The private-school 11+: a plan for your family

First, which 11+ are we talking about?

This guide is about entry to Year 7 at independent schools in England. It uses examples across England to show how different the processes can be; it is not a timetable for every school in the country. The dated examples are for September 2027 entry, checked in September 2026.

For that intake, Highgate and Latymer Upper identify the usual birth window as 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016. Your child may still be ten when assessed. If they are educated outside their usual age group or are moving from another school system, ask Admissions which cohort to apply for before registering. See the schools’ Highgate and Latymer Upper entry pages.

Birmingham offers a useful example: KES and KEHS both use English and maths, but not the same format. Solihull adds verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Start with the school’s own specimens before choosing preparation materials.

Independent applications are separate from the grammar-school route. A family considering both needs two sets of instructions. And an ISEB test taken in Year 6 can sometimes concern a place starting at thirteen, not eleven: our 13+ guide explains that longer journey.

What would make a school worth applying to?

Before asking whether your child can get in, ask what would improve if they went there. More stretch in maths? A smaller social setting? Music that fits around lessons? A journey they could eventually manage without you? Write down the answer for each school.

Our view: a shortlist should contain different plausible ways for your child to thrive, not just different names at a similar level of selectivity. Three equally demanding application routes do not become a balanced plan because their uniforms are different.

Try the journey at a realistic time. For a child who loves sport, investigate participation below the first team.

Use our local comparisons to narrow the options by journey, school life and family budget. If you already have a school in mind, the school guides explain its own entry routes and what to ask when you visit.

Then speak to your child’s current teacher. “Doing well in class” is useful, but examples tell you more than a reassuring adjective. Do not ask the teacher to predict an offer they cannot control.

When should we start—and what goes in the calendar?

A sensible planning rhythm is to investigate schools during Year 5, then manage applications and assessments during Year 6. That is a planning suggestion, not a universal registration window. Check earlier if your preferred school invites advance registration.

If a state secondary in England is one of your options, put its application on a separate calendar. The state-school application route runs through your home council, with a 31 October deadline for normal secondary transfer. For September 2027 entry, that means 31 October 2026. Check any earlier test registrations, extra school forms and required evidence. Do not wait for private-school decisions before applying.

• During Year 5: visit realistic options, check affordability, discuss learning support and look at official familiarisation materials. Find out whether your current school hosts any required online assessment.
• Before the Year 6 autumn term becomes busy: record each application deadline, required documents, test arrangements and financial-aid route. Decide who in the family checks acknowledgements.
• Through autumn and winter: complete the actual applications, confirm test bookings and protect second-stage dates. A saved online form is not a submitted application.
• At offer time: compare the educational choice, written conditions and full cost together. Keep track of reply dates, not just the day results arrive.

For each school, use separate checklist lines for registration, testing, support evidence, references, awards, bursaries and acceptance. Put the confirmation email beside the relevant item. This is more reliable than a single calendar entry labelled “11+ deadline”.

Three real application timelines for 2027

These examples show why copying one school’s dates across your shortlist is risky. Recheck the linked pages before acting.

• Latymer Upper: registration, support documents, music and bursary applications close at midday on 12 October 2026. The exam is 2 December; interview day is 6 January 2027. Its February offer and March acceptance dates remain TBC. December stage decisions are not final offers. Current timeline.
• Highgate: apply by noon on 4 November 2026. Exams are in early December, followed by a January second stage for selected candidates. The page gives early February offers and early March replies, rather than exact dates. Current timeline.
• London 11+ Consortium: registration closes 6 November 2026. Applicants take one assessment on 27 November, 1 December or 3 December. Offers are due 12 February 2027, with replies by noon on 3 March. Confirm your allocated sitting with the test venue. Current Consortium dates.

If dates clash, contact both schools promptly. Do not choose an alternative sitting yourself or assume that attending one assessment excuses absence from another. For illness or serious disruption, ask the school or centre what to do at the time; do not promise your child a retest.

ISEB: one registration is not the whole application

The ISEB Pre-Tests cover English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Verbal reasoning uses words and language patterns; non-verbal reasoning uses shapes and visual patterns. Standard test time totals 135 minutes, and the parts can be taken together or on separate days. The usual rule is one attempt per academic year, with results shared among participating schools—not a new attempt for each application. ISEB’s format guide.

For 2026–27, registration opened on 9 June 2026 and testing began on 1 September. The overall session runs to late May 2027. That does not mean your chosen school will accept a May test: its deadline controls your timetable. Current ISEB session.

1. Apply separately to each school that interests you.
2. Create the child’s ISEB Applicant Profile in the Guardian Portal. ISEB registration itself is free; that does not make school applications or every venue free.
3. Send the Applicant ID to every school requiring the test, following its instructions.
4. Contact the invigilation centre to confirm the booking. Selecting it in the portal is not enough. Where several schools use the result, work to the earliest required deadline.

These steps come from ISEB’s registration guidance. If your primary school does not host the tests, ask the prospective schools or ISEB to help you find an approved venue.

For the full sitting, our ISEB Common Pre-Tests companion explains the four subjects, one-way navigation, shared results, preparation, access arrangements and what to do if something goes wrong on the day.

The Consortium test is different from ISEB

The London 11+ Consortium uses a shared online assessment, but schools make their own admissions decisions. Its 100 minutes of testing cover maths, non-verbal reasoning, English, verbal reasoning, problem-solving and creative comprehension, with a break. Some parts adapt to performance; others do not. The English component does not require extended writing. Creative comprehension asks children to combine information from different sources.

That distinction changes preparation. Writing a polished story is not practice for finding an answer across a diagram and a short passage. On the other hand, a child applying to a school with a separate writing paper still needs practice expressing ideas on paper.

Use the Consortium’s linked familiarisation materials before buying resources advertised simply as “11+”. Apply to each school you want considered. A shared test reduces repetition; it does not turn several school applications into one.

What if the school sets its own papers?

Latymer Upper currently sets its own English and maths papers: 35 minutes for comprehension/multiple choice, 45 for descriptive writing and 60 for maths. Do not confuse this independent school with The Latymer grammar school. Latymer Upper’s current assessment.

Highgate also publishes its own English and maths preparation resources, including sample papers and tutorial films. Highgate’s official resources are a better starting point for understanding its tasks than an unlabelled practice pack.

Read a sample’s instructions with your child before timing anything. Can they identify what to write, where to show working and how many tasks to attempt? A weak practice result can reflect misunderstanding the format as well as difficulty with the content.

Use one attempt diagnostically. Sort mistakes into “did not know”, “misread”, “could explain aloud but not write it down” and “ran out of time”. Those problems need different responses. Repeating entire papers without understanding the pattern can consume an afternoon and teach very little.

The official Latymer Upper samples illustrate question style; they are not a promise of the exact next paper. Keep the current admissions page beside any older PDF you download.

What score is good enough?

There is no single ISEB pass mark, and ISEB does not release results directly to parents. Ask the school what feedback it provides and how it uses the assessment. ISEB’s results explanation.

With an adaptive test, the number of questions answered is not a simple score indicator. ISEB also has no skip or back button. A child’s report that “my friend answered more” is not a useful verdict on their performance. How ISEB adaptivity works.

Our view: a commercial mock is most useful when it helps identify a skill to work on. Be cautious if someone converts its percentage into a confident admission prediction. Ask which test, which comparison group, what date and what evidence connect that mock to the school’s actual selection.

You can make an informed judgement without inventing a magic number. Put together your teacher’s assessment, unfamiliar-work samples, the demands of the school and your child’s wellbeing. If all four suggest a mismatch, adding more revision may not be the kindest or most useful next step.

One disappointing practice paper, three different problems

Imagine Sam, a fictional Year 5 pupil, bringing home a practice maths paper with twelve incorrect or unanswered questions. His parent wants to book another mock. Before doing that, they look at a few questions together, without a timer and without giving him the method. This is our suggested review, not a diagnostic test or a way to predict an offer.

• He cannot explain the fraction questions: those may need teaching, followed by a few fresh examples. Repeating whole papers may not address the underlying difficulty.
• He solves some unfinished questions independently: ask what happened during the paper. Was he stuck on an earlier question, rereading instructions or simply running out of time? Untimed success alone does not identify the cause.
• He understood the maths but entered answers incorrectly: practise the response format using the school’s recommended familiarisation. Do not turn an unfamiliar answer format into a conclusion about mathematical ability.

For the next week, Sam’s family chooses fractions as the main job and one short familiarisation session. They then try fresh questions rather than the same ones he now remembers. If he still needs an adult to begin every answer, they ask his teacher what teaching would help. There is no target percentage in this example: the useful change is knowing what to work on.

Use material you are permitted to review. Some admissions tests restrict disclosure or do not release questions. Follow the provider’s rules; do not ask your child to reproduce restricted content. Nor should a paper-test pacing strategy override an online test’s own navigation rules.

When offers arrive, choose a school—not a result

Our offers and waiting-lists companion walks through competing reply dates, reserve places, deposits and the questions to settle before accepting. It includes family examples for support, funding and travel decisions.

Put the offers beside the shortlist notes you made before testing. Which school still answers the needs you identified? Has anything changed after visiting, meeting staff or hearing your child’s reaction?

Imagine two fictional offers. One school offers the stronger musical opportunity but adds a long journey; the other leaves time for a much-loved local ensemble. For a child whose closest friendships are in that ensemble, the second option might be the better musical life. For another child who wants intensive school-based music, the first could make sense. Neither choice follows automatically from prestige.

Read the written conditions, deposit terms and withdrawal provisions carefully.

If your child is waiting or receives no offer, do not turn the outcome into a judgement of their worth. Keep the next conversation about where they can learn and belong.

Return to the local comparisons with what you have learned from visits and assessments. The individual school guides help you investigate the differences that now matter most to your child.