Newstead Wood School 11+ Admissions: Entrance Test, Registration and Catchment

Entry to Newstead Wood School at 11+ runs through a school-set selection test in verbal and non-verbal reasoning, sat by girls whose families have registered directly with the school; a place then depends on reaching the required standard score and being named on the family's Common Application Form to the home local authority, which allocates the 168 available Year 7 places according to the school's published order of priority.

The school is a girls' grammar academy, heavily oversubscribed each year, so families need to treat registration, the test itself and the Common Application Form as three separate, sequential steps, each with its own deadline set either by the school or by Bromley as the coordinating local authority.

How entry to Newstead Wood School works at 11+

The school admits 168 girls into Year 7 each September, a figure fixed as the Planned Admission Number and set out in its admissions policy. Entry is selective: places go to girls who reach a required standard in the school's own selection test, expressed as a mark score, which the school may adjust if that figure would not fill the intake once the full admissions process has run.

A handful of places also arise into Year 12 for external applicants meeting GCSE entry requirements, and very occasionally into Years 8 to 11 through Bromley's in-year admissions process, using a similar reasoning-based test set by a nationally recognised body. The school states that in-year vacancies at these ages are rare.

• 168 places into Year 7 (September intake)
• Required standard score: 210 marks, subject to adjustment to meet the PAN
• At least 40 external Year 12 places, subject to GCSE entry requirements and oversubscription criteria

How the Newstead Wood School 11+ assessment works

The selection test consists of two multiple-choice papers, one in verbal reasoning and one in non-verbal reasoning, with no other subjects assessed and answers recorded on a separate answer sheet. Both papers are sat on the same allocated test day at the school, with test times and sessions allocated on a first-come, first-served basis once registration closes; families cannot choose or change their allocated slot.

Scores are age-adjusted and standardised by an independent external company, then ranked in total; where two girls tie on the same overall score, the non-verbal reasoning paper is used to separate them. There is only one round of testing, with a single make-up date reserved for girls who notify the school of illness before their allocated session and later provide professional proof of absence.

Girls with identified special educational needs or medical requirements can apply for access arrangements, such as enlarged or coloured papers, provided the school's Access Arrangements form and supporting evidence are uploaded before the registration deadline. Girls receiving Pupil Premium or Service Premium funding, and those who are or were looked after, are also offered access to roughly ten hours of familiarisation material developed by the Grammar School Heads Association.

• Two papers: verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, both multiple-choice
• One test day, allocated slot, no rescheduling except for documented illness
• Scores age-standardised and ranked; non-verbal reasoning used as the tie-break

Registering, sitting the test and receiving an offer: the steps in order

Registration happens through the school's own online Supplementary Information Form, published on the admissions section of the school website for a defined window each spring; families upload a passport-style photograph and proof of address alongside the form, and the window closes at midnight with no late entries accepted. An acknowledgement email confirms receipt once the form has been processed.

The selection test itself follows in the autumn before entry, with detailed timing information sent out shortly beforehand. Results are emailed directly to families a few weeks later, ahead of the deadline for the Common Application Form, so that families know their daughter's standardised score and the required standard before deciding whether to name the school.

Naming Newstead Wood on the Common Application Form, submitted to the home local authority, only produces an eligible application if the required standard has been met; the local authority then uses the school's ranked list, alongside preferences for every school on the form, to decide the single offer made on National Offer Day. A waiting list, ranked under the same selection criteria, runs from National Offer Day into the following academic year for any places that later become free.

• Register via the school's online Supplementary Information Form (spring window)
• Sit the two-paper selection test at the school (autumn)
• Receive standardised results by email before the local authority deadline
• Name the school on the Common Application Form to the home local authority
• Local authority allocates places and confirms the outcome on National Offer Day
• Ranked waiting list runs from National Offer Day into the following academic year

Catchment area and oversubscription criteria

Catchment is defined as any permanent place of residence within a nine-mile straight-line radius of the school, measured from the home address to the school's main entrance using the local authority's grid-reference system; proof of address is required at registration, and the school will not calculate distances informally for families. Girls living outside this radius may still register and sit the test, though the school notes that, given demand, places have not historically been offered beyond the nine-mile limit.

After any places required for children with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school, the remaining places are allocated in a fixed order: looked-after and previously looked-after children who meet the required standard; then catchment girls receiving Pupil Premium or Service Premium funding who meet the required standard; then other catchment girls and daughters of long-serving staff, ranked by score; and finally girls outside catchment, ranked by score.

Families who move into catchment after testing but before a local-authority-set deadline, usually in early winter, may still be considered under the catchment criteria; the local authority is responsible for setting and publishing the exact date.

• Catchment: permanent residence within nine miles of the school
• Priority order: looked-after children, then catchment Pupil Premium/Service Premium girls, then other catchment girls and eligible staff daughters, then out-of-catchment girls, all subject to the required standard
• Address evidence (such as a GP letter, junior bank statement, Council Tax or Child Benefit statement) required at registration; utility bills are not accepted

Preparing for the verbal and non-verbal reasoning test

Because the assessment covers only verbal and non-verbal reasoning, with no separate English or mathematics paper, preparation tends to focus on the reasoning question types found in these two formats and on working accurately against the clock in a multiple-choice format. The school sells a short specimen paper from its reception, priced to cover printing costs, to show the general style of question involved, though it does not release past papers.

On the day itself, girls are asked to bring two sharpened HB pencils, a rubber and, if needed, a clear bottle of still water; bags, food and mobile phones are left with parents. Familiarity with sitting a timed, silent, multiple-choice test away from a familiar classroom, and with using a separate answer sheet instead of writing directly on the question paper, tends to matter as much as subject content.

For families whose daughters have identified needs, arranging access arrangements early, well before the registration deadline, allows the school to put support such as enlarged papers or a small-group room in place; this must be requested and evidenced before registration closes, since it cannot be added afterwards.

• Focus preparation on verbal and non-verbal reasoning question types
• Practise transferring answers to a separate multiple-choice answer sheet under time pressure
• Arrange any access arrangements well ahead of the registration deadline, since they cannot be added later

Appeals and what happens if a place is not offered

Parents whose daughters do not receive an offer can appeal to the school's Admission Appeals Panel; an appeal form for Year 7 entry becomes available on the school's website from National Offer Day, and for other year groups, requests for an appeals pack are normally due within fifteen school days of the rejection letter.

Girls who reach the required standard but are not offered a place are automatically added to a ranked waiting list, maintained under the same selection criteria from National Offer Day into the following December; if a place frees up, it goes to the next girl on the list. Girls offered a higher-preference school are not automatically placed on the waiting list but can ask to be added.

Related guides

• London grammar schools guide
• Tutors for families in London
• Grammar schools in England: the full directory

Preparing for the Newstead Wood School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Newstead Wood 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 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.