Beechwood Sacred Heart School 11+ Admissions: Assessment, Registration and Fees

Entry to Beechwood Sacred Heart School at 11+ is managed entirely by the school's own admissions process, without recourse to an external test board. Prospective pupils register, visit, sit an entrance or taster day of assessments and interview, and provide a reference from their current school before an offer is made. The school, in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, is co-educational and takes pupils from Nursery through Sixth Form, with Year 7 forming one of the main points of entry into the Senior School.

Families already at Beechwood's Prep School can choose at age 11 between sitting the Kent 11+ for grammar school places or transferring internally to the school's own Senior School, while pupils joining from elsewhere apply directly for Year 7 through the same registration and assessment route.

How 11+ entry works

11+ entry places pupils into Year 7, the first year of the Senior School, joining internal Prep School leavers who choose to continue their education at Beechwood. The school also admits at Nursery, Reception, Prep and Sixth Form, so Year 7 is one of several points at which new families can join. Boarding, offered from Year 7 upward, sits alongside day places within the same Year 7 intake.

How the entrance assessment works

Candidates for Year 7 attend an entrance or taster day at the school, combining written assessments with an interview. The school also asks for a reference from the candidate's current school and reviews recent school reports as part of the same round of assessment. Applicants from overseas normally sit the school's own tests in English and mathematics instead, with places decided on test performance together with reports from their current school.

Registration and the admissions process, step by step

Admissions at Beechwood follow a fixed sequence of several stages, starting with an initial enquiry and ending once a deposit confirms the place. Each stage feeds into the next, so booking a visit or an assessment day early leaves more time for the reference and school reports stage that follows it, before the school makes a decision on a Year 7 place.

• Initial enquiry to the admissions office
• Visit and tour of the school
• Registration form submitted, along with school reports
• Entrance or taster day, including written assessments and interview
• Written reference requested from the candidate's current school
• Offer of a place
• Place secured with a deposit

Scholarships for Year 7 entry

Scholarships at Year 7 entry are awarded on merit, across five categories (academic, art, drama, music and sport), irrespective of financial circumstances. The school assesses candidates for these awards as part of the same admissions round used for standard Year 7 entry, and describes selection as based purely on merit and achievement both in and outside the classroom. Families apply for a scholarship through a separate online form, after which the admissions team makes contact, and the school sets a single closing date each autumn for scholarship applications ahead of September entry.

• Academic
• Art
• Drama
• Music
• Sport

Fees for Year 7 entry

Fees for Year 7 are charged termly and cover day places as standard, with weekly and full boarding available from Year 7 upward at a higher termly rate. The school's dedicated charges page publishes the current figures for each year group and boarding option. Families are also asked to pay a deposit to secure a place once an offer has been accepted, and further charges apply for optional extras such as the school's football programme.

How to prepare for the entrance day

Preparation for Beechwood's entrance day centres on the same core skills as most Year 7 assessments: solid literacy and numeracy, and the confidence to sit written tasks and talk to an interviewer about interests and current schoolwork. Because a reference and recent reports from the candidate's current school form part of the same admissions round, steady classroom performance in the run-up to the assessment carries weight alongside the day itself. For pupils already in Beechwood's own Prep School, the Year 5 curriculum and activities such as Brain-Training and Presentation-Skills are designed to build these skills ahead of either an 11+ grammar application or internal transfer to the Senior School.

Related guides

• Independent school fees compared

Preparing for the Beechwood Sacred Heart School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

The Beechwood Sacred Heart School 11+ rewards steady preparation over a year or so, with the last term given to timed practice and interview confidence. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors match the programme to the school's assessment format and to where the child is starting from.

Because the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools, and more than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status, families get a tutor who understands what the assessors are looking for. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families work with us online from anywhere in the UK or abroad, and in person in central London. Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level and subject, with no registration fee and a free initial consultation to talk through your child's current level and the timeline to the 11+. Families receive progress reports after sessions and have a dedicated point of contact, and we reply to enquiries within one working day with tutor recommendations.

Read more about our 11+ entrance exam tutors, or send an enquiry and we will come back with tutor recommendations.