Ipswich High School 11+ Admissions: Entry, Assessment and Fees Guide

Entry to Ipswich High School at 11+ is by the school's own entrance examination, with papers set in English and Mathematics and places offered in rank order to candidates who reach the required standard in both. The process runs alongside a taster day, a report from the child's current school and, for Preparatory School pupils already at the school, an early place offer that still requires sitting the same papers as external candidates.

Registration is not tied to a single fixed date each year; the school states that it can accept applications and make offers at any point in the academic year when space allows, though most Year 7 candidates apply and sit the assessment well ahead of a September start. Families begin with a private tour before completing the online registration form and paying the registration fee.

How Year 7 (11+) entry works

The main entry point to the Senior School is Year 7, alongside further places at Year 9 and, where vacancies allow, at Year 8, Year 10 and Year 11. Selection is by examination at every stage: candidates are required to reach a minimum standard in Mathematics and English, and places are offered to qualifying candidates in rank order of combined performance, with both subjects weighted equally.

Pupils already in the school's own Preparatory School are told of their Year 7 place during the summer term of Year 5, ahead of external applicants, but still sit the same entrance examination as everyone else so that scholarships can be fairly allocated and classes properly set.

How the 11+ assessment works

The Year 7 entrance assessment consists of the school's own papers in English and Mathematics, sat during a taster day and not held as a separate sitting. This differs from entry into the Preparatory School at Years 3 to 6, where candidates additionally sit tests in Verbal Reasoning and Reading; Year 7 candidates are tested on English and Mathematics only.

Alongside the papers, the school requests a brief report from the child's current headteacher covering academic performance and potential, interests and any factors relevant to school life. There is no separate formal interview for standard entry, though candidates applying for a specialist scholarship in art, dance, drama, music or sport attend an audition or interview in addition to the papers.

Registration and the admissions process, step by step

The admissions process follows a consistent sequence for Year 7 applicants.

• Attend a private tour, led by a senior member of staff, or arrange a visit by private appointment
• Complete the online registration form and pay the non-refundable registration fee
• The school requests a report from the child's current school
• Attend a taster day, during which formal assessments in Mathematics and English take place
• Receive an offer of place, based on ranked performance in the entrance papers
• Accept the offer by signing the parent contract and paying the acceptance deposit

Oversubscription and how places are allocated

When a year group is oversubscribed, places are allocated according to a published hierarchy, not purely by examination rank. Existing Preparatory School pupils moving up into the Senior School are offered a place first, except where a pupil holds a conditional offer from entry to the school.

Siblings of existing pupils are next, provided they meet the minimum standard required for entry. External applicants who have satisfied the entry criteria are then offered a conditional place, subject to capacity in the year group, with applications accepted in the order they are returned until all places are filled.

Scholarships and financial support at 11+

Year 7 candidates can apply for scholarships in Art, Dance, Drama, Music and Sport, alongside the Kersey Scholarship for strong all-round candidates and the Head's Award, which carries direct mentorship from the school's Head. Specialist scholarships are awarded on the basis of an audition or interview, and specialist candidates must still reach a satisfactory standard in the entrance papers.

Scholarships and awards are applied only to the tuition portion of fees, not to boarding charges. The school's admissions policy states plainly that bursaries are not available, so families should treat scholarships as the sole route to fee reduction at this entry point.

Fees and what they include

Day fees are charged per term and rise between Year 7 to 8 and Year 9 to 13; boarding fees are charged annually, with weekly and flexi-boarding options priced separately for families who do not need full-time boarding. Fees can be paid termly or monthly at no extra charge.

Published fees cover tuition, lunches and enrichment activities, along with support for pupils with special educational needs or disabilities where appropriate. Families with more than one child at the school receive a sibling discount, rising from the second child onward. A registration fee applies when the application is submitted, and an acceptance deposit is due once a place is confirmed, refundable when the pupil leaves the school.

How to prepare for the 11+ assessment

Because the Year 7 papers cover only English and Mathematics, preparation can remain concentrated on these two areas. Regular practice with comprehension, extended writing and arithmetic and reasoning questions at the appropriate level tends to build the fluency the papers reward, without needing to rehearse verbal or non-verbal reasoning styles used at other schools.

The taster day itself, where the papers are sat, also gives the assessors a sense of how a child settles into lessons and works alongside future classmates, so it is worth preparing a child for a full day in an unfamiliar setting as well as for the papers themselves. A calm, well-rested candidate on the day tends to perform closer to their true ability than one who has crammed heavily in the days before.

Related guides

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Preparing for the Ipswich High School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Ipswich High School 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 the East of England 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.