fees, bursaries and scholarships: three different conversations

The 2026/27 tuition fee is £10,611 per term including VAT, excluding lunch. Across three terms that is £31,833. Lunch is listed at £6.50 a day and individual music lessons at £460 for ten lessons. These are the current school-year figures, not a fixed quote for a September 2027 entrant.

Registration costs £192 for UK applicants and £300 for overseas applicants, non-refundable. Before accepting, request the deposit amount, refund or credit rules, withdrawal notice and a realistic extras bill. The sixth-form admissions page calls its deposit non-refundable; do not assume the same detailed terms apply at every entry point. Bursary-assisted entrants are exempt from the acceptance deposit under the admissions pages.

If a bursary would make the difference

Means-tested bursaries can reach 100%. The school gives net household income up to £70,000 with very limited assets as a general eligibility guide—not an automatic award. It normally has 12–15 new bursaries at 11+ and three or four at 16+, and explicitly warns that some eligible applicants who pass selection will not receive funding.

Indicate interest at registration and complete the subsequent application when requested. Awards are reassessed annually; overseas applicants are not eligible. The full-bursary package includes specified help beyond tuition, such as lunch, a laptop, required trips and travel support.

Budget for the award actually offered, not the largest percentage advertised. As an illustration using current tuition, a 50% award would leave £15,916.50 a year in tuition before any uncovered extras. That is arithmetic, not a prediction of an award or a future fee quote. Our fees and bursaries guide helps you stress-test the family budget.

If she has a particular talent

Scholarships are separate from means-tested support. At 11+, the listed route is music, normally from Grade 6 standard, with awards up to 10% of fees. At 16+, the school lists music, art, drama and sport. Art and drama scholars must take the subject at A level. Read the current requirements and obligations before applying.

For a musician, the right question is not just whether she can win an award. It is whether she wants the performing life that goes with it and can manage it alongside lessons and outside commitments. A scholarship can recognise an important part of a child’s life without being large enough to solve affordability.

Applying at 11+: keep both assessment stages in the diary

For September 2027 entry, the school’s 11+ page gives the following timetable. These are City’s own arrangements, not a general London Consortium or ISEB application schedule.

The public timetable does not give an exact March acceptance date. Use the offer’s deadline, not a date borrowed from another school. Keep room for an offer-holder visit before deciding.

Registration, tests and an interview can stretch across several months. Put them alongside your daughter’s other applications before booking travel or taking on extra activities. A manageable shortlist is more helpful than discovering in December that every January commitment clashes. Our private-school 11+ guide helps you build that wider plan.

The first test: familiarity helps, but there is no published magic score

The current 11+ guidance calls the first assessment Cambridge Select Insight: a one-hour computer test covering numerical, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Older school material still uses the CEM name. Follow the current cycle instructions and ask admissions for working familiarisation access if the linked exercise will not open.

The admissions policy describes an upper threshold for second-stage invitations and a lower threshold below which candidates are not invited. Between them, the school can consider factors such as strength in an individual section, state-school background, looked-after status, siblings and summer birthdays. These are contextual decisions about progressing to the next stage—not guaranteed offers. City does not publish a dependable pass mark for parents to target.

That makes preparation a little less tidy than buying a course promising a particular score. Our advice is to start by finding out what is unfamiliar: reading instructions on screen, moving on from a hard question, or recognising the kind of reasoning being asked for. Practise those skills in short sessions. Repeatedly exhausting a child with timed papers can hide the real problem rather than solve it.

A tutor may be useful for a specific gap, but ask them to explain what they have noticed and how the next few sessions will help. Treat claims of a guaranteed City score with caution. A provider’s practice score is not an official admissions result, and doing well in the first round is only one part of this application.