If your child is in Year 5, the senior school journey has already quietly begun. Here is what happens, when, and how to keep the whole process calm.
For many London families, the 11+ feels like a mountain that appears out of nowhere. One minute your child is happily settled in primary school, the next you are comparing entrance tests, registration deadlines and open day calendars. The good news is that the process follows a fairly predictable rhythm, and knowing the timeline in advance takes a surprising amount of the stress out of it.
How the 11+ works in London
Unlike some parts of the country, London has no single, central 11+ exam. Each senior school sets its own entry process, although many independent girls’ schools work together through the London 11+ Consortium, which uses a shared assessment. At most schools, the pattern looks like this: a written assessment, an interview or group task, a reference from your child’s primary school and a decision in February.
The Consortium assessment, for example, lasts 100 minutes with a break in the middle and covers maths, English, comprehension, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, and puzzles and problem solving. Channing School’s detailed parent guide to the 11+ in London is a helpful read if you want to understand how a Consortium school approaches it.
Year 5: explore and shortlist
Autumn: This is the time to start visiting. Open days are the single most useful thing you can do, so book a handful early and go with an open mind. Most schools list their dates well in advance on pages such as this open days calendar.
Spring: Narrow your shortlist. Check each school’s entry routes, registration deadlines and whether they offer a familiarisation or sample test.
Summer: Keep any practice light. Reading, writing and quick mental arithmetic will do far more good than a stack of past papers. The best preparation of all is simply encouraging your child’s natural curiosity and her engagement with the world around her.
Year 6: the busy year
September: Put registration deadlines in the diary straight away. They usually fall between mid-October and early November, and a missed deadline is the one mistake that is hard to undo.
November to January: Written assessments and interviews take place. Scholarship tests and auditions usually happen in this window too, so check whether any apply to your child.
February: Offer letters arrive. Families typically have between one and three weeks to accept a place, so it is worth having a rough plan before the letters land. Many schools also hold offer-holder days, which give you another chance to see the school and quiz the staff. They are really helpful once the decision becomes real rather than hypothetical.
March onwards: The exciting part begins. Children visit their new school, meet future classmates and, at some schools, make early subject choices such as which language to study in Year 7.
Don’t forget the financial side
Many independent schools offer scholarships, awards and means-tested bursaries designed to widen access. These often have their own deadlines, so read the details early. Pages such as Channing’s scholarships and awards information show the kind of support that may be available.
Keep perspective
Schools repeatedly say that they are looking for potential rather than polish. They want to see how a child thinks, how she handles a question she hasn’t seen before and how she responds in an unfamiliar setting. That is not something that can be tutored.
If you remember one thing, make it this: the 11+ is one step in your child’s education, not the defining moment of her childhood. Plan the dates, visit the schools, protect family time and trust that the right school will be the one where you can picture her being herself. For a clear overview of what that next step can look like, Channing’s guide to joining the Senior School is a good place to start.
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