4+ Assessments: What London Schools Look For and What the Day Involves

A 4+ assessment is a play-based session for a child due to start Reception, in which school staff watch how the child joins in with activities, stories and tasks alongside adults and other children. Each London independent school sets its own format, and the formats described on admissions pages differ in the number of stages and in what they assess. The practical steps are to read the admissions page of every school on your list, note what it says about registration, and keep preparation at home to play, stories and conversation.

What does a 4+ assessment involve at London schools?

A 4+ assessment at the named schools combines play, group work and one-to-one tasks led by staff. Highgate Pre-Prep says children join a small group led by teaching staff through story-time, various play-based activities and exploratory one-to-one tasks. Westminster Under School describes play-focused classroom activities in the autumn term, in an atmosphere it calls informal, welcoming and relaxed, and says children are encouraged to have fun.

Alleyn's Junior School and Alleyn's Oakfield describe a 4+ process that includes some standardised testing, and they say every attempt is made to make the experience as much fun as possible. The activities replicate ones many children will have met in a nursery following the EYFS. The school also writes to the candidate's current headteacher, or a nursery, for a report.

What do schools look for in a 4+ child?

The named schools describe learning readiness, potential, language development, practical reasoning and the way a child engages with adults and other children. Each school words its criteria differently, so the same quality may appear under another name on a different page. A parent comparing schools can read these terms as overlapping descriptions of how a child responds to new adults, new activities and a group.

Alleyn's Junior School is academically selective throughout, and the schools say they look for candidates who will respond to the school's care, opportunities and values and who will, in return, contribute to the school with their talents and enthusiasm. The 4+ process acts as a screening process to identify children who might thrive in a busy, stimulating and academic school environment.

• Learning readiness: the purpose Highgate Pre-Prep gives for its story-time, play and one-to-one tasks
• Potential and natural ability: what Westminster Under School looks for in boys and girls who will thrive at the school
• Language development and practical reasoning: both assessed in the Alleyn's 4+ process
• Engagement with others: Westminster Under School describes children actively engaging with members of the School team and other children

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Are children invited back for a second stage at 4+?

Some children are invited back for a second stage, and the schools describe it differently. Westminster Under School invites some children back for a second stage in January and contacts parents shortly after stage two. Highgate Pre-Prep says its second assessment follows the same format as the first and explores children's understanding and capabilities in greater depth.

Where a page does not say whether a second stage exists, the admissions office is the place to ask before the first session, so that the family knows what to expect. Asking at the open afternoon, which Westminster Under School describes as an optional school visit, is one way to put the question. Alleyn's says 4+ children are assessed in the January before entry.

How do schools handle a child's relative age at 4+?

Alleyn's Junior School and Alleyn's Oakfield assess each 4+ child alongside others of approximately the same month of birth, and say consideration is given throughout to the child's relative age. A parent of a child born late in the school year can read this as a statement that age is weighed within the assessment itself. Other schools may handle age differently, so each admissions page needs checking.

Westminster Under School handles age at the offer stage, where its page says date of birth, English as an additional language and proximity to the school are factored into offers. Alleyn's does not offer automatic places to siblings; where candidates have achieved a similar level of performance, priority where possible goes to the sibling of a current pupil. A family with an older child at the school should read that wording closely before assuming a sibling link will decide an offer.

What access arrangements are available for a 4+ assessment?

Access arrangements are requested by telling the school about a child's needs, and the route differs by school. Westminster Under School says children with SEND can request reasonable adjustments to the assessment by informing the Admissions Department. Alleyn's says parents who know or suspect a disability, language or learning difference must notify the school in writing at registration so that access arrangements can be made.

Latymer Prep School, which assesses at 7+, says children with diagnosed special educational needs receive access arrangements, which parents must notify during registration. Alleyn's wording covers suspected differences as well as known ones, whereas Latymer's refers to diagnosed needs. Raising the matter at registration is the step the Alleyn's and Latymer pages describe, and a parent unsure which wording applies can ask the admissions office before registering.

Do schools expect any preparation for a 4+ assessment?

The admissions pages of the named schools give little or no guidance on preparing for 4+. Westminster Under School's page contains no guidance on preparation or tutoring. Highgate Pre-Prep's page says nothing about preparation or tutoring. Both pages describe play-based sessions, and a parent wanting more detail can ask the admissions office what, if anything, the school suggests.

Latymer Prep School, writing about its 7+ assessment, advises that parental preparation should be low-key and the child's routine should stay as normal as possible, with favourite activities kept up because they help wellbeing; its page sums this up as a need for balance. It gives no advice about tutoring. After registration it sends exemplar Maths and English papers to show the expected standard at 7+.

What can parents do at home to prepare a 4+ child?

Reading aloud, play and talk at home are the everyday activities that match what the named schools describe, and none of them asks a child to practise a test. Since the sessions are play-based, the aim at home is familiarity with stories, conversation and group activity. The steps below are suggestions drawn from what the schools assess, and no school page promises that a home activity changes an outcome.

• Read aloud often and ask your child what might happen next, which gives practice in listening to a story and answering questions about it
• Talk through everyday tasks as you do them, which exercises language and practical reasoning
• Play games that involve working something out, so that solving a small problem feels familiar
• Arrange time with other children and with adults outside the family, so that joining a group is familiar
• Keep routines and favourite activities as normal in the days around a session

For one-to-one help for a child once they are in primary school, read about our primary school tutoring, or tell us about your child and the schools on your list and we will reply with tutor recommendations.

How does a 4+ place link to 7+ entry?

A child who starts at 4+ meets a separate 7+ entry point into Year 3 at schools that run both. Highgate's admissions page lists entry at 4+ (Pre-Prep, starting in Reception) and 7+ (Junior School, Year 3), and says that across all entry points each child is asked to attend an assessment or an interview. Alleyn's Junior School and Alleyn's Oakfield welcome annual applicants at 4+ and 7+.

The Alleyn's 7+ assessment covers English (comprehension and creative writing), mathematics and reasoning, and the school expects candidates to have followed the National Curriculum syllabus for English and mathematics. Some elements are standardised and relative age is considered. Candidates who show the necessary academic potential are invited to a second assessment with a non-verbal reasoning test, a reading test, small group activities and an individual interview.

Latymer Prep School, an academically selective school for girls and boys aged 7 to 11, takes 7+ entry into Year 3 through three formal papers: English Comprehension, Creative Writing and Maths. It states that children at 7+ would be working in line with expectations at the top of KS1 for both Maths and English. Children who perform particularly well are invited back for an interview the week after assessment day, where staff talk with each child about their interests and aspirations.

On assessment day at Latymer, children sit at desks and talking is discouraged; staff are encouraging and will gently prompt a child who is stuck on a question. Pencils, rulers and rubbers are provided, there are short breaks between the parts, and children bring a named water bottle while the school provides a snack. That desk-based format differs from the play-based 4+ sessions described above, which is why each school's own page is the guide.

Related guides

• primary school tutoring
• 7+ tutors for English, maths and reasoning
• Preparing a young child without over-tutoring
• Pre-prep to prep school
• Choosing between prep schools in London

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