How to prepare for the Al-Burhan Grammar School 11+

The exam at a glance

Al-Burhan Grammar School is an independent girls’ school in Birmingham offering entry at 11+, with some later entry points as well. For Year 7 entry, the school assesses girls in Maths and English. According to the school’s admissions information, these are the entrance papers used for Year 7 applicants.

For families preparing for 2028 entry, ElevenReady’s verified information is that the school uses its own paper, not a shared grammar-school test. That matters because preparation should stay closely focused on secure school-level Maths and English rather than spreading time across verbal or non-verbal reasoning. Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning are not tested.

The school says there are two entrance test points each year, one at the beginning of December and one at the beginning of March. Once the school has received the required documents, it gives the applicant a date for an independent assessment test. The school also says the test usually starts at 10am, with arrival aimed for 9.30am, and that tests are usually held on a Saturday, although they can be arranged during school hours if needed.

The school’s admissions page explains that results are normally released within four weeks. The school website does not, on the pages reviewed, set out a more detailed public breakdown of the length of each paper or whether the test is handwritten, computer-based or split into separate sessions, so parents should treat the exact on-the-day format as something to confirm directly with the school when invited to test.

Exam board: the school’s own paper
Subjects: Maths and English only
Reasoning papers: not tested
When Year 7 applicants sit it: in Year 6
Typical test points named by the school: beginning of December and beginning of March
Typical start time: 10am, with arrival for 9.30am
Typical day: usually a Saturday test, though weekday testing may be possible
Results: usually within four weeks

If you want a quick overview alongside this guide, see The Al-Burhan Grammar School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates).

Registration and key dates

Al-Burhan Grammar School runs its own admissions process. This is not a local-authority grammar-school registration system. The admissions page says parents should first send a set of documents to the school. Once these are received, the school provides a date for the assessment test.

On the school’s admissions procedure page, families are asked to provide:

the child’s birth certificate
the child’s latest school report
passport copies for the child and both parents
a completed registration form
a non-refundable administration fee of £50

The same page says there are two entrance tests each year, held at the beginning of December and the beginning of March. It does not, on the page reviewed, publish fixed annual closing dates for registration, so families should apply early and check directly with the school for the next available test sitting.

Because you are preparing for September 2028 entry, your daughter would normally sit the entrance test during Year 6. Based on the school’s current admissions wording, the likely windows are early December 2027 or early March 2028, but these should be treated as typical timing rather than confirmed 2027–28 published dates unless and until the school posts that year’s schedule.

The school says results are released within four weeks of the test. For an independent school like this one, families should also be ready for follow-up communication directly from the school about offers, acceptance deadlines and any further admissions steps.

Who runs registration?	The school
How to apply?	Send the required documents and completed registration form to the school
Fee	£50 non-refundable administration fee
Typical test points	Beginning of December and beginning of March
Typical result timing	Within four weeks

If you want updates when the school publishes fresh information, parents can sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates.

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Al-Burhan Grammar School is an independent girls’ school for ages 11 to 16. The school says it attracts pupils from Birmingham and the surrounding area, and it may also have a place available for a girl whose family is relocating from outside the Birmingham area. In practical terms, that means there is no published catchment area in the state-school sense on the admissions information reviewed.

The school states that girls are admitted at 11+, with some joining at 12+ and 13+, normally at the beginning of the academic year in September. For Year 7 entry, applicants sit papers in English and Maths.

The admissions page reviewed does not publish a fixed number of Year 7 places, a ranked oversubscription list, a pass mark or a cut-off score. Because those figures are not publicly stated on the sources reviewed, it is best to assume competition can vary from year to year and to ask the school directly if you need the latest availability information.

One helpful indicator for parents is that the school’s most recent Ofsted inspection outcome shown on the school website is Outstanding. While Ofsted is not part of the entrance assessment, it does help families understand the school’s overall profile.

School type: independent
Who can apply: girls seeking Year 7 entry at 11+
Catchment: no published catchment boundary on the admissions page reviewed
Area served: Birmingham and the surrounding area, with possible places for relocating families from farther away
Published places or pass mark: not stated on the sources reviewed

A month-by-month preparation plan

Because this school tests only English and Maths, preparation can be narrower and steadier than for schools that also use reasoning papers. The aim is not to rush into endless papers. It is to build secure skills first, then layer in timed practice later.

Below is a realistic plan working back from a likely Year 6 autumn or early spring test window. It suits most children preparing alongside normal schoolwork.

Year 5 September to December: Spend around 1 to 1.5 hours a week in total. Focus on arithmetic fluency, basic problem solving, reading comprehension, spelling accuracy, punctuation and writing clear sentences. At this stage, keep work untimed. Read widely and discuss vocabulary out loud.
Year 5 January to Easter: Increase gently to about 1.5 to 2 hours a week. In Maths, make sure number bonds, times tables and written methods are secure. In English, practise short comprehension tasks and short writing tasks based on prompts, pictures or reading extracts. Start noticing where errors repeat.
Year 5 summer term: Keep to around 2 hours a week. Begin mixing straightforward questions with more demanding ones. In Maths, add multi-step word problems and careful checking. In English, work on inference, vocabulary in context and planning a short piece of writing before starting.
Summer holiday before Year 6: Aim for 2 to 3 hours a week, split into short sessions. This is a good time to consolidate rather than overload. Use a balanced routine: one Maths session, one English session, one mixed review. If your child is comfortable, introduce the first lightly timed sections.
Year 6 September: Move to around 3 hours a week. Now begin proper timed practice in small amounts. Do not start with full papers every weekend. Instead, time one Maths section or one comprehension task, then review errors carefully. Build exam habits: neat working, sensible pacing and checking.
Year 6 October: Continue at 3 to 4 hours a week. Use one fuller piece of timed work each week, plus one or two skill sessions targeting weak areas. For English, include both comprehension and writing. For Maths, include arithmetic speed and written problem solving.
Year 6 November: If aiming for the school’s early December sitting, this is the final consolidation month. Keep work calm and purposeful at about 3 to 4 hours a week. Use a small number of full-length practice tasks under realistic conditions, then spend most of the time reviewing mistakes and improving method.
If taking the March sitting instead: After December, avoid the temptation to overdo it. Use January and February for steady consolidation at around 3 hours a week, with one timed task and one correction-focused session each week.

A good rule for this school is simple: because there are only two tested subjects, depth matters more than volume. A child who can read accurately, write clearly, calculate securely and stay calm under time pressure is usually in a much stronger position than a child who has raced through dozens of papers without review.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For Al-Burhan Grammar School, Maths preparation should focus on strong Key Stage 2 content presented clearly and accurately. Because the paper is the school’s own, parents should prepare for a mix of straightforward method questions and worded problems rather than trying to second-guess a highly specialised format.

Arithmetic fluency: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division using both mental and written methods
Times tables recall and number bonds, so working is faster and more confident
Fractions, decimals and percentages at an age-appropriate level
Measures, money, time and interpreting practical questions carefully
Multi-step word problems, where your child must decide what the question is asking before calculating
Presenting working neatly and checking answers for simple slips

Practise by mixing short fluency work with a smaller number of written problems. Encourage your child to underline key information, estimate where possible and check whether the final answer is sensible.

English

English preparation should cover both reading and writing. The school confirms English is one of the two entrance papers, but does not publicly set out a detailed public specification on the pages reviewed, so it is sensible to prepare broadly across the core skills most commonly assessed at this level.

Reading comprehension: retrieving information accurately from a passage
Inference: explaining what a character may be feeling, thinking or implying
Vocabulary in context: working out meanings from surrounding words and choosing precise language
Grammar, punctuation and spelling accuracy
Writing structure: clear openings, sensible paragraphing and a logical sequence of ideas
Descriptive and narrative writing: adding detail without losing control or clarity

To practise well, use short unseen passages and ask your child to answer in full sentences, using evidence from the text where needed. For writing, shorter regular pieces are often better than occasional long ones. Focus on planning, staying on task and checking punctuation and spelling before finishing.

For both subjects, regular correction matters. It is not enough to mark an answer right or wrong; help your child see why an answer missed the mark and what to do differently next time.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are most useful when they are used sparingly and reviewed carefully. For a school like Al-Burhan Grammar School, where the test is in just Maths and English, a smaller number of focused papers is usually better than constant testing.

Start with skill-building first. Once your child is reasonably secure, introduce timed practice in stages:

begin with individual sections rather than full papers
mark work promptly and go through every error
keep an error log, especially for repeated Maths slips or recurring English weaknesses
repeat topics that went wrong before moving on
save a few papers for the final weeks, so practice still feels fresh

For school-specific practice, use these ElevenReady resources:

If you use mock exams, treat them as a confidence-building rehearsal rather than a judgement on your child’s chances. They are most helpful for practising timing, stamina, following instructions and settling nerves. After any mock, keep the follow-up practical: what went well, where time was lost and which two or three topics now need work.

On the day

Keep the day straightforward. The school says the test usually starts at 10am, with arrival aimed for 9.30am. Plan to arrive in good time so there is no last-minute rush.

Prepare everything the evening before, including directions, water and any items the school has asked your child to bring
Choose a normal breakfast your child is happy to eat rather than anything unusual
Leave extra travel time, especially if coming from outside Birmingham
Keep conversation calm and brief on the journey; this is not the moment for heavy last-minute teaching
Remind your child to read instructions carefully, keep an eye on time and move on if stuck
After the test, avoid a full post-mortem in the car; a simple “well done” is enough

For many children, the most helpful message is that the test is a chance to show what they can do in two subjects they already study every week. Calm familiarity is usually more helpful than pressure.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

The school says results are normally released within four weeks of the assessment. Because Al-Burhan Grammar School is an independent school, the process after results is different from local-authority National Offer Day arrangements used by state schools.

In practice, families should expect the school to contact them directly about the outcome and any next steps. That may include an offer, a request for further information or confirmation of what to do to accept a place. If anything is unclear, contact the admissions team promptly and ask for the timeline in writing.

The admissions page reviewed does not set out a separate published appeals procedure in the way many state schools do. For an independent school, any review, reconsideration or waiting-list process is usually handled directly by the school rather than through the local authority. If your child is not offered a place, it is reasonable to ask whether a waiting list operates and whether there is any later testing opportunity.

Because the school also mentions entry at 12+ and 13+, some families may choose to revisit the school later if Year 7 entry is not successful.

What has changed recently

On the sources reviewed, we did not find a clearly announced recent change in the last two years to the tested subjects, exam board, catchment, published number of places or fee structure beyond the current admissions information on the school website. If the school publishes an updated admissions cycle for 2028 entry, parents should check the admissions page first for any newly stated dates or process changes.

Frequently asked questions

Does Al-Burhan Grammar School test verbal reasoning?

No. For 2028 entry, ElevenReady’s verified information is that the school tests only Maths and English.

Who runs the 11+ application for Al-Burhan Grammar School?

The school runs its own admissions process. Parents send documents and a completed registration form directly to the school rather than applying through a grammar-school consortium.

How much is the registration fee?

The school’s admissions page states a non-refundable administration fee of £50.

When is the entrance test held?

The school says there are two entrance tests each year, at the beginning of December and the beginning of March. For 2028 entry, those timings should be treated as typical until that year’s dates are published.

When do families get results?

The school says results are usually released within four weeks of the test.

Is there a catchment area?

The admissions information reviewed does not set out a state-style catchment boundary. The school says it attracts pupils from Birmingham and the surrounding area and may also consider families relocating from farther away.

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Sources

Al-Burhan Grammar School – Admission Procedure: Year 7 applicants sit papers in English and Maths; girls sit entrance tests at the beginning of December and the beginning of March; once documents are received the school gives a date for an independent assessment test; results are released within four weeks; tests usually start at 10am with arriva
Al-Burhan Grammar School – Home: School type and age range context from the school website; school location context; Ofsted outcome shown as Outstanding on the school website.

Preparing for other schools in Birmingham

Written by ElevenReady from the school's published information and reviewed by a person before publishing. Last reviewed 4 October 2026. Exam arrangements change. Check the school's admissions page for the current year.