How to prepare for the Loughborough High School 11+

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.

Not independently verified. We could not verify the facts in this guide against an official source when it was written. Check the school's admissions page before relying on any date or number.

The exam at a glance

Loughborough High School is an independent girls’ school and, for Year 7 entry in September 2028, the entrance assessment is based on the school’s own process. For this cohort, the working assumption for this guide, not yet verified with the school, is a GL Assessment-style paper covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The delivery is mixed, so families should be ready for a combination of written and computer-based work rather than assuming everything is done in one single format.

The school’s admissions information says applicants for Years 7 to 10 are assessed through mathematics, English and a computer-based assessment. For Year 7 preparation, the safest plan is to build balanced familiarity across all four tested areas in the information we hold (not yet verified with the school) above, while also making sure your child is comfortable completing some tasks on screen.

In practical terms, that means preparing for:

Maths: secure arithmetic, problem solving and careful working under time pressure.
English: reading accuracy, vocabulary, comprehension and clear written expression.
Verbal Reasoning: word-based logic, codes, sequences and pattern recognition using language.
Non-Verbal Reasoning: shapes, visual patterns, rotations, reflections and similarities.

The school does not publish a full public breakdown of section lengths on its admissions page, so it is best to expect standard timed sections and to train for steady accuracy across every subject rather than chasing speed alone. On the day, children should be ready to switch calmly between different kinds of tasks and to follow invigilator instructions closely.

Registration and key dates

Loughborough High School runs its own admissions process. The school’s entrance assessment page invites families to register directly with the school for entrance assessments rather than applying through a local authority test portal.

For 2028 entry, the school has not yet published a full set of Year 7 dates at the time of writing. The most recent official information available on the school website is for the 2027/28 entry cycle, and that gives parents a useful guide to the usual pattern.

Assessment timing: the school says its next entrance assessments are in January 2027.
Year 7 test date seen on the school site: Saturday 16 January 2027 for Year 7 entrance examinations.
Registration timing: the school advises families to register by December for the January assessment day.
Access arrangements evidence: the school asks for evidence by the November preceding the entrance assessment.
Offer timing: the school says offers for Years 7 to 10 are sent within two weeks of the assessment.

For September 2028 entry, parents should therefore expect the process to be typically an autumn registration followed by a January assessment, unless the school announces something different. The school’s admissions page is the place to check for the live form, any booking instructions and the exact documents required.

As soon as registration opens, it is sensible to prepare:

your child’s current school details;
basic contact information for the parent or carer making the application;
any evidence needed for access arrangements, if relevant;
a note of any other assessments or interviews the school may ask for as part of its admissions process.

For ongoing updates, parents can use Free email alerts for this school's key dates. You can also keep an overview of the format and admissions information here: The Loughborough High School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates).

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Loughborough High School is an independent school and there is no catchment area for Year 7 entry. That is an important difference from grammar school admissions: families do not need to live within a defined distance boundary to apply.

The school’s admissions information says its main intake points are Years 7 and 12, although places may sometimes be available in other year groups and for in-year moves. For this guide, the key point is that Year 7 is a standard entry point and families apply directly to the school.

Because this is an independent-school process, decisions are not tied to local-authority rank order or state-school allocation rules in the same way as grammar school places. Instead, the school uses its own entrance assessment arrangements and admissions decision-making.

The school website does not publicly state a Year 7 pass mark, cut-off score or published competition ratio on the pages reviewed for this guide. If you are looking for the latest admissions expectations, the safest approach is to contact the school directly and check the current admissions information on its website rather than relying on forum figures or historic anecdotes.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For a child sitting in the autumn term before September 2028 entry, it is usually best to think in phases rather than trying to do everything at once. Because this assessment covers four areas, steady practice over time works better than bursts of cramming.

Spring and summer of Year 5

Keep preparation light and skills-based. Around 1 to 2 hours a week is usually enough at this stage, split over short sessions. Focus on core arithmetic, careful reading, spelling and vocabulary, and simple reasoning puzzles. The aim is not to race ahead but to make sure basics are secure.

September of Year 6

Move to a more regular routine of about 2 to 3 hours a week. Start covering all four subjects each week, even if one or two are much stronger than the others. Use untimed work first to learn methods properly, especially in verbal and non-verbal reasoning if these are new.

October of Year 6

Increase familiarity with timed sections. Around 3 hours a week is realistic for many families. Begin short timed exercises rather than full papers: ten to fifteen minutes for one skill, then review carefully. This is also a good month to spot weak areas such as fractions, inference in comprehension, or particular reasoning question types.

November of Year 6

Keep to 3 to 4 hours a week, with one session focused on consolidation and one on timed practice. Children benefit from seeing repeated patterns in GL-style work, so use mixed sets rather than drilling only favourite topics. If your child may need access arrangements, this is the point by which the school has previously said evidence should be provided for the January assessment cycle.

December of Year 6

This is the month to start doing some fuller mixed practice under realistic conditions, but do not overdo it just before Christmas. One timed paper or half-paper each week, plus review, is enough for most children. Keep sessions calm and purposeful. If the school follows its previous pattern, registration for the January assessment should normally already be completed by this point.

January before the assessment

In the final fortnight, reduce volume and focus on confidence, accuracy and routine. A child who is tired and anxious often performs below their real level. Short refreshers, a little mental maths, a little vocabulary and one or two brief reasoning sets are usually more useful than a last-minute marathon. In the last few days, prioritise sleep, organisation and calm.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For Loughborough High School, maths preparation should centre on secure Key Stage 2 skills used quickly and accurately. Children should be confident with number facts, the four operations, place value, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, simple algebraic thinking, measures and worded problems. In timed conditions, many marks are lost through rushing, so practise showing clear working, estimating before answering and checking whether an answer is sensible.

A good routine is to mix straightforward fluency with problem solving. One session might include mental arithmetic and written methods; another might use short multi-step questions where your child has to choose the correct method independently.

English

English preparation should cover both reading and writing-related skills. For GL-style practice, children benefit from regular comprehension using fiction and non-fiction, close attention to vocabulary in context, punctuation accuracy and careful spelling. Strong readers still need timed practice, because the challenge is often not understanding one passage but working efficiently and precisely under time pressure.

Useful habits include underlining key words in a question, rereading the exact line that supports an answer, and keeping vocabulary notes. For written expression, focus on clarity and accuracy rather than over-complicated ideas.

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal reasoning rewards familiarity. Children should learn the common families of question type rather than treating every set as new. That usually includes word relationships, letter and number codes, sequences, hidden words, analogies and logical language patterns. The best approach is to teach one type at a time, then mix types together once methods are secure.

If your child finds verbal reasoning difficult at first, that is very common. Improvement often comes quickly once they recognise the recurring formats. Build vocabulary steadily too, because strong word knowledge helps across both verbal reasoning and English.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-verbal reasoning focuses on visual logic. Children need practice spotting changes in shape, direction, shading, rotation, reflection, symmetry and pattern rules. At first, work slowly and encourage your child to say what has changed from one image to the next. Once they can explain the pattern, increase speed.

This is a subject where neat method matters. Encourage your child to compare one feature at a time: shape, size, position, shading, number and orientation. That reduces careless mistakes and makes timed work feel more manageable.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are most useful when they are part of a simple routine: learn the method, try a short timed set, then review mistakes properly. Parents often get better results from fewer papers with better feedback than from racing through large stacks of material.

For this school, aim to include all four tested subjects in your practice cycle. Because the format is mixed, it is worth doing some work on paper and some on screen so your child is not thrown by the delivery method.

A sensible way to use papers is:

Start with untimed questions to learn each question type.
Move to short timed sections once accuracy improves.
Use full or half papers later in the preparation period.
Review every mistake by category: knowledge gap, misunderstood instruction, or time-pressure slip.
Revisit weak areas the following week.

If your child sits a mock exam, treat it as a rehearsal rather than a verdict. The main value is learning how they cope with timing, nerves and switching between subjects.

You can use ElevenReady’s school-specific resources here:

When choosing any additional materials, look for GL-style practice across maths, English, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Avoid over-relying on one publisher’s style only; a little variety helps children learn to read instructions carefully and adapt.

On the day

The most helpful thing you can give your child on the day is calm routine. Pack everything the night before, leave in plenty of time and keep the morning simple. A normal breakfast, comfortable uniform or clothing if requested, a water bottle if permitted, and a few quiet minutes before going in are usually enough.

Remind your child that they do not need every question to feel easy. Entrance assessments are designed to stretch pupils. A better goal is to work steadily, listen carefully to instructions and move on sensibly if stuck.

Read every instruction fully before starting.
Keep an eye on time, but do not panic about one difficult question.
If a section is computer-based, answer calmly and avoid clicking too fast.
Use rough working where allowed, especially in maths and reasoning.
Reset mentally between sections; one wobbly moment does not ruin the rest of the paper.

For parents, it helps to keep conversation light afterwards. Most children cannot judge how they did, and detailed post-mortems on the journey home rarely help. Praise composure and effort rather than trying to reconstruct every question.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

For the latest cycle published on the school’s admissions page, Loughborough High School says that offers for Years 7 to 10 are sent within two weeks of the assessment. For families aiming at September 2028 entry, that suggests a fairly quick turnaround after the January assessment if the school keeps the same pattern.

As an independent school, Loughborough High School does not use the state-school National Offer Day system for Year 7 admissions in the way grammar schools do. Instead, the school communicates directly with families about the outcome of the entrance process and any next steps.

The pages reviewed for this guide do not publish a detailed public appeals process for Year 7 entrance assessment outcomes. If your child is unsuccessful and you want to know whether there is any review, waiting-list or reconsideration route, contact the admissions team directly and ask what options are available for that year.

If your child is offered a place, read the offer paperwork carefully and respond by the deadline given by the school. Independent-school offers often come with a required acceptance step and may also involve further administrative forms.

What has changed recently

From the official pages reviewed for this guide, the clearest recent admissions information is the school’s published January 2027 entrance assessment timetable for the 2027/28 cycle, including the Year 7 examination date and the school’s guidance to register by December. The school also states that applicants for Years 7 to 10 are assessed through mathematics, English and a computer-based assessment. No separate official announcement was found on the reviewed pages about a newly introduced catchment area, a change in published place numbers, or a newly published pass mark.

the format in our directory (not yet verified with the school) for 2028 entry is that preparation should cover a GL Assessment-style paper across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning with mixed delivery. Parents should therefore follow the school’s live admissions page for any further detail released for the 2028 cycle.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Loughborough High School Year 7 entrance exam usually held?

The most recent official date published by the school is Saturday 16 January 2027 for Year 7. For 2028 entry, parents should expect a similar January pattern unless the school announces otherwise.

Does Loughborough High School have a catchment area?

No. It is an independent school, so there is no catchment area for Year 7 entry.

What subjects should my child prepare for?

For 2028 entry, the working assumption for this guide, not yet verified with the school, is Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, with mixed delivery. Balanced preparation across all four is the safest approach.

How do we register for the entrance assessment?

Families register directly with Loughborough High School through the school’s admissions process rather than a local-authority 11+ portal. Check the school’s admissions page for the live registration method and any required documents.

Does the school publish a pass mark or cut-off score?

Not on the official pages reviewed for this guide. If you need current scoring information, contact the school directly rather than relying on unofficial figures.

When do results come out?

The school says offers for Years 7 to 10 are sent within two weeks of the assessment. That suggests parents usually hear back fairly quickly after the January test.

📄 Free Loughborough High School practice papers Start free and track readiness for Loughborough High School 🔔 Email me this school's key dates

Preparing for other schools in Leicestershire

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.