Cranmore 11+ and 13+ Admissions: ISEB Pre-Tests, Scholarships and Fees

How do you get into Cranmore? Boys join the senior years mainly at 11+ and 13+, and the 11+ route starts with the online ISEB Common Pre-Tests in English, Mathematics, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning, followed by a visit day with a creative writing task and an informal group interview. Places are offered once the school's own papers are completed satisfactorily and a confidential report from the current Head has arrived.

Entry at 12+, 13+ and 14+ uses individual visits with entrance exams in Mathematics and English, and the Nursery and Prep School take boys and girls from age 2 to 6. The sections below set out the entry points, the assessment formats, the registration sequence, scholarships, bursaries and fees as the school publishes them.

Entry points and places

The senior years take boys at 11+ into Year 7 and at 13+ into Year 9, and the school's entry page also describes entrance exams for 12+ and 14+ candidates. Places for boys at other ages occasionally become available, so a family looking at a different year group can ask the admissions office whether a place exists.

The school does not publish a number of places or forms of entry on the pages read, so the admissions office is the route for that question. Its Nursery and Prep School accept boys and girls aged 2 to 6, while entry at 11 and 13 is for boys only.

• 11+ (Year 7): ISEB Common Pre-Tests, then a visit day
• 12+, 13+ and 14+ (Years 8, 9 and 10): individual visit with Mathematics and English exams
• Admissions office: Director of Admissions, 01372 750204

How the 11+ assessment works

The 11+ assessment is the online ISEB Common Pre-Test, which every boy sits in the first term of Year 6 and which is age-standardised for applicants to independent senior schools. The school describes the papers as multiple choice and says no special preparation is required.

There are four papers, and a boy sits them once per academic year, with the results shared with every school he has applied to. After the pre-tests, boys visit the school for a short creative writing task, activities and an informal group interview.

• English: 40 minutes
• Mathematics: 40 minutes
• Non-Verbal Reasoning: 30 minutes
• Verbal Reasoning: 25 minutes

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How the 12+, 13+ and 14+ assessment works

Boys applying at 12+, 13+ or 14+ visit the school individually to sit entrance exams in Mathematics and English. The school's own papers are used at these ages, and the pages read name no pre-test or Common Entrance requirement.

During the visit the candidate spends break time with pupils in the year group he would join. Timings vary by age group but usually run from a 9.40am arrival to a 12.30pm departure. Academic scholarships at 13+ are decided from performance in these entrance exams.

Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration for the 11+ route closes in early October of the year before entry, and the process normally begins at least a year before a boy would join. After that deadline the school contacts the current schools for references, so late registration shortens the time available for the later steps.

• Attend an Open Morning or take an individual tour, and meet the Headmaster
• Create a parent account on Applicaa and complete the online registration form
• Pay the non-refundable registration fee, which covers registration and the entrance exam
• Boys sit the ISEB Common Pre-Tests, usually at the current school, or at Cranmore if that is not possible
• Boys attend the visit day with the creative writing task, activities and group interview
• Offers follow in the week after the pre-test deadline, and an Offer Holders' Day takes place early in the spring term
• Pay the deposit on acceptance of a place

Interviews and references

The only interview described for 11+ entry is an informal group interview on the visit day, held alongside activities and lunch, with boys wearing their current school uniform. The pages read do not describe a separate one-to-one interview for 12+, 13+ or 14+ candidates.

Every offer depends on satisfactory completion of the school's exam papers and a written confidential report from the Head of the candidate's present school. The Headmaster may also consider any attribute suggesting a boy would thrive in the school's community, and applications are welcomed from pupils of all abilities, including those with very mild learning difficulties.

Scholarships and bursaries

The school awards academic scholarships on performance in the entrance exams, and scholarships may also be awarded in art, music, performing arts, sport and tennis at Year 7 and Year 9 entry. Academic awards need no separate application, whereas the other scholarships require online forms that are sent through Applicaa once a boy is registered.

Scholarship assessments at 11+ in art, music, performing arts, sport and tennis take place at the end of November, with offers made alongside entrance exam results. Tennis assessments are managed by ESTA. Academic scholars take part in the Renaissance Project in their first year.

Means-tested bursaries are available at all entry points and may cover up to 50% of fees. All new applicants are eligible, the Governors make three places available each year, and the school has sole discretion over awards. The Finance Department issues the forms.

Fees and what they include

Fees are charged per term and vary by year group, with the current schedule on the school's fees page. Tuition covers books, stationery and equipment, and lunch is compulsory and added each term. Public examination fees and educational visits are excluded.

Every application carries a non-returnable registration fee covering registration and the entrance exam, and accepting a place requires a deposit that is refundable after the final term once all fees are settled. Withdrawal needs a full term's written notice to the Headmaster.

Where two or more siblings attend the school, St Teresa's or Manor House at the same time, the tuition discount is 5% for the second child, 10% for the third and 15% for the fourth and later children.

Where pupils join from

Boys at 11+ and 13+ usually join from other schools, and the school writes to each applicant's current Head for a report. Pupils can also begin earlier, since the Nursery and Prep School take children from age 2 to 6 through Welcome Mornings for Years 1 to 4 and Assessment Mornings for Years 5 and 6.

Siblings of current pupils receive priority on entry where possible. The school's website lists a sixth form run by the Effingham Schools Trust, though the pages read give no entry requirements for it, so sixth form questions go to the admissions office.

How to prepare

Preparation for the 11+ centres on familiarity with the four ISEB papers, which are all multiple choice and last between 25 and 40 minutes. Practising English and Mathematics at a steady pace, and trying timed verbal and non-verbal reasoning questions, helps a boy meet the format without surprise, even though the school says no special preparation is required.

The visit day rewards ordinary confidence. Writing a short piece of creative work to a time limit, and talking comfortably with other boys in a group, are the two skills it draws on.

For 12+, 13+ and 14+, revising the current school's Mathematics and English work is the most direct preparation, because those are the two papers sat on the individual visit.

Related guides

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• Reigate Grammar School (11+)
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• Claremont Fan Court School (11+)
• Epsom College (11+)
• The ISEB Common Pre-Test explained
• 13+ Common Entrance explained
• The 11+ entrance exam explained
• 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
• What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained

Preparing for the Cranmore 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Cranmore 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 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.

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