Hallfield School 7+, 11+ and 13+ Admissions: Assessments, Scholarships and Fees

Getting into Hallfield School starts with a registration form, a non-refundable registration fee and a long-form birth certificate, followed by a taster day and an assessment suited to the child's age. At 11+ for Year 7, the Seniors assessment is an assessment day spent with Seniors pupils together with entrance exams, and scholarship applicants sit English, creative writing and maths papers.

Applications are accepted throughout the year, subject to availability, and the 7+ and 11+ scholarship routes add their own papers and a closing date in the autumn before entry. Where demand exceeds places, a waiting list operates, so early registration matters.

Entry points and places

Hallfield takes children from 3 months to Year 9 in the main, with Hallfield First, Foundation, Reception, Year 3 and Year 7 named by the school as its most popular entry points. Seniors covers ages 11 to 16, so pupils can complete their GCSEs at the school.

Mid-year places are offered where available, and Year 10 applications are welcomed subject to availability, although the school notes that entry in Years 10 and 11 needs careful thought because of GCSE timeframes. The pages read do not publish numbers of places or forms of entry.

• 7+ for Year 3, joining the Prep (ages 7 to 11)
• 11+ for Year 7, the usual entry to Seniors
• 12+ and 13+ for Year 8 and Year 9, subject to availability
• Year 10, subject to availability and GCSE timing

How the 11+ assessment works

The 11+ assessment for Year 7 is an assessment day spent with Seniors pupils, together with entrance exams, and no external test provider is named on the school's pages. The pages read do not set out the subjects or length of the general entrance exams beyond this.

Scholarship applicants have a published format: an English exam of 1 hour 15 minutes, a creative writing task of 30 minutes and a mathematics exam of 1 hour, set for all applicants whether they come from inside or outside the school. Families who apply after the main entrance date can ask admissions to arrange a separate assessment day and a meeting with the Head Master.

• English exam: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Creative writing task: 30 minutes
• Mathematics exam: 1 hour

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Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration means completing the registration form, paying the non-refundable registration fee and providing a copy of the child's full long-form birth certificate. The school acknowledges the registration, which the FAQs say usually takes about two weeks, and children must be registered before they attend a taster session or day.

Registration is accepted throughout the year, whereas scholarship applications close in the autumn of Year 6 for Year 7 entry the following September, and most families then follow the five steps below in sequence.

• Contact admissions by form, email or telephone, and visit through one of the two Open Mornings each year, a personal tour or the virtual tour
• Register with the form, fee and birth certificate
• Attend the taster day and age-appropriate assessment
• Receive a decision soon after the taster day, followed by a formal written offer
• Accept the place by paying the non-refundable deposit

Taster days and interviews

Children entering Foundation and Reception attend a taster session, and children entering Years 1 to 6, which includes Year 3 at 7+, attend a taster day with English and maths assessments suited to their age. The taster day lets them meet teachers and pupils and use the facilities, and the school uses it to judge whether a child will cope with the curriculum.

Interviews appear in the scholarship route. Academic scholarship applicants at 11+ have a second-stage interview, and non-academic applicants have an additional assessment in their chosen discipline, depending on their entrance exam performance. At 7+, scholarship applicants submit a personal statement with supporting evidence such as certificates, reports, portfolios or recommendations, after the registration form and fee are received.

Scholarships and bursaries

Hallfield offers scholarships at 7+ for Year 3 in Academic, Art, Chess, Music and Sport, worth up to 25% fee remission, and at 11+ for Year 7 in Academic, Art, Drama, Languages, Music and Sport, worth up to 50%. The school offers a limited number of awards, and the FAQs state that an award stays with the child throughout their time at the school.

Art, Chess, Music and Sport at 7+, and every non-academic category at 11+, ask for a mean standardised score above 100 across maths, English and CAT. Music needs an instrument to Grade 3 at 7+ and Grade 5 at 11+. Scholars keep attendance and punctuality above 95% and represent the school in their specialism.

Assisted places are the means-tested bursaries, open to eligible families of children joining in Year 3 or above in the Autumn Term only. The means assessment takes place in January before entry, and the maximum share of fees is not published, so admissions is the contact for the process.

Fees and what they include

Fees are charged per term by stage, include VAT, and are published on the school's fees page with a schedule of fees for the nursery and Foundation stages. Seniors core hours run from 8:30am to 4:00pm, and the fee covers early arrival from 7:45am, lunch, a morning snack, supervised study and care until 6:00pm for pupils not at clubs, and an iPad for every pupil.

Breakfast club and extended care after the included period are charged separately, and sibling discounts are 5% for a second child, 10% for a third and 15% for a fourth. Fees are invoiced a term in advance, and the Fees in Advance Scheme and School Fee Plan are the payment options listed. The acceptance deposit is refundable at the end of Year 6, Year 8 or Year 11, less any unpaid charges.

Where pupils join from

Many Seniors pupils join from the school's own Prep, whose pupils are given the opportunity to continue to Seniors subject to the usual admissions requirements, including the relevant Senior School entrance assessment. Other pupils join from outside at Year 7, Year 8 or Year 9 through the same registration, assessment day and entrance exams.

No external feeder or partner schools are named on the pages read, and the FAQs do not address catchment areas, so families with a question about location can ask admissions directly.

How to prepare

Preparation for the 11+ scholarship papers is best tied to their three components: a 1 hour 15 minute English exam, a 30 minute creative writing task and a 1 hour mathematics exam. Timed practice in each, with a focus on planning and finishing a piece of creative writing within 30 minutes, tends to make the sitting feel familiar.

For the general assessment day, attending an Open Morning or the virtual tour helps a child picture the Seniors setting beforehand. Applicants in Music, Art, Drama, Languages and Sport can gather the evidence the criteria name, such as Grade 5 on an instrument, regular work outside class, or club and county-level participation, and keep up the standardised scores in maths, English and CAT.

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Preparing for the Hallfield School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

The Hallfield 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.

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