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
Kensington Park School’s main senior entry points are Year 7 and Year 9, and for Year 7 the school says applicants sit in-house assessments plus an interview. For 2028 entry, our working assumption, not yet verified with the school, is that the assessment uses the school’s own paper in a GL Assessment-style format covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
That means families should prepare for a paper with standard timed sections across all four subjects, aiming for calm, steady accuracy rather than rushing one area and neglecting another. Because the school’s published admissions page confirms in-house assessments and interview, it is sensible to expect the day to involve both written testing and a short conversation with staff.
The school’s website for senior entry does not clearly publish the exact room-by-room running order or whether the test is taken on paper or digitally. Unless the school confirms otherwise in the registration information for your child’s year, prepare on the basis that your child may need to manage timed written sections, short instructions from invigilators and an interview on the same visit.
- Board/format: school’s own paper, using a GL Assessment-style format
- Subjects: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning
- Interview: yes, the school says applicants sit assessments plus an interview
- Delivery: not clearly published on the school’s admissions page at the time of writing
- Main goal for preparation: balanced practice across all four subjects, with good timing habits
Registration and key dates
Kensington Park School runs its own admissions process through the school rather than through a local-authority 11+ consortium. The school’s senior admissions page invites families to enquire and register directly with the school for Year 7 entry.
For the current guide, the only specific dated 11+ timeline we could verify on the school’s published information was for September 2027 entry. The school stated that the closing date for registrations was Friday 13 November 2026, with assessment day options on Wednesday 25 November 2026 and Saturday 28 November 2026. It also gave an offer date of Friday 15 January 2027 and said the deadline to accept was Friday 5 March 2027.
For children starting Year 7 in September 2028, the school had not yet published a full dated timeline when we checked. So the safest advice is to treat the 2027-entry timetable as a guide only: registration typically closes in mid-November, the assessment is usually in late November, and offers have previously been sent in mid-January. Parents should check the school’s admissions page directly once the 2028 process opens.
The school also says that for 11+ entry it recommends visiting in Year 5 or in the Autumn Term of Year 6, and that it runs Open Days during the Autumn and Spring Terms. That is useful practically: if your child is aiming for 2028 entry, try to visit during Year 5 or very early in Year 6 so that registration and preparation do not feel rushed.
- Who registers? The school
- How to register? Via Kensington Park School admissions/enquiry routes on the school website
- Documents needed: not clearly listed on the public senior entry page we checked, so confirm with admissions when you apply
- Verified previous closing date: Friday 13 November 2026 for September 2027 entry
- Verified previous assessment dates: Wednesday 25 November 2026 and Saturday 28 November 2026 for September 2027 entry
- Verified previous offer date: Friday 15 January 2027
- Verified previous acceptance deadline: Friday 5 March 2027
If you want a quick reference point while waiting for the school to publish the next cycle, see The Kensington Park School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates): /schools/kensington-park-school and sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates: /school-alerts?school=kensington-park-school.
Who can apply: catchment and admissions
Kensington Park School is an independent, coeducational school, so its admissions are not based on grammar-school catchment rules in the usual local-authority sense. On the public information we checked, the school did not publish a geographical catchment area or distance-based priority system for Year 7 entry.
The school does, however, state two important admissions facts. First, Year 7 is one of its main points of entry. Second, around 24 students join Year 7 each academic year. That tells parents that the intake is relatively small, so early organisation matters even if the school does not publish application numbers or a score threshold.
The school also says that applicants for Year 7 sit in-house assessments plus an interview. It does not publish a pass mark, qualifying score or standardised-score cut-off on the public page we found, so parents should not rely on forum claims or guessed thresholds. If the school provides more detail after registration, use that information rather than any unofficial estimate.
- School type: independent, coeducational
- Main entry points: Year 7 and Year 9
- Year 7 places: around 24 each year
- Catchment: no published catchment or distance priority found on the admissions page we checked
- Selection process: in-house assessments and interview
- Pass mark/cut-off: not published on the sources we checked
A month-by-month preparation plan
For Kensington Park School, the best plan is steady and balanced. Because the format covers Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, children do better when they build confidence across all four areas rather than over-practising only maths and comprehension. Below is a realistic plan working back from a typical late November assessment in Year 6.
January to March of Year 5
Keep it light. Aim for 1 to 2 hours a week in total. Focus on reading quality fiction and non-fiction, secure arithmetic, times tables, vocabulary building and gentle introduction to reasoning patterns. At this stage, short sessions are enough.
April to June of Year 5
Increase to 2 to 3 hours a week. Start covering each tested subject every week, even if only briefly. A good pattern is one maths session, one English session and one mixed reasoning session. If your child has never seen Verbal or Non-Verbal Reasoning before, start with untimed work so they can learn methods properly.
July to August before Year 6
Use the summer to build familiarity, not pressure. Around 3 hours a week is usually enough for most children. Introduce short timed sections of 10 to 15 minutes, especially in reasoning, where speed can matter. Keep reading going daily, and revise core maths methods little and often.
September of Year 6
Now move to 3 to 4 hours a week. This is the point to make practice more structured. Start doing one longer mixed session at weekends and two shorter weekday sessions. If you plan to visit the school, do it early in term if possible so the process feels real and motivating.
October of Year 6
Increase slightly to 4 to 5 hours a week, depending on your child’s stamina. Begin using timed papers or timed sections regularly, but do not make every session a test. Spend just as much time reviewing mistakes as answering questions. In English, work on clear written expression and careful comprehension. In maths, target accuracy under time pressure.
Early to mid-November of Year 6
Keep work sharp but controlled at around 4 hours a week. By now, your child should be doing realistic timed practice, but avoid cramming. One or two full mixed papers across the fortnight is enough for many children if review is done properly. Also prepare for the interview: practise answering simple questions about books, interests, school life and why they would enjoy the school.
Final week before the exam
Reduce workload. Focus on confidence, routines and sleep. A little light review is fine; heavy last-minute drilling usually is not. Check travel, stationery if needed, and timings from the school’s confirmation email. Your child should go in feeling practised, not exhausted.
- Start broad, not narrow: cover all four subjects from the beginning.
- Build timing gradually: untimed first, then short timed sections, then fuller papers.
- Review errors carefully: the learning comes from understanding mistakes.
- Prepare for interview alongside papers: calm conversation skills matter too.
Subject by subject: what to practise
Maths
For a GL-style independent-school assessment, maths preparation should cover secure Key Stage 2 number skills first: the four operations, place value, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio basics, measures and straightforward problem solving. Children also need to read questions carefully and set out working clearly, because avoidable slips are common under time pressure.
Practise a mix of arithmetic fluency and short word problems. Use timed sets once methods are secure. If your child regularly gets answers wrong through rushing, slow them down in practice first and only then rebuild speed.
English
English preparation should include reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, grammar awareness and short written responses. Because the school says applicants also have an interview, it is especially helpful for your child to read widely and be ready to talk about books and ideas with interest.
Practise retrieving information from a passage, explaining word meaning in context and giving evidence-based answers. For writing, work on planning quickly, using accurate punctuation and writing in clear paragraphs. High-scoring answers are usually precise and controlled rather than overlong.
Verbal Reasoning
GL-style Verbal Reasoning commonly tests how well children handle language-based patterns: vocabulary, letter codes, sequences, logical relationships, word pairings and other structured question types. The exact mix can vary, so the priority is to become familiar with standard formats and learn reliable methods for each one.
Practise little and often. Verbal Reasoning improves when children know what a question type is asking before they begin solving it. Keep an error log of recurring types and revisit them weekly.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Non-Verbal Reasoning usually focuses on shapes, patterns, rotations, reflections, symmetry, similarities, differences and sequence rules. Many children find this easier once they have seen enough examples; before that, it can feel mysterious.
Start untimed and teach one pattern type at a time. Then move to mixed timed sets so your child learns to identify the rule quickly. Accuracy matters more than racing at first, especially where several visual changes happen at once.
Practice papers and mock exams
Practice papers work best when they are used as a learning tool rather than just as a score generator. For Kensington Park School, because the format is balanced across four subjects, use papers to check whether your child is keeping all areas warm. A child who does beautifully in maths but rarely practises reasoning can end up underprepared overall.
A sensible approach is:
- Start with untimed or lightly timed practice to learn question types.
- Move to short timed sections by late Year 5 or the summer before Year 6.
- Introduce fuller mixed papers in the autumn of Year 6.
- Review every mistake: was it knowledge, method, timing or concentration?
- Redo only the questions your child got wrong after a few days, not immediately.
Mocks can be useful if your child would benefit from practising stamina, timing and working in an unfamiliar room. They are less useful if taken too early or too often. One or two well-timed mock experiences are usually more valuable than a long run of them.
For at-home preparation, use these school-specific ElevenReady resources:
- Free Kensington Park School practice papers (one per tested subject, with answers): /schools/kensington-park-school-mock-tests
- The Kensington Park School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates): /schools/kensington-park-school
- Free email alerts for this school's key dates: /school-alerts?school=kensington-park-school
When using any paper, keep the review calm and specific. Replace “You need to try harder” with “Let’s look at why this question type keeps catching you out.” That small shift usually helps children improve faster.
On the day
The day matters, but the preparation beforehand matters more. Your child does not need a special performance; they need a familiar routine and a steady frame of mind.
- Keep the morning simple: good sleep, enough time, normal breakfast, no last-minute teaching.
- Arrive comfortably early: rushing increases nerves for no benefit.
- Bring what the school asks for: check the confirmation carefully in case it mentions pencils, pens or other practical details.
- Remind your child of the basics: listen to instructions, keep an eye on time, and move on if stuck.
- For the interview: encourage polite, natural conversation. Your child does not need rehearsed speeches; they need to answer clearly and show curiosity.
A good final message is: read carefully, do one question at a time, and do not panic if one section feels harder than expected. Independent-school assessments are designed to stretch applicants; very few children find every question easy.
After the exam: results, allocation and appeals
After the assessment and interview, the school reviews candidates and sends decisions directly to families. For the only dated 11+ cycle we could verify on the school’s website, the offer date was Friday 15 January 2027 and the deadline to accept was Friday 5 March 2027. For 2028 entry, confirm the exact dates with the school once published.
Because Kensington Park School is independent, the post-exam process is different from local-authority secondary allocation. There is no National Offer Day grammar-school process here. Instead, offers and acceptances are handled by the school itself.
The public information we checked did not set out a detailed appeals procedure for Year 7 entry. If your child is unsuccessful and you want feedback or to ask about next steps, contact the admissions team directly. In independent schools, waiting-list arrangements, reconsideration and late applications can vary by school and by year.
If you are applying to both independent and state schools, keep separate calendars. The independent-school offer timeline may not match your local-authority deadlines, so it is worth tracking both carefully.
What has changed recently
On the public sources we checked, we did not find a clearly announced recent change to Kensington Park School’s Year 7 test board, subject mix, catchment rules or published place numbers beyond the current admissions information stating that Year 7 is a main entry point, that around 24 pupils join each year, and that applicants sit in-house assessments plus an interview. Parents should still check the school’s admissions page for the next entry cycle in case the school updates registration arrangements or assessment delivery.
Frequently asked questions
How many Year 7 places are there at Kensington Park School?
The school says around 24 students join Year 7 each academic year.
Does Kensington Park School use the local authority 11+ test?
No. Kensington Park School runs its own admissions process and says applicants sit in-house assessments plus an interview.
What subjects should my child prepare for?
For 2028 entry, the working assumption for this guide, not yet verified with the school, is a GL-style paper covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
Is there a published pass mark for Kensington Park School 11+?
We did not find a published pass mark or score threshold on the school’s public admissions information. Check directly with the school if you need the latest guidance.
When is the Kensington Park School 11+ exam usually held?
The only verified dated cycle we found showed assessment days in late November for September 2027 entry, so late November is the best guide until the school publishes the next timeline.
Does Kensington Park School have a catchment area?
We did not find a published geographical catchment or distance-based priority system on the school’s public admissions page.
Sources
- Kensington Park School – Senior School Entry: Main senior entry points are Year 7 and Year 9; around 24 students join Year 7 each academic year; applicants sit in-house assessments plus an interview; the school recommends visiting in Year 5 or in the Autumn Term of Year 6; Open Days run during the Autumn and Spring Terms; admissions are run by
- Kensington Park School – Home: School type and general school identity as an independent, coeducational school.
Preparing for other schools in Westminster
- Bales College · practice papers
- How to prepare for the Francis Holland School 11+ · practice papers
- Halcyon London International School · practice papers
- ICS London · practice papers
- London Park School Mayfair and London Park School Sixth · practice papers
- Maida Vale School · practice papers
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.