Withington Girls' School 11+ Admissions: Assessment, Registration and Fees

Entry to Withington Girls' School at 11+ is by the school's own entrance examination, held in January, covering English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, followed by an interview for candidates who do well in the papers. Year 7 is the school's main point of entry to the Senior School, though girls also join at 7+ into the Junior School and at 16+ into the Sixth Form.

Registration is open at any point, but the admissions cycle runs a year ahead of the September a daughter would start, so families typically register and apply in the autumn before the January assessment. Offers follow the interview round, and the school also runs a means-tested bursary scheme for families who could not otherwise meet the fees.

How entry works at 11+

Year 7 is the main point of entry to the Senior School at Withington, with girls joining at age 11 through the school's own entrance examination and interview. Places are also available at 7+ into the Junior School, with occasional spaces in Years 4 to 6, and at 16+ into the Sixth Form for girls who meet the required GCSE grades. The school treats Year 7 as its main entry point, though it will consider applications for other Senior School years on request.

How the 11+ assessment is structured

The Year 7 entrance assessment at Withington consists of four timed papers, sat in January for entry the following September. The school states that the assessment is designed to discover potential instead of simply testing what a candidate has already been taught, and girls who perform well across the papers are invited to interview.

• English: 60 minutes
• Maths: 45 minutes
• Verbal reasoning: 50 minutes
• Non-verbal reasoning: 20 minutes

How the interview works

Candidates who do well in the written papers are invited to an interview with two senior members of staff at Withington, which the school describes as friendly instead of formal. The conversation may cover exam responses or a candidate's general interests, and parents join briefly at the end, though this part is not used in the selection decision. Interviews run over several weeks following the January examination, before families are notified of the outcome.

How to register and apply

Applying to Withington follows a set sequence: register your daughter's details online, visit the school through an open event or tour, then submit the online application form together with a non-refundable application fee before the published deadline. Assessment day follows in January, with interviews offered to candidates who do well in the papers. The school notifies outcomes by email and letter, after which families are usually given a short window to accept the offer and pay a deposit to secure the place.

• Register your daughter's details online
• Visit the school at an open event or tour
• Submit the application form and fee before the deadline
• Sit the assessment in January
• Attend interview if invited
• Accept the offer and pay a deposit to secure the place

Bursaries and financial support

Withington offers means-tested bursaries instead of academic scholarships, aimed at girls who would benefit from a place but whose families could not otherwise afford the fees. Support is available for Year 7 and Year 12 entry, with limited bursaries also considered for Years 5 and 6. Families indicate interest on the application form and then complete a confidential financial assessment, carried out by an independent assessor, before the admission decision is made; any award is confirmed alongside the offer of a place. The school notes that demand exceeds the funding available, so an award is not guaranteed even where a family meets the eligibility guidelines.

How to prepare for the 11+ assessment

Withington's own guidance is to avoid heavy tutoring, since the papers are designed to test how a candidate thinks instead of what she has been drilled to produce. The school recommends that families instead work through past papers together to build familiarity with the format and timing, particularly across the English, maths and reasoning papers. Because a supplementary sitting is offered for girls who are ill or unable to attend on the day for unavoidable reasons, a single missed date does not close off an application, which can ease pressure in the run-up to January.

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Preparing for the Withington Girls' School 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the Withington Girls' 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 Greater Manchester 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.