Immanuel College 11+ Admissions: Entrance Assessment and Fees

Getting into Immanuel College at 11+ means registering by the autumn deadline, sitting four GL Assessment papers on a single assessment day, attending an interview and providing a reference from the child's current school; offers follow on a published Offer Day. The school, a co-educational Modern Orthodox Jewish independent day school in Bushey, Hertfordshire for ages 11 to 18, takes its main intake at Year 7, with a further entry point at 16+ and occasional spaces elsewhere.

The process runs as a single pathway for every applicant: register through the school's online application system, attend the assessment day for the exam and interview, then wait for the offer and confirm the place by the acceptance deadline. Families considering a scholarship or bursary apply through the same form, with additional steps layered on for specialist scholarships or means-tested financial support.

[heading] How entry works at the school

Most pupils join Immanuel College at 11+ into Year 7, with a second entry point at 16+ for Sixth Form; the school notes that spaces in other year groups occasionally arise outside these two main points. The school describes itself as a selectively academic institution: the Year 7 intake is set by the entrance assessment and interview process, with no automatic progression from a junior school.

The published admissions pages do not state a fixed number of Year 7 places or forms of entry, so families relying on that figure should confirm it directly with the admissions office.

How the 11+ assessment works

The 11+ assessment combines a written exam, an interview and a reference from the child's current school, all forming part of a single integrated process. The written exam consists of four multiple-choice GL Assessment papers taken in one sitting on site: Maths (50 minutes), English (45 minutes), Verbal Reasoning (50 minutes) and Non-Verbal Reasoning (20 minutes), with lunch provided for candidates afterwards.

Every candidate is also interviewed, in a conversation of around twenty minutes with a member of staff such as a Head of Year, a Head of Department, a pastoral team member or a subject teacher. The school states that children cannot revise for the interview and cannot give a wrong answer; it looks instead for curiosity, the ability to listen and respond to others, and a developing sense of Jewish identity and responsibility, alongside comfort with Jewish practice.

A Certificate of Religious Practice form is required as part of the application, as the school is a Jewish faith school. Families unable to attend the main assessment day can be considered in a second assessment round held in January.

How to register and what happens next

Registration and the whole application are completed through the school's online application system, OpenApply; no paper form is used. The steps run in this order: submit the application form and required documents online, pay the registration fee, attend the assessment day for the written papers and interview, then wait for the outcome on the published Offer Day and confirm the place by the acceptance deadline shown in the offer letter.

Registration closes in the autumn before entry, with the exact date published on the school's admissions pages each cycle; applications are still accepted on a rolling basis after that point where places remain. The registration fee is non-refundable and separate from the acceptance deposit due once a place is confirmed.

• Submit the application and documents via OpenApply and pay the registration fee
• Attend the assessment day: written GL Assessment papers plus an interview
• A reference is taken from the child's current school
• Offers issued on Offer Day
• Confirm the place by the acceptance deadline and pay the acceptance deposit

Scholarships and bursaries

Academic Scholarships at Year 7 are awarded automatically from the entrance exam and interview, with no separate application; the value is confirmed in the offer letter and is held to Year 11, renewable into Sixth Form subject to the pupil meeting the expectations of scholars. Specialist scholarships are available in Art, Creative Writing, Jewish Life and Learning, Music and Sports, each requiring an additional application alongside the main form: a digital portfolio and interview for Art, a roughly 300-word writing paper and interview for Creative Writing, performance of two contrasting pieces for Music, and achievement records or video evidence for Sports.

Bursaries are means-tested and offered mainly at Year 7 and Year 12 entry, ranging from 10% to 100% of fees depending on disposable income, assets and the funding available that cycle; meeting the financial guidelines does not guarantee an award. Applicants complete a detailed financial form alongside the standard application and must still succeed in the entrance exam and interview. A 10% sibling discount and a 10% alumni discount are also offered, and bursary recipients may receive help with compulsory trips and a proportional reduction in the acceptance deposit.

How to prepare for the assessment

Because the written exam uses standard GL Assessment multiple-choice formats in Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, familiarity with that question style and with working under timed conditions across four papers in one sitting helps more than last-minute cramming. The school publishes example entrance exam papers, which give a realistic sense of layout and question types ahead of the assessment day.

For the interview, the school is explicit that children cannot revise and cannot give a wrong answer, so the most useful preparation is practical: a good night's sleep beforehand, encouraging the child to bring something they are proud of to talk about, and helping them stay aware of the wider world and comfortable discussing their own interests and their developing sense of Jewish identity. Calm, unforced familiarity with the format tends to serve candidates better than intensive drilling in the days immediately before.

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Preparing for the Immanuel College 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Immanuel College 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, 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.