How to prepare for the Haberdashers' Adams 11+

The exam at a glance

Haberdashers' Adams uses the West Midlands Grammar Schools test for Year 7 entry, and for 2028 entry ElevenReady's verified information confirms this is a GL Assessment paper. The test covers Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, and it is paper based.

For parents, the most useful way to think about this exam is as a broad selective test rather than a school-written paper focused on one subject. Children need steady skills across all four areas, with enough familiarity to move calmly through timed sections.

The school explains that Year 7 applicants sit an entrance test in September when they are in Year 6. In practice, that means preparation usually starts in Year 5 and becomes more structured over the summer before the exam.

Because this is a GL-style test through the West Midlands Grammar Schools process, preparation should cover:

Maths: secure arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, measures and multi-step problem solving.
English: reading comprehension, vocabulary in context, grammar, punctuation and careful inference.
Verbal Reasoning: common code, word and logic patterns, with quick but accurate working.
Non-Verbal Reasoning: shape patterns, sequences, rotations, reflections and visual similarities.

On the day, children should expect a formal test setting with instructions from invigilators, timed sections and answer recording under exam conditions. The exact running order and centre arrangements can vary year to year, so parents should always read the school's and consortium's test-day instructions carefully once registration opens.

Registration and key dates

Haberdashers' Adams says parents register through the school's entrance test registration portal for Year 7 entry. The school's admissions page also sets out the wider sequence: registration in late spring to early summer, the test in September, results in October, the local authority secondary application by the end of October, and national allocation in March.

For the most recently published cycle on the school's site, the portal opened on 5 May 2026 and closed on 26 June 2026. The school also states that the test is typically in September, and ElevenReady's verified directory notes a typical test date of 14 September 2026 for that cycle.

For 2028 entry, parents should treat the following as the typical pattern unless and until the school publishes the new year's dates:

Registration usually opens in May.
Registration usually closes in June.
The entrance test is typically in September when the child is in Year 6.
Results are usually issued in mid October.
The local authority secondary application deadline is usually the end of October.
School places are normally allocated in March.

The school has also published some forward-looking admissions events for this cohort. It says Open Week for September 2028 entry will be during the week of 15 March 2027, and Junior Boarding Open Afternoons will take place in November 2026 and March 2027. These events are useful if you want to understand the school's ethos and, for boarding families, whether boarding is genuinely the right fit.

When registration opens, expect to complete the school's online form carefully and keep an eye out for any request for supporting details. The school page is the place to check exactly what is needed for that year's cycle.

Useful next steps:

Read ElevenReady's overview here: The Haberdashers' Adams 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates).
Sign up here for reminders: Free email alerts for this school's key dates.

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Haberdashers' Adams is a selective state grammar school for children aged 11 to 18. The school says most pupils join in Year 7.

For Year 7 entry, ElevenReady's verified information confirms that the school operates no catchment area for these places. Instead, day places are awarded on merit according to results in the entrance examination. The same verified source states that boarding places are awarded on merit according to examination results as well as suitability for boarding and boarding need.

The school offers 150 Year 7 places in total. Its published admissions information explains this as 135 day places and up to 15 boarding places.

That structure matters for families in two ways:

If you are applying for a day place, your child's performance in the entrance test is the central factor.
If you are considering boarding, academic performance still matters, but the school also looks at boarding suitability and need.

The safest approach is not to assume there will be a distance rule or a local-area preference, because the school's admissions information for Year 7 says places are awarded by merit rather than by catchment priority. Parents should still read the current admissions policy in full when the 2028 cycle is published, in case any wording or procedures are updated.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For a child aiming at the Haberdashers' Adams test in September of Year 6, the most effective preparation is usually calm, regular and spread across Year 5 and the summer holiday. Children rarely benefit from very long sessions; they do benefit from consistency.

September to December of Year 5

Keep it light and skills-based. Around 1 to 2 hours a week is usually enough at this stage, split into short sessions. Focus on core Maths fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary building and gentle introductions to verbal and non-verbal reasoning.

Read widely and talk about vocabulary.
Secure number facts, written methods and fractions basics.
Introduce one or two reasoning question types at a time.
Do not start with full papers.

January to March of Year 5

Increase slightly to around 2 to 3 hours a week. By now, your child should be seeing all four tested areas regularly. The goal is not speed first; it is understanding methods and avoiding avoidable mistakes.

Build a weekly routine with all four subjects across the fortnight.
Start short timed bursts, such as 8 to 12 questions in one sitting.
Keep an error log of recurring slips.
Continue plenty of reading, especially inference and vocabulary work.

April to June of Year 5

This is a good point to become more structured, often at 3 hours a week. Children should now be comfortable switching between Maths, English, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning.

Begin mixed practice rather than practising each area in isolation all the time.
Use short timed sections regularly.
Teach answer-sheet discipline if your materials use separate recording.
Review every piece of work carefully; correction is where much of the progress happens.

July to August before Year 6

The summer before the test is important, but it should still be manageable. Around 3 to 5 hours a week is realistic for many children, with rest days built in. This is usually when timed papers begin in earnest.

Start using fuller timed sections and then complete papers once stamina allows.
Alternate hard days with lighter consolidation days.
Practise working calmly under a clock.
Revisit weak areas rather than simply doing more and more papers.

September of Year 6

In the final run-up, keep work purposeful and avoid cramming. One or two final papers can be useful, but the last week should be mostly about confidence, rhythm and sleep.

Do brief review sessions rather than heavy new learning.
Refresh key methods and familiar question types.
Keep routines steady.
Stop early the day before the test.

If your child is bright but anxious, err on the side of shorter sessions. A calm child who knows the format usually performs better than a tired child who has done too much.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For a GL-style selective test, Maths practice should centre on secure Key Stage 2 content applied accurately under time pressure. Children should be confident with number operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, averages, measures, perimeter, area and straightforward algebraic thinking where relevant to the level of the test.

Practise mental arithmetic daily in short bursts.
Use mixed problem-solving sets, not just topic-by-topic worksheets.
Teach children to underline the exact question being asked.
Work on deciding quickly whether a method should be mental or written.

English

English preparation should focus on reading carefully, understanding vocabulary in context and answering with precision. In GL-style work, children often need to interpret meaning efficiently rather than write long responses.

Practise comprehension from a range of fiction and non-fiction texts.
Build vocabulary steadily from reading, not from lists alone.
Revise grammar, punctuation and common sentence structures.
Teach children to go back to the text for evidence instead of guessing.

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal reasoning rewards familiarity. Many children improve most once they learn to recognise the recurring pattern types quickly and apply a clear method. The aim is accuracy first, then speed.

Learn one question type at a time before mixing them.
Keep a notebook of methods for codes, letter patterns, word relationships and sequence tasks.
Revisit mistakes until the pattern becomes familiar.
Use timed mini-sets once understanding is secure.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-verbal reasoning can feel unfamiliar at first, but it becomes much more manageable when children are taught what to look for. Most progress comes from spotting common transformation patterns.

Practise shape sequences, reflections, rotations and symmetry.
Look for changes in number, position, shading and orientation.
Encourage systematic checking rather than impulsive answers.
Use short, frequent sessions because visual reasoning can be tiring.

Across all four subjects, balanced practice is important for Haberdashers' Adams. Because the test spans multiple areas, a child who over-focuses on one strength and neglects another can leave marks behind unnecessarily.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are useful when they are used diagnostically, not just as a score-chasing exercise. One paper on its own tells you very little. A paper followed by careful review tells you where time is going, which question types are secure and which still need teaching.

A sensible pattern is:

Learn the method for a question type.
Practise it untimed.
Move to short timed sets.
Only then use fuller timed papers.
Review every error and classify it: knowledge gap, misread question, timing issue or avoidable slip.

Mock exams can help some children, especially if they need practice working in a formal room with other pupils around them. They are most useful in the final months, once the child already knows the format. For an anxious child, choose carefully: the goal is familiarity, not pressure for its own sake.

For school-specific practice, use ElevenReady's free resources:

As a rough guide, many children only need a modest number of full papers. It is usually better to complete fewer papers well than many papers superficially.

On the day

The practical side matters more than many parents expect. A familiar routine and a calm start can make a real difference.

Prepare everything the night before once the school's instructions arrive.
Allow plenty of travel time so there is no rush.
Give a normal breakfast and keep the morning matter-of-fact.
Remind your child that some questions will feel hard; that is normal in a selective test.
Encourage them to keep moving, manage time sensibly and return to tricky items if allowed.

The best final message is usually simple: read carefully, keep calm, and do the paper you have practised for. Avoid a last-minute teaching session on the morning itself.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

The school's published timeline says families usually receive results in mid October. After that, parents still need to complete the normal local authority secondary school application by the end of October, ranking schools in genuine order of preference.

National school allocation then takes place in March. If your child is offered a place, the next steps will come from the allocating authority and the school. If not, the usual routes are waiting lists and, where appropriate, an admissions appeal.

For Haberdashers' Adams specifically, the key point is that the school describes Year 7 places as being awarded on merit according to entrance examination results for day applicants, with separate boarding considerations for boarding applicants. If you are considering an appeal, always start by reading the current admissions policy and the allocation information for that year carefully.

If the school or local authority publishes additional detail about score notifications, waiting list operation or appeal deadlines for the 2028 cycle, follow that current guidance rather than relying on earlier years.

What has changed recently

For the current published admissions information reviewed for this guide, the main clear recent point is that Haberdashers' Adams continues to present Year 7 admission as part of the West Midlands Grammar Schools testing process, with registration in May to June, testing in September, results in mid October and allocation in March. The school has also published forward-looking open event information for the September 2028 cohort, including an Open Week during the week of 15 March 2027 and Junior Boarding Open Afternoons in November 2026 and March 2027.

We did not find an officially announced change in the reviewed sources to the core Year 7 admissions principle that day places are awarded on merit and that boarding places are awarded on merit plus boarding suitability and need. Parents should still check the newest admissions policy when the 2028 cycle opens, as schools can update procedures, wording and event dates.

Frequently asked questions

What exam does Haberdashers' Adams use for 2028 entry?

For 2028 entry, ElevenReady's verified information confirms that Haberdashers' Adams uses a GL Assessment paper through West Midlands Grammar Schools, covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

Is the Haberdashers' Adams 11+ paper based or online?

It is paper based for 2028 entry, according to ElevenReady's verified directory information.

Does Haberdashers' Adams have a catchment area for Year 7?

No. The school's admissions information says Year 7 day places are awarded on merit according to entrance examination results rather than by catchment.

How many Year 7 places are there at Haberdashers' Adams?

There are 150 Year 7 places in total: 135 day places and up to 15 boarding places, according to the school's admissions information and ElevenReady's verified facts.

When should my child start preparing?

For a September test in Year 6, many children do best starting gently in Year 5, then becoming more structured through the summer before the exam.

When do results usually come out?

The school's published timeline says results are usually received in mid October, after the September test.

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Sources

Haberdashers' Adams – Join Us Year 7: School admissions route; registration is through the school's entrance test registration portal; registration is in May-June; entrance test is in September when prospective pupils are in Year 6; results are received mid October; local authority application deadline is end October; school allocation
Haberdashers' Adams School website: School identity and context: selective state grammar school for boys and girls aged 11-18, with boarding for boys.
West Midlands Grammar Schools: Consortium context for the entrance test used by Haberdashers' Adams.

Preparing for other schools in Telford and Wrekin

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.