Exam format not yet verified. We have not confirmed this school's exam board or paper format from an official source. Where this guide describes the test, treat it as a working assumption and check the school's admissions page before relying on it.
The exam at a glance
City of London School’s main entry point is 11+, for boys joining Year 7. For 2028 entry, our directory, not yet verified with the school, records the test is the school’s own paper, using a GL Assessment-style format across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The school describes its 11+ assessment as written papers followed by interviews for shortlisted candidates, so parents should plan for both the exam itself and a later interview stage if their child is invited back.
The papers are taken in late autumn of Year 6. The school’s admissions page for the current cycle states that shortlisted candidates are interviewed in January, which gives a useful sense of the overall process: written assessment first, then interviews, then offers.
In practical terms, children should prepare for a mixed assessment experience. That means building calm, accurate performance in four tested subjects rather than relying on one area of strength. A balanced routine matters here: steady arithmetic and problem solving for Maths, confident reading and written response for English, and regular short practice in both Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
On the day itself, families should expect a formal admissions setting at the school, with registration and then the written assessment. The school’s current 11+ page also notes that some SEND candidates may, where access arrangements are agreed, sit assessments on a different date. If that could apply to your child, it is worth contacting admissions early rather than waiting until the deadline.
Registration and key dates
For City of London School, registration is handled by the school, not by a local authority 11+ portal. The school’s 11+ admissions page says registration for the current 11+ cycle is open via its online admissions system.
For families targeting September 2028 entry, the exact 2027 registration opening date has not yet been published on the page we found. However, the school’s current admissions page confirms the pattern for the present cycle, and that gives a sensible guide to likely timing next year.
- Registration deadline for the current cycle: 2 November 2026
- Assessment date for the current cycle: 27 November 2026
- SEND assessment date where agreed: 26 November 2026
- Interviews for shortlisted candidates: January 2027
- Offers sent: mid February 2027
- Acceptance deadline: early March 2027
So for 2028 entry, parents should expect registration to usually be live by early autumn of Year 6, with the exam typically in late November, unless the school announces a different timetable on its 11+ page.
The same page also lists autumn open events for the current cycle, which is a useful reminder to book early when next year’s dates appear. Open mornings are often the best place to clarify practical points such as the application process, interview expectations and bursary questions.
As for documents, the school’s public 11+ page does not set out a full checklist on the page we reviewed. In practice, independent school applications commonly require basic pupil details and school information, but parents should follow the school’s own application portal instructions when 2028 registration opens rather than relying on assumptions.
If you want to keep track of changes, it is sensible to bookmark the school’s admissions page, read our The City of London School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates) and sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates.
Who can apply: catchment and admissions
City of London School is an independent day school for boys aged 10 to 18, and its largest intake is at 11+, when boys join Year 7. Unlike many grammar school admissions systems, there is no local authority catchment process published on the school’s 11+ page in the way parents may be used to seeing for state schools.
The school says it welcomes pupils from schools across London, which suggests that applications are not limited to a narrow local area. The same admissions information also highlights transformational bursaries of up to 100% of fees. For many families, that makes it worth looking at bursary information alongside the standard admissions process rather than assuming the school will be out of reach financially.
We did not find a published 11+ catchment map, fixed distance rule, pass mark or score threshold on the school pages reviewed. City of London School does not appear to publish those details publicly for 11+ entry. Parents should therefore treat any forum claims about cut-offs or “safe scores” with caution and rely on the school’s own admissions information instead.
We also did not find a verified published figure on the pages reviewed for the exact number of Year 7 places available at 11+ in the current cycle. The school does clearly state, though, that 11+ is the largest entry point, which makes it the key admissions stage for most applicants.
If admissions criteria matter for your planning, focus on the elements the school does confirm publicly: suitability shown through the assessment process, shortlisting for interview, and bursary support for families who need it.
A month-by-month preparation plan
For a child aiming at the late-autumn 2027 exam for 2028 entry, the most effective approach is calm, steady work across Year 5 and the start of Year 6. City of London School’s format rewards children who are secure in all four areas rather than over-drilled in just one.
- January to March of Year 5: Start gently with 1 to 1.5 hours a week in total. Build reading stamina, mental arithmetic, spelling accuracy and familiarity with reasoning question styles. At this stage, keep practice untimed.
- April of Year 5: Increase to around 1.5 to 2 hours a week. Introduce short topic-based exercises in Maths and English, plus brief Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning sessions so the formats become familiar rather than intimidating.
- May to July of Year 5: Work at about 2 to 3 hours a week. Begin mixing subjects within a single study week. Use short timed bursts for individual sections, but avoid full papers unless your child is already very comfortable.
- Summer holiday before Year 6: Aim for 2 to 3 hours a week, spread lightly. This is a good time to consolidate arithmetic, vocabulary, reading comprehension and standard reasoning types without making the holiday feel like term time.
- September of Year 6: Move to around 3 to 4 hours a week. By now, children should be completing timed section practice regularly. If the school has opened registration, make sure that is done early.
- October of Year 6: This is the point to introduce more complete timed papers, still followed by careful review. Around 4 hours a week is usually enough for most children if the earlier groundwork is solid.
- Early November of Year 6: Keep practice purposeful but not relentless. Focus on accuracy, pacing and exam habits. One or two full mixed papers a week is plenty, with time spent checking errors.
- Final two weeks: Reduce volume slightly. Prioritise confidence, sleep and routine. The goal is a settled child, not one who is exhausted by overpractice.
If your child is new to Verbal or Non-Verbal Reasoning, start earlier rather than doing large amounts later. These areas often improve best through regular exposure over time.
Subject by subject: what to practise
Maths
For this school, prepare for GL-style Maths with an emphasis on secure Key Stage 2 number skills and clear method. Children should be comfortable with arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, measures, basic geometry and multi-step word problems. Practise switching between straightforward calculation and applied questions, because pacing often becomes the challenge rather than the underlying content.
The best routine is short, frequent practice: mental maths, then written questions, then one or two problem-solving tasks. Encourage your child to check units, estimate sensible answers and avoid rushing easy marks away.
English
English preparation should cover both reading and writing accuracy. For reading, focus on comprehension using fiction and non-fiction: retrieving details, inferring meaning, explaining vocabulary in context and recognising tone. For writing, build sentence control, punctuation, paragraphing and concise expression.
Because independent school English papers can be demanding, reading widely matters. A child who reads regularly usually copes better with unfamiliar vocabulary and more subtle comprehension questions. Practise written answers that are precise and supported by the passage rather than vague.
Verbal Reasoning
GL-style Verbal Reasoning usually tests how confidently a child works with language patterns and coded information. That may include vocabulary, letter sequences, word relationships, codes, similarities and other structured logic tasks using words and letters. The key is not just getting a type right once, but recognising it quickly under timed conditions.
Build a bank of familiar question types and revisit them often. Vocabulary growth is also important here, so regular reading and word games can support progress without making every session feel like a test.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Non-Verbal Reasoning focuses on visual logic: shapes, patterns, rotations, reflections, similarities, odd-one-out tasks and sequences. Many children improve noticeably once they learn to spot common transformations quickly.
Use short, repeated practice rather than long sessions. Encourage your child to say what has changed between shapes: rotation, shading, line count, position, symmetry or size. Naming the pattern often helps them solve it faster next time.
Practice papers and mock exams
Practice papers work best when they are used as a learning tool rather than a weekly verdict on your child. For City of London School, choose materials that reflect a GL-style mix across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
Start with untimed work to learn the question types. Then move to timed sections. Only after that should you use full papers. When you mark them, spend longer reviewing mistakes than sitting the paper itself. Ask: was the error caused by knowledge, misunderstanding the question, timing or avoidable carelessness?
Mocks can be helpful in the final stretch because they build stamina and teach children how to recover after a tricky section. They are most useful once your child already knows the common question types; they are less useful as a starting point.
- Free City of London School practice papers (one per tested subject, with answers)
- The City of London School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates)
- Free email alerts for this school's key dates
A simple pattern works well in the final two months: one timed paper or half-paper, one careful review session, and one lighter skills session to fix weak areas. That keeps momentum without turning every week into an exam week.
On the day
Keep the morning simple. Lay out clothes, stationery and travel plans the night before, and leave with more time than you think you need. Children usually take their cue from the adults around them, so a calm tone helps more than last-minute quizzing.
Give your child a normal breakfast they know suits them. Avoid introducing anything new. If they are prone to nerves, remind them that not every question is meant to feel easy and that moving on sensibly is part of good exam technique.
Just before the assessment, keep instructions short: read carefully, watch the time, do the questions you can do, and come back if needed. After the paper, avoid a detailed post-mortem on the journey home. Most children feel better if they can leave the exam behind them for the day.
If your child has agreed access arrangements, check all timings and practical details with admissions in advance so there are no surprises.
After the exam: results, allocation and appeals
For the current admissions cycle, City of London School says that shortlisted candidates are interviewed in January and that offers are sent by email in mid February. Families who receive an offer are then asked to reply by early March.
That means the process is not simply exam, then final ranking, then immediate offers. There is a shortlisting stage first, followed by interviews, and then the final decision.
Because this is an independent school, the admissions process is separate from the local authority’s National Offer Day system used for state secondary schools. If your child is also applying to grammar schools or comprehensives, keep a separate timeline for those applications so that nothing is missed.
We did not find a public page setting out a formal 11+ appeals route in the same way that state schools publish statutory admission appeal information. If a family has concerns about an admissions decision, the right first step is to contact the school directly and ask about the review or complaints process that applies.
What has changed recently
On the school’s current 11+ admissions page, the published timetable for the live cycle includes a registration deadline of 2 November 2026, assessments on 27 November 2026, a possible 26 November 2026 sitting for some SEND candidates with agreed arrangements, January 2027 interviews for shortlisted candidates, offers in mid February 2027 and an early March 2027 acceptance deadline. These are current-cycle details rather than long-standing evergreen information, so parents applying for 2028 entry should check the page again when the next cycle opens.
We did not find a separately announced recent change on the school pages reviewed to the exam board, subject mix or catchment arrangements for 11+ beyond the current-cycle timetable and access-arrangements note.
Frequently asked questions
What does City of London School test at 11+?
For 2028 entry, our directory, not yet verified with the school, records the assessment covers Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning in a GL-style format.
Is City of London School 11+ run through the local authority?
No. Registration is handled by the school through its own admissions system, not through a council secondary transfer portal.
Does City of London School have a catchment area?
We did not find a published 11+ catchment map or distance rule on the school pages reviewed. The school says it welcomes pupils from schools across London.
When is the City of London School 11+ exam?
For the current cycle, the school’s 11+ page gives 27 November 2026 as the assessment date. For 2028 entry, check the school page when the 2027 cycle opens.
Are there interviews after the 11+ exam?
Yes. The school says shortlisted candidates are interviewed in January for the current admissions cycle.
Does the school offer bursaries?
Yes. The school says it offers transformational bursaries of up to 100% of fees.
Sources
- City of London School – 11+ Entry: Main entry is 11+ for Year 7; registration for current cycle is open; deadline 2 November 2026; assessment 27 November 2026; some SEND candidates may sit on 26 November 2026; shortlisted candidates interviewed in January 2027; offers sent mid February 2027; acceptance deadline early March 2027; scho
- City of London School – Home page: City of London School is a day school for boys aged 10–18 in London.
Preparing for other schools in City of London
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.