Key Facts
| School type | Independent day school, girls, ages 3 to 18 |
|---|---|
| Location | Leicester, Leicestershire |
| Entry points | EYFS (age 3), Junior Department (Years 1 to 6), Senior School (Year 7, plus Years 6, 8, 9 and 10 where places allow), Sixth Form (Year 12) |
| Assessment | The school's own online Maths and English (verbal and non-verbal reasoning) test plus a separate creative writing task, sat in January |
| Test provider | School's own entrance examination (not an external testing consortium) |
| Day fees (2026/2027) | £7,200 per term (inclusive of VAT) for Years 6 to 13 |
| Assessment date | Not published on the school's own pages (the entrance exam takes place in January; the school confirms the exact date on request) |
Figures correct at the time of writing — always confirm current fees and deadlines with the school directly.
Getting into Leicester High School for Girls at 11+ means registering online, sitting the school's own January entrance exam in Maths and English (with verbal and non-verbal reasoning and a creative writing task), and receiving an offer where a place is available. Registration opens the process; it does not reserve a place. Candidates who register are invited to sit the exam, and offers follow on the strength of that assessment together with the child's current school record.
The school, an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18 on London Road in Leicester, sets its own entrance paper in-house, and pairs the exam with a taster day so a prospective pupil can experience lessons with her future year group.
How entry works at 11+
Year 7 is the main Senior School entry point, though the school also considers applications for Years 6, 8, 9 and 10 where places exist. The published admissions route runs in four stages: visiting the school or attending an open or taster event, registering online, sitting the entrance assessment, and, where a place is offered, completing induction and transition arrangements before September.
- Visit or open event
- Online registration
- Entrance assessment and taster day
- Offer, induction and transition
How the 11+ assessment works
The assessment is devised and set internally by the school. Candidates sit an online exam at the school covering Maths and English, with the English element testing both verbal and non-verbal reasoning; a creative writing task is completed separately from the online sections. The whole assessment takes around two hours, and question difficulty is adjusted according to the age group being tested, since the same January sitting covers entry into Years 6 through 10.
Alongside the written assessment, prospective pupils are invited to a taster day, attending lessons with the year group they would join. The school's pages do not describe a separate formal interview as part of the Year 7 process.
Registering and the admissions process, step by step
Families register their daughter online and provide a copy of her passport and birth certificate as part of that registration; a registration fee applies. Registering confirms that a candidate will sit the exam, not that she has secured a place, and the school encourages early registration because classes can fill before the assessment date.
The main entrance exam for Years 6 to 10 is held in January each admissions cycle, with the school able to advise on alternative assessment dates for candidates applying at other points in the year. Where a place is offered, the school sets out next steps covering acceptance paperwork, a deposit and transition arrangements, followed by an induction day ahead of the September start.
Scholarships and bursaries
Academic scholarships are performance-based, awarded for strong results in the January entrance exam, and provide a percentage reduction in fees; the school's Headmaster's Scholarships for Year 7 entry offer between 5% and 25% of fees. A Music Scholarship is assessed separately, by audition, and expects candidates to be performing at around Grade 4 standard for 11+ entry, covering two contrasting pieces, sight-reading and an aural test, with a reference from an instrumental teacher.
Means-tested Headmaster's Bursaries are available from Year 7 entry onwards, funded through the school's bursary fund and applied for through a separate online application within a published window each admissions cycle. Bursary and scholarship support can in principle be combined, subject to the family's financial circumstances.
How to prepare for the assessment
Because the school sets and marks the test in-house, published past papers from testing agencies will not match its exact format. Useful preparation instead focuses on the skills the school names directly: solid arithmetic and problem-solving for the Maths paper, comfort with verbal and non-verbal reasoning question types for the English section, and practice planning and writing a short piece of creative writing within a time limit.
Attending an open event or the taster day beforehand can help a child arrive at the exam familiar with the building and less anxious about the format, and families applying for a scholarship should be aware that the same January sitting is used to identify scholarship candidates, so ordinary exam preparation and scholarship preparation are the same process.
Fees and what they cover
Senior School fees are charged per term for Years 6 to 13 and include the cost of daily school lunches; sibling discounts apply, at 5% for a second daughter and 10% for a third or subsequent daughter. An optional fee refund scheme, run through an external insurance broker, can reimburse fees during a continuous absence of five days or more due to illness or accident.
Fees do not cover uniform, trips, individual music or speech and drama lessons, which are charged separately.
Related guides
Preparing for the Leicester High School for Girls 11+ with Taylor Tuition
Families preparing for the Leicester High School for Girls 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.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the Leicester High School for Girls 11+ exam involve?
- An online test in Maths and English, covering verbal and non-verbal reasoning, taken at the school, plus a separate creative writing task not done on screen. The whole assessment lasts around two hours and the school adjusts difficulty to the candidate's age of entry.
- How do you register for Year 7 entry?
- Families complete the school's online registration form and pay a registration fee, along with providing a copy of the child's passport and birth certificate. Registering means a candidate will sit the entrance exam; it does not secure a place, and the school encourages early registration as classes can fill up.
- When is the entrance exam held?
- The main Senior School entrance exam for Years 6 to 10 takes place in January, with the school confirming the exact date to registered families. Assessments for other points in the year are also possible; the admissions team can advise on timing.
- Does Leicester High School for Girls offer scholarships or bursaries at 11+?
- Yes. Headmaster's Scholarships of between 5% and 25% of fees are awarded for strong performance in the January entrance exam, and means-tested Headmaster's Bursaries are available for Year 7 entry, alongside a Music Scholarship assessed separately by audition.
- Is there an interview as part of 11+ admissions?
- The school's admissions pages describe a taster day, where candidates attend lessons with their prospective year group; they do not set out a formal interview. The taster day can take place before or after the exam is sat.
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