How to prepare for the Cobham Hall 11+

The exam at a glance

For Year 7 entry, Cobham Hall describes its admissions process as non-selective, with applicants assessed through a CAT4 assessment and an interview. For UK families, the school says the assessment and interview take place in the year before entry, usually at a scheduled Assessment Day in November for standard Year 7 entry.

For 2028 entry, the school has not published a detailed public breakdown of every question type or an exam-board style specification in the way many grammar schools do. However, ElevenReady’s verified information for this school says families should expect an adaptive, computer-delivered screen of developed ability, covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. In practice, that means the test is designed to measure how a child thinks and reasons, not how much of a taught syllabus they have memorised.

The key thing for parents to know is that this is not usually an 11+ based on long written papers. Instead, children should be ready for:

On-screen testing, rather than paper booklets
Tightly timed sections, where calm pacing matters
Adaptive questioning, where questions may become harder if a child is performing well
A follow-up interview, where the school can get to know the child beyond the score

On the day itself, families should expect an admissions event rather than a single anonymous test sitting. The school’s admissions information says applicants are invited to an Assessment Day and interview, and offers are then issued later in the term.

Because Cobham Hall is an independent school with a holistic admissions process, parents should think of preparation in two parts: first, becoming comfortable with the style of reasoning-based, computer-based assessment; and second, helping the child present themselves confidently in conversation at interview.

Registration and key dates

Cobham Hall says applications for UK students are made through the school’s own admissions process, not through a local authority 11+ portal. The admissions page provides an enquiry route and application information for UK families, and the school welcomes applications throughout the year, including mid-year applications, where places are available.

For Year 7 entry, the school states that the assessment and interview take place in the year prior to entry. The published admissions journey says that:

Year 7 Assessment Day is held in November for pupils applying in the normal admissions round
Offer letters are typically issued by the end of November
Places are generally requested to be accepted by March of the entry year
Incoming Year 7 pupils attend a Familiarisation Day on a Saturday in June before starting

The school also says that for FastTrack Year 5 applicants, and for some Year 6 applicants, the CAT4 assessment and interview can be arranged at any time during the school year in term time once registration is completed. That is useful for families who want an earlier decision or who are moving schools outside the standard timetable.

At the time of writing, Cobham Hall does not appear to publish a single fixed national-style registration deadline for 2028 entry on its UK admissions page. Because of that, parents should not assume the timetable is identical each year. The sensible approach is:

Contact the admissions team through the school’s UK admissions page.
Ask which Assessment Day applies to September 2028 entry.
Check what documents are required for registration and whether a reference or recent school report is needed.
Confirm whether your child will attend the November Assessment Day or complete CAT4 and interview on an alternative term-time date.

If you want a quick overview page, see The Cobham Hall 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates). You can also sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates.

For children starting Year 7 in September 2028, the assessment is likely to take place during autumn 2027, with the school’s standard Year 7 Assessment Day typically in November 2027, based on the admissions process described on the school’s website.

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Cobham Hall describes itself as a non-selective co-educational day and boarding school for pupils aged 11 to 19. The school’s UK admissions information does not mention a catchment area, and ElevenReady’s verified school facts confirm that there is no catchment priority stated for Year 7 entry.

That matters for parents because entry is not based on living within a fixed distance, nor on reaching a published grammar-school-style pass mark. Instead, admission is based on the school’s own process, which includes the CAT4 assessment and interview, together with the broader admissions review.

The school also states that it welcomes applications year-round, including mid-year entry, subject to place availability. This is different from many state selective schools, where families usually have only one application window each year.

Because Cobham Hall is independent and non-selective, parents should be cautious about searching for a published pass mark, standardised score or cut-off. The school does not appear to publish one on its admissions page. In practical terms, that means:

There is no published catchment threshold to aim for
There is no published pass mark to revise towards
The school is likely to use the assessment as part of a wider judgement about suitability and readiness
The interview matters, especially for showing curiosity, character and readiness for the school community

If you are considering boarding as well as day entry, it is worth asking admissions whether there are any additional practical steps, such as extra meetings or house visits, for your child’s application route.

A month-by-month preparation plan

Because Cobham Hall’s assessment is reasoning-based and computer-based, the best preparation is steady and light-touch rather than intense cramming. For most Year 5 children, 2 to 3 hours a week at the start is enough, rising to 3 to 4 hours a week closer to the assessment. The aim is familiarity, stamina and confidence.

January to March in Year 5

Keep preparation gentle: around 2 hours a week.
Build core habits: careful reading, mental arithmetic, vocabulary growth and pattern-spotting.
Introduce short computer-based practice sessions so screen work feels normal.
Read aloud sometimes and talk through answers, especially for vocabulary and reasoning.

April to June in Year 5

Increase to about 2 to 3 hours a week.
Start practising each subject area separately: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
Use short timed drills, but keep them brief so your child does not become tense about speed.
If your child may apply through a FastTrack route, this is a good point to contact admissions and ask about timing.

July to August before Year 6

Aim for 2 to 3 hours a week, with breaks for holidays.
Move from untimed practice to mixed short timed sets.
Practise working on screen where possible, as mouse control, concentration and staying calm under time pressure all matter.
Begin light interview preparation through conversation, not rehearsed scripts.

September in Year 6

Increase to around 3 to 4 hours a week.
Start using fuller mixed assessments once or twice a fortnight.
Review errors carefully: was it vocabulary, misunderstanding, rushing or arithmetic slips?
Teach your child how to move on if a question feels hard. In adaptive tests, getting stuck can be more damaging than staying composed.

October in Year 6

Keep to 3 to 4 hours a week, spread across several sessions.
Use timed papers or timed digital sets regularly, but do not overdo them.
Practise interview basics: answering in full sentences, talking about reading, hobbies, school life and what they enjoy learning.
Make sure your child can work steadily without needing constant reassurance.

November in Year 6

In the final fortnight, focus on confidence and routine rather than new material.
Reduce workload slightly in the last few days.
Do one or two short refreshers, then stop.
Prioritise sleep, calm mornings and a steady attitude.

If your child is taking the CAT4 earlier through a school-arranged route, simply shift this plan forward. The principle stays the same: regular short practice, not marathon sessions.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For this kind of assessment, Maths practice should focus less on long written methods and more on quick thinking with number. Children should be comfortable with mental arithmetic, number relationships, estimation, simple percentages, fractions, ratio ideas at an age-appropriate level, and interpreting straightforward problem-solving prompts.

Useful practice includes:

Rapid recall of number facts
Short mental calculations under time pressure
Spotting the efficient route rather than writing everything out
Checking whether an answer is sensible

Because the assessment is adaptive and on screen, children also need to avoid freezing when a question looks unfamiliar. Practise deciding quickly: solve now, or move on and stay calm.

English

For Cobham Hall’s admissions process, English preparation is best thought of as language skills rather than essay writing. Children should be ready for vocabulary, meaning, comprehension of short passages or prompts, and careful use of standard English.

Useful practice includes:

Regular reading from a range of fiction and non-fiction
Vocabulary building through discussion, not just word lists
Choosing the best meaning of a word from context
Spotting tone, inference and the main point quickly

Talk matters here. If a child can explain what a paragraph means in their own words, they are usually building the right kind of understanding for this style of assessment and for interview.

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal Reasoning tests how well a child can see patterns and relationships in language. Depending on the test format used, this can include word relationships, letter patterns, codes, sequences, analogies and logic-based language tasks.

Useful practice includes:

Synonyms and antonyms
Word families and roots
Alphabet and letter-sequence fluency
Following multi-step verbal instructions carefully
Learning to recognise recurring task types quickly

The biggest gains usually come from two things: stronger vocabulary and better timing. Once a child knows what a task is asking, their speed often improves naturally.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-Verbal Reasoning is about visual patterns, shape relationships and logic. Children may need to identify what changes between shapes, continue a sequence, spot symmetry or rotation, and find the odd one out.

Useful practice includes:

Shape sequences
Rotation and reflection
Codes based on symbols or positions
Comparing several visual changes at once
Learning to scan methodically rather than guess

This area often improves a lot with practice because children become better at noticing the small set of common transformations that appear again and again.

Practice papers and mock exams

For Cobham Hall, practice works best when it matches the real demands of the process: short, timed, reasoning-based work on screen, followed by calm review. Parents do not need huge quantities of material. A smaller number of good practice sets, used properly, is usually more effective.

A simple routine is:

Do one short set in a single subject.
Mark it straight away.
Sort mistakes into: knowledge gap, misunderstanding, timing, or rushing.
Redo only the questions that taught your child something useful.
Repeat a similar set a few days later.

As the assessment gets closer, start combining subjects so your child practises switching between different ways of thinking. That matters in adaptive screening because children need to recover quickly from one hard question and settle into the next.

Use these free resources from ElevenReady:

If you use mock exams, choose them carefully. The most useful mock is one that builds familiarity with screen-based timing and pressure, not one that simply produces a rank. For a non-selective independent school, the goal is readiness and confidence, not chasing a speculative cut-off score.

On the day

Keep the day straightforward. Children usually do best when the morning feels calm and familiar rather than important and loaded.

Arrive in good time so there is no sense of rushing.
Make sure your child has eaten something steady and had water.
Dress exactly as the school advises for the assessment or interview event.
Remind them that if a question feels difficult, that does not mean they are doing badly.
Encourage them to read carefully, answer decisively and move on.

For the interview, help your child aim for natural conversation rather than polished performance. They should be ready to talk about:

What they enjoy at school
Books they have liked
Activities, hobbies or clubs
Why they are interested in Cobham Hall
What kind of learner they are

A useful final message is: be friendly, listen carefully, and do not worry if you need a moment to think. Interviewers are not looking for rehearsed speeches.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

Cobham Hall’s admissions information says that, for the standard Year 7 route, offer letters are typically sent by the end of November after the November Assessment Day. The school also says that accepted places are generally requested to be confirmed by March of the year of entry.

Because this is an independent-school process, the sequence is different from state secondary allocation. There is no local-authority National Offer Day for Year 7 places at the school itself. Instead, families usually:

Register with the school
Attend the assessment and interview process
Receive an offer decision from the school
Accept the place by the school’s deadline if they wish to proceed

The school’s public admissions material does not appear to set out a formal appeals system in the way maintained schools and grammar schools do. If your child is unsuccessful, the sensible next step is to contact admissions directly and ask whether feedback can be given, whether your child can be reconsidered later, or whether a place may become available in a later round.

If you are also applying to state schools, keep those deadlines separate in your diary. Independent offers and state applications run on different systems.

What has changed recently

No clearly announced change to Cobham Hall’s Year 7 admissions format, catchment or published timetable was identified in the official sources reviewed for this guide. The current public admissions information continues to describe a non-selective process based on CAT4 assessment and interview for Year 7 entry.

Frequently asked questions

Does Cobham Hall have an 11+ pass mark?

The school does not appear to publish a pass mark or cut-off score on its admissions page. It describes a non-selective process using CAT4 assessment and interview.

Is Cobham Hall in a catchment area?

No catchment area is mentioned in the school’s UK admissions information. Cobham Hall describes itself as a non-selective school and welcomes applications year-round.

When is the Cobham Hall Year 7 assessment?

The school says Year 7 assessment and interview usually take place in November in the year before entry. For September 2028 entry, that is likely to mean November 2027 unless the school publishes a different date.

Can children apply before Year 6?

Yes. The school says FastTrack Year 5 applicants can complete the CAT4 assessment and interview during the school year in term time once registered.

Is the Cobham Hall assessment computer-based?

ElevenReady’s verified school facts say families should expect a computer-based adaptive assessment covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

Does Cobham Hall interview Year 7 applicants?

Yes. The school’s admissions information says the Year 7 process includes both an assessment and an interview.

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Sources

Cobham Hall – UK Student Admissions: Cobham Hall is a non-selective co-educational day and boarding school; welcomes applications throughout the year including mid-year entry; UK Year 7 applicants complete CAT4 assessment and interview; Year 7 assessment and interview take place in the year prior to entry; standard Year 7 Assessment Da
Cobham Hall – School Website: Cobham Hall is an independent day and boarding school in Kent for girls and boys aged 11–19.

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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.