How to prepare for the Latymer Upper School 11+

The exam at a glance

For September 2028 entry, Latymer Upper School’s 11+ uses the school’s own paper. The assessment is paper based and tests Maths and English only. There is no Verbal Reasoning or Non-Verbal Reasoning, so preparation is best focused on building strong core skills in these two subjects.

For Year 7 entry, Latymer says that around 124 children usually join from outside schools, with the rest of the year group made up of pupils moving up from Latymer Prep. In practice, that means the 11+ process is competitive and children need to be comfortable showing secure academic skills in both papers.

The school’s admissions information for the current published cycle shows a two-stage process. Children first sit the entrance examination in early December. Shortly afterwards, some families are invited to the next stage, which includes interviews, and the school’s published timeline also refers to music scholarship auditions for that cycle.

On the day itself, families should expect a formal independent-school admissions process rather than a local-authority grammar test session. Because the papers are set by the school, the most useful preparation is not trying to second-guess unusual question styles, but making sure your child can read carefully, write clearly, calculate accurately and work steadily under time pressure on paper.

Exam board	The school’s own paper
Format	Paper based
Subjects	Maths and English
Reasoning papers	Not tested
Published process	Entrance exam first, then shortlisted candidates invited to interview stage

Registration and key dates

Latymer Upper School runs its own 11+ admissions process through the school rather than through a local authority portal. The school’s admissions page for the latest published cycle gives a clear timeline for September 2027 entry. As of today, the school pages available publicly describe that cycle rather than the full 2028 cycle, so the dates below should be treated as the most recently published pattern.

For the published 2027-entry cycle, registration opened on 1 May 2026 and closed at midday on 12 October 2026. The entrance examination was on 2 December 2026. The school also published open-day dates in September and early October, then a sequence of decisions, interview invitations and interviews in December and January.

For families aiming at September 2028 entry, the safest assumption is that registration will usually open in May, close in mid October, and that the exam is typically in early December, because that is the timetable shown on the school’s current published admissions page. Parents should check the school’s admissions page regularly for the 2028-entry form and exact deadlines as soon as they are released.

The school says applicants must complete the relevant registration form and that overseas applicants may be asked for additional documents. One eligibility point matters particularly here: Latymer states that it accepts only pupils who are British or Irish citizens, or who can show they have the right to live in the UK for the duration of their study, and that it does not sponsor pupils under the Child Student Visa route.

If you are organising the autumn of Year 6 now, a sensible routine is:

start checking the school’s admissions page from spring of Year 5 onward;
attend an open day if possible;
complete registration well before the October deadline rather than leaving it to the final weekend;
keep copies of any confirmation emails or portal references;
watch for messages in December and January in case your child is invited to the next stage.

You can also bookmark The Latymer Upper School and Latymer Prep 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates) and sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates so you do not miss the published 2028 dates.

Who runs registration?	Latymer Upper School
Latest published opening date	1 May 2026 for 2027 entry
Latest published closing date	12 October 2026 at midday for 2027 entry
Latest published exam date	2 December 2026 for 2027 entry
Typical pattern for the next cycle	Usually opens in May, closes in mid October, exam typically early December

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Latymer Upper School is an independent, coeducational school in Hammersmith. For Year 7, the school says the year group typically has 168 children, with 44 usually moving up from Year 6 in Latymer Prep and about 124 joining from primary and prep schools. For families applying from outside, those 124 places are the key figure to keep in mind.

The school’s published admissions information does not operate like a grammar-school catchment system. Instead, it runs its own selective admissions process. We did not find a published home-distance catchment area for Year 7 entry. Parents should therefore work on the basis that this is a school-run selective process rather than a postcode-priority model, and should rely on the school’s current admissions page for any category or oversubscription detail published for the relevant year.

One important admissions rule is published clearly: Latymer says it only accepts students who are British or Irish citizens, or who can demonstrate that they have the right to live in the UK for the duration of their study. The school also states that it does not sponsor pupils under the Child Student Visa Scheme.

On fees, the school states that a non-refundable £2,400 confirmation deposit, including VAT, is payable when accepting an offer of admission. That is not the termly fee; it is the acceptance deposit, so families should budget for it if a place is offered.

In practical terms, this means families should think about admissions in three layers:

Eligibility: make sure your child meets the school’s residency and right-to-study requirements.
Academic suitability: prepare thoroughly for English and Maths, because those are the assessed subjects at this stage.
Fit with the school: if your child is shortlisted, the interview stage is part of the process, so curiosity, clear communication and genuine engagement with school life matter too.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For a child sitting the exam in December of Year 6, it usually works best to start gently in spring or early summer of Year 5. Because Latymer tests only English and Maths, there is no need to spread effort thinly across extra reasoning papers. A steady plan with good schoolwork habits and regular reading is often more effective than intensive cramming.

January to March of Year 5

Keep it light: around 1 to 2 hours a week in total is enough. Focus on reading quality fiction and non-fiction, discussing vocabulary, and checking that core maths knowledge is secure: place value, the four operations, fractions, decimals and problem solving. This is also the right time to notice any gaps without making preparation feel high stakes.

April to June of Year 5

Increase to 2 to 3 hours a week. Add short written English tasks: comprehension, summarising, and a paragraph or two of descriptive or discursive writing. In maths, begin mixed practice rather than isolated topics so your child gets used to switching methods. If you are using practice materials, work untimed first and concentrate on accuracy and clear method.

July to August before Year 6

Aim for 2 to 4 hours a week, with some weeks lighter if you are away. Summer is ideal for building stamina gently. Do one longer English comprehension each week, one piece of writing every one or two weeks, and regular maths review. Start talking about exam technique: underlining key information, planning written answers briefly, showing working and checking calculations.

September of Year 6

Move to 4 to 5 hours a week. This is when preparation should become more structured. Register early if the school has opened applications. Begin using timed sections, but not full papers every session. Your child should still spend most of the time learning from mistakes rather than simply racing through tasks.

October of Year 6

Keep to 4 to 6 hours a week. By now, most children can start occasional full timed papers, perhaps one paper at the weekend with careful review afterwards. Make an error log: spelling slips, weak vocabulary, missed instructions, arithmetic mistakes, fraction errors, poor time allocation. This month is usually about consistency more than new content.

November of Year 6

Stay around 4 to 6 hours a week, but protect confidence. Use full papers selectively and review them thoroughly. Practise writing neatly under time pressure and reading questions carefully. If your child is tiring, shorten sessions and keep them purposeful. The goal is to arrive at the exam feeling prepared and steady, not overworked.

Final week before the exam

Reduce the load. A few short refreshers, a little mental maths, one last piece of comprehension review and plenty of sleep are more useful than another heavy weekend of papers. Organise travel, stationery and timings so the morning feels calm.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For Latymer, maths preparation should be broad but firmly rooted in Key Stage 2 fluency. Children should be comfortable with number operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio foundations, place value, measures, perimeter, area, angles, simple data handling and multi-step word problems. Because the school uses its own paper, it is wise to prepare for a mix of straightforward method questions and applied problems that test whether your child can decide what maths to use.

Good practice includes:

short daily arithmetic to improve speed and accuracy;
mixed-topic problem solving rather than one-topic worksheets only;
showing full working clearly on paper;
checking whether the answer is sensible;
revisiting errors until the method is secure.

When you start timed practice, teach your child to move on from a sticky question and come back if time allows. Independent-school maths papers often reward calm organisation as much as raw speed.

English

English preparation should cover both reading and writing. For reading, children should practise comprehension using fiction and non-fiction passages, with attention to literal understanding, inference, vocabulary in context, tone, viewpoint and evidence selection. They need to get used to answering in full, precise sentences when appropriate and supporting points from the text rather than writing vague impressions.

For writing, focus on clear structure, relevant ideas, accurate punctuation and varied but controlled vocabulary. Strong work at this stage is usually not the most elaborate; it is the writing that stays on task, uses paragraphs sensibly and communicates clearly. Practise planning briefly before writing, then checking afterwards for sentence sense, tense consistency, punctuation and spelling.

Useful English habits include:

reading widely every day;
talking about what a text suggests, not just what it says;
keeping a vocabulary notebook and revising words in context;
writing little and often rather than only long pieces;
editing one piece of writing each week to improve accuracy and style.

Because there are only two assessed subjects, depth matters. It is worth spending time refining a child’s written expression and reading analysis rather than treating English as something that can be prepared only with occasional comprehensions.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are useful when they are used as a learning tool, not as a score-chasing exercise. Start with untimed work so your child understands what good answers look like. Then introduce timed sections, and only later move to full papers. After each paper, spend longer reviewing than marking. Ask:

Which questions were genuinely not understood?
Which errors were avoidable?
Was time lost through hesitation, untidy working or not planning writing?
What one or two habits should change before the next paper?

For this school, it is especially helpful to use materials that stay close to the published format: English and Maths only, on paper, with no reasoning detour.

You can use Free Latymer Upper School and Latymer Prep practice papers (one per tested subject, with answers) to begin building familiarity with the level and style. For an overview of the process, keep The Latymer Upper School and Latymer Prep 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates) handy, and sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates.

If you use mock exams, choose them carefully. A mock is most helpful when it mirrors paper-based working, silence, time pressure and the need to stay composed in an unfamiliar room. One or two well-timed mocks in the autumn of Year 6 are usually enough for most children. More than that can become tiring unless your child genuinely benefits from the extra rehearsal.

On the day

Keep the morning simple. Lay out clothes and stationery the night before, allow more travel time than you think you need, and avoid last-minute teaching in the car or on the train. A calm child who feels steady will usually perform better than a child who has been quizzed all morning.

Before the paper, remind your child of only a few basics:

read every question carefully;
start neatly and keep working organised;
if stuck, move on and return later if possible;
check punctuation and spelling in English;
check calculations and whether the answer makes sense in Maths.

Pack water if permitted, any required stationery, and the details from the school’s instructions. If the school has sent candidate information or arrival guidance, print it or save it somewhere easy to access. After the exam, try not to do a question-by-question post-mortem. Most children feel better if the day ends with something ordinary and relaxing.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

For the latest published cycle, Latymer’s entrance examination took place on 2 December 2026 and decisions were sent on 8 December 2026, with interview invitations by 15 December 2026 and interviews on 6 January 2027. That shows parents that this is a relatively quick school-run process after the written papers, at least for the currently published cycle.

For 2028 entry, families should expect the general pattern to be: written exam first, then notification about whether a child progresses to the next stage, then interviews for shortlisted candidates, followed by offers and an acceptance deadline later in the cycle. The exact dates for offers and acceptances for the published cycle were shown as to be confirmed when the school information was captured, so parents should rely on the school’s live admissions page and offer letter for the precise timetable.

Because Latymer is an independent school, the process is different from National Offer Day for state schools. If your child receives an offer, read the deadline carefully and budget for the published confirmation deposit. If your child is not offered a place, the school’s admissions office is the correct place to ask about any waiting-list or review process the school may operate for that year.

We did not find a publicly stated 11+ pass mark or standardised score threshold for Year 7 entry. The school does not appear to publish one on the admissions pages reviewed, so parents should not rely on hearsay about cut-offs.

What has changed recently

The school’s publicly available admissions information reviewed for this guide sets out the current published cycle for 2027 entry, including registration opening on 1 May 2026, a midday closing time on 12 October 2026, and an entrance exam on 2 December 2026. That is not a format change, but it is the latest published timetable pattern available for families planning ahead for 2028 entry.

We did not find an official announcement on the school’s admissions pages reviewed that the Year 7 test subjects had recently changed, nor did I find a newly announced catchment rule for Year 7 entry. The school’s admissions pages do clearly state the residency and right-to-study requirement and that it does not sponsor pupils under the Child Student Visa Scheme.

We also found current fee information confirming a £2,400 non-refundable confirmation deposit, including VAT, payable on accepting an offer of admission.

Frequently asked questions

Does Latymer Upper School test Verbal Reasoning or Non-Verbal Reasoning at 11+?

No. For 2028 entry, the school assesses Maths and English only, using its own paper.

Is the Latymer 11+ computer based?

No. For 2028 entry it is paper based.

How many Year 7 places are available from outside schools?

Latymer says Year 7 typically has 168 pupils, with 44 moving up from Latymer Prep and about 124 joining from primary and prep schools.

When do registrations usually open for Latymer Upper School 11+?

The latest published cycle for 2027 entry opened on 1 May 2026, so families should expect the next cycle to usually open in May and should check the school site for exact 2028 dates.

Does Latymer Upper School have a catchment area for Year 7?

We did not find a published home-distance catchment area on the admissions pages reviewed. The school runs its own selective admissions process rather than a local-authority catchment system.

Does Latymer Upper School sponsor Child Student visas?

No. The school states that it does not sponsor pupils under the Child Student Visa Scheme.

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Sources

Latymer Upper School – Joining at 11+: School admissions route for Year 7; latest published 2027-entry timeline including registration opening on 1 May 2026, open days on 12 September 2026 and 3 October 2026, registration closing at midday on 12 October 2026, entrance exam on 2 December 2026, decisions on 8 December 2026, interview invit
Latymer Upper School – Fees: Non-refundable £2,400 confirmation deposit including VAT payable on accepting an offer of admission.
Latymer Upper School – Home: School identity as an independent coeducational school in Hammersmith, London.

Preparing for other schools in Hammersmith and Fulham

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.