Clifton College 11+ Entrance Exam: A Guide for Parents

Clifton College's 11+ entrance exam, sat during Year 6 by candidates joining Year 7, centres on a CAT4 online assessment measuring underlying ability in English and Maths, together with a taster day and a school report or reference. This standard entry route sits alongside separate 11+ scholarship assessments in Academic, Music, Drama, Design Technology, Performing Arts, Art and Sport, offered at the same stage.

About Clifton College

Clifton is a co-educational independent school in the Clifton area of Bristol, taking pupils aged 3 to 18. The school offers day, flexi-boarding and full boarding places, with just over 1,200 pupils on roll.

The entrance exam

Clifton's Year 7 entrance exam centres on a CAT4 online assessment measuring underlying ability in English and Maths, with the school's admissions pages holding the current detail on the provider and format, since the admissions policy leaves this out.

Candidates also spend a taster day with their prospective peer group and submit a recent school report, with UK applicants providing a reference from their current school as well. None of these elements takes the form of a timed written paper, so the emphasis for Year 7 entry sits on general ability and a comfortable day in school.

• CAT4 online assessment: tests underlying ability in English and Maths; no published format or length
• Taster day: half-day or full-day visit spent in lessons and activities with the peer group, not a formal exam
• Current school report and reference: most recent school report required; UK applicants also require a reference from their current school

Registration and key dates

Clifton does not publish fixed dates for registration, assessment or offers for its Year 7 entry route, so families confirm the current admissions timetable directly on the school's admissions pages. The sequence itself follows the pattern common to Year 7 entry, with registration, assessment and the taster day taking place before a child moves up to Year 7, and the school issuing offers once every element of the application has been reviewed.

• Registration: dates published on the school's admissions pages
• CAT4 online assessment: usually sat during Year 6
• Taster day: arranged during Year 6, around the time of the assessment
• School report and reference: submitted alongside the application, during Year 6
• Offer: date published on the school's admissions pages

The school's own admissions pages below set out the current arrangements.

• Admissions policy (PDF)
• How to apply

Past papers and familiarisation

Clifton publishes no past papers or CAT4 familiarisation materials for its Year 7 entry route, so families preparing for this stage rely on general resources for CAT4-style online ability tests.

Given the school's description of CAT4 as testing underlying ability in English and Maths, preparation usually focuses on general familiarity with online test conditions and question formats, since no school-specific practice materials exist for Clifton's version of this assessment.

Preparing with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Clifton 11+ usually come to us a year or so before the assessment, though shorter runs work where the foundations are already sound. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors build each programme around the format the school actually uses, whether a written paper, an online pre-test, an interview or a combination of them.

More than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status and around three in five hold a master's degree or doctorate, and the pool includes former heads of department, exam-board examiners and teachers from independent and boarding schools, so the preparation is led by people who know how selective schools assess. Every tutor who works with children holds an enhanced DBS check.

Families in Bristol and Bath and further afield work with us online, 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.