How to prepare for the Manor House 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.

The exam at a glance

For 2028 entry, Manor House School uses its own entrance process, with a GL-style assessment covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. the information in our directory (not yet verified with the school) for this school also confirms that the test is computer based and timed, so preparation should include working accurately and efficiently on screen.

That combination matters. A child who is comfortable with paper practice can still lose time if she is unused to reading, selecting and moving through questions on a device. In practical terms, families should build in some regular on-screen practice during Year 5, especially once the basics are secure.

Because the school’s admissions information focuses mainly on the application journey rather than publishing a detailed paper specification for Year 7 external entry, it is best to think of the assessment in four strands:

Maths: core Key Stage 2 number, arithmetic, problem solving and multi-step thinking.
English: reading comprehension, vocabulary and written accuracy.
Verbal Reasoning: language-based logic, codes, word relationships and pattern-based tasks.
Non-Verbal Reasoning: visual patterns, shapes, sequences, rotations and spatial logic.

On the day, families should expect a formal admissions assessment rather than a classroom taster. As with many independent schools, the testing is one part of the overall admissions picture, alongside the school’s review of the child’s suitability and, in some cases, information from her current school. Manor House School also states that applications can be made outside the usual cycle, subject to places being available, so the precise experience may vary slightly for late applicants.

If you want a quick overview of the school-specific format as a starting point, see The Manor House School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates).

Registration and key dates

For Manor House School, admissions are run by the school rather than a local authority or grammar-school consortium. The school’s Prep School admissions page invites parents to contact the Registrar and to arrange a visit, and it explains that the admissions process includes registration and assessment. However, at the time of writing, the school does not publish a full set of Year 7 external entry 2028 dates on the page reviewed.

What parents can say with confidence is:

Applications are handled directly by Manor House School via its admissions team.
The school encourages families to visit, and it holds Prep School Open Mornings twice a year, in October and March.
The school accepts later applications subject to availability of places.

Because a published Year 7 exam date for 2028 entry was not available in the sources reviewed, it is safest to check the school’s admissions page and contact the Registrar directly for the current cycle. Do not rely on unofficial forum posts or old social media notices for an independent school’s testing date.

As a practical approach, parents applying for September 2028 entry should aim to:

Make contact with admissions during Year 5.
Book an open event if possible, to understand the school’s expectations and ethos.
Ask specifically when registration opens, what documents are needed, and when the computer-based assessment will be sat.
Confirm whether a school reference or recent report is required.

If you would like updates when dates are published, use Free email alerts for this school's key dates.

For practice support while you are waiting for confirmed dates, use Free Manor House School practice papers (one per tested subject, with answers).

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Manor House School is an independent girls’ school in Little Bookham, Surrey. There is no catchment area for admissions. That is an important difference from state grammar-school entry: families are not competing within a published distance rule or local authority priority area.

Instead, admission is based on the school’s own process and the availability of places. The school’s Prep School admissions information makes clear that applications may be considered outside the normal admissions round if places remain available. For parents, that means two things:

There may be some flexibility if you move area or decide later than expected.
It is still wise to apply early, because independent-school places can fill well before the academic year begins.

At the time of writing, the school page reviewed did not publish a verified number of Year 7 places for external applicants, nor a published breakdown of how many girls usually move through from the school’s own Prep into Senior School. Because of that, it would be wrong to guess the level of competition or imply a typical cut-off. If that detail matters for your decision, ask the admissions office directly how many external Year 7 places are expected in your daughter’s entry year.

The school is rated Outstanding by Ofsted, and its website describes a through-school structure including a Prep School and Sixth Form. That often appeals to families looking for continuity from the early years onwards, but for Year 7 applicants the key question is simpler: whether your daughter is a good fit academically and personally for the next stage of the school.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For September 2028 entry, most children will do their main preparation during Year 5 and the start of Year 6. Because Manor House School’s assessment covers four areas and is computer based, a steady plan works better than bursts of cramming.

January to March of Year 5

Keep it light and skill-based: around 1 to 2 hours a week in short sessions is usually enough. Focus on secure arithmetic, reading stamina, vocabulary building and untimed reasoning exposure. At this stage, you are not chasing speed; you are building familiarity.

Maths: times tables, written methods, fractions basics and word problems.
English: regular reading, comprehension chats and spelling patterns.
Reasoning: introductory verbal and non-verbal question types without a timer.
Screen confidence: a little practice reading and answering questions on a computer.

April to June of Year 5

Increase gently to 2 to 3 hours a week. By now, your child should know what each subject area feels like. Start mixed practice so she gets used to switching between styles of thinking.

Introduce short timed bursts, such as 10-minute sections.
Teach method as well as answers: how to eliminate options, spot patterns and move on when stuck.
Begin keeping an error log with three headings: didn’t know, rushed, misread.

July to August before Year 6

This is often the most useful preparation window. Aim for 3 to 4 hours a week, but spread across several days. Do not make every session a full paper. Instead, combine technique work with stamina building.

Complete short subject drills on screen.
Start longer mixed tests once or twice a fortnight.
Review every mistake carefully; improvement comes from analysis, not just volume.
Keep reading going through the summer, especially quality fiction and non-fiction with rich vocabulary.

September of Year 6

If the assessment is in the autumn before entry, this is the point to move into exam-readiness. Around 4 to 5 hours a week is realistic for most children for a limited period.

Use timed practice papers more regularly.
Practise transitions between question types.
Refine pacing: when to skip, when to return, when to make the best available choice and move on.
Make sure at least some work is done on a computer, not only on printed sheets.

The final two weeks

Do less, but do it well. Focus on confidence, routine and sleep. One or two final timed papers are enough; avoid flooding your child with new material. The goal is sharpness, not exhaustion.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For Manor House School, maths preparation should centre on secure Key Stage 2 content delivered at speed. Children should be comfortable with number operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, measures, ratio basics, geometry and straightforward data handling.

Practise mental arithmetic daily in short bursts.
Use multi-step word problems to build calm problem solving.
Teach your child to estimate before calculating, to sense-check answers.
On screen, practise careful reading of question wording and options.

The most common issue is not lack of knowledge but lost marks through rushing. Encourage neat working on scrap paper where allowed, even when the answer is entered digitally.

English

English preparation should balance reading comprehension with written accuracy. Independent-school English assessments often reward precise reading, inference, vocabulary understanding and careful grammar more than flashy writing.

Read widely and discuss tone, viewpoint and evidence in the text.
Build vocabulary actively: synonyms, antonyms and words in context.
Practise retrieving information quickly without skimming carelessly.
Revise punctuation, sentence control and common spelling patterns.

If your child is a strong reader but answers too briefly, train her to support answers with clear reference to the passage. If she reads too fast, practise slowing down on key words.

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal Reasoning rewards familiarity with recurring task types. Children improve fastest when they learn the logic behind each type rather than treating every question as brand new.

Work on word relationships, letter codes, sequences and vocabulary-driven logic.
Strengthen spelling and word structure, because many verbal tasks depend on them.
Practise identifying the question type quickly before solving it.
Use short timed sets to build pace without panic.

Because this is a GL-style area, pattern recognition matters. Once your child knows the common formats, scores often rise steadily.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-Verbal Reasoning is often the most unfamiliar area, so early exposure helps. The aim is to become fluent in visual rules: rotation, reflection, symmetry, shape changes, shading, count changes and position shifts.

Teach one pattern rule at a time before mixing them.
Use precise language: rotate, reflect, enlarge, move, invert.
Encourage your child to say what is changing from one box to the next.
Build speed only after accuracy is reliable.

On computer-based tests, visual focus matters. Practise looking carefully at each option before clicking, especially where differences are small.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are useful only when they are used thoughtfully. For Manor House School, that means three things: match the four tested subjects, include computer-based practice, and review mistakes properly.

A sensible sequence is:

Start with untimed familiarisation.
Move to short timed sections by question type.
Build to mixed papers under realistic conditions.
Review every paper in detail before doing the next one.

Try not to measure progress by raw scores alone. Look instead for patterns: Is your child losing marks in one topic? Is she misreading instructions? Is she running out of time in the final quarter? Those answers tell you what to change next.

For this school, use these resources:

If you book a mock exam elsewhere, treat it as a confidence-building rehearsal rather than a prediction. A mock is most helpful when it teaches your child how to manage nerves, timing and recovery after a tricky section.

One final point for this school: because the assessment is computer based, at least some practice should be done on a screen. Paper-only preparation can leave a child underprepared for the visual and pacing demands of digital testing.

On the day

Keep the morning calm and ordinary. Your child does not need a motivational speech; she needs a predictable routine.

Lay out clothes, directions and any paperwork the night before.
Allow plenty of travel time so there is no sense of rushing.
Choose a breakfast your child knows suits her.
Avoid last-minute cramming in the car.

Before the test, remind her of three practical rules:

Read the instructions carefully.
If a question seems to take too long, move on and come back if possible.
One hard question does not mean the whole paper is going badly.

For a computer-based assessment, it also helps to remind children to check where they are clicking, to watch for unanswered questions if the system allows review, and to stay composed if the format feels formal. Children often perform better when they think of the test as a series of short tasks rather than one huge event.

Afterwards, keep your response steady. Ask whether she felt comfortable and whether anything surprised her, but avoid picking through every answer on the journey home.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

For an independent school such as Manor House School, the post-exam process is different from the state-school national offer system. In broad terms, families usually receive the school’s decision directly from the school, and offers are then accepted or declined within the school’s own timetable.

However, the school page reviewed for this guide did not publish a verified results date or offer date for Year 7 external entry. It also did not set out a published formal appeals timetable in the way a maintained school or grammar school would. Because of that, parents should check directly with admissions how and when outcomes are communicated.

In practice, the next steps are usually:

The school reviews assessment performance and any other parts of its admissions process.
Families are informed of the outcome by the school.
If offered a place, parents may need to accept it and pay any required deposit by the stated deadline.
If a place is not available, parents can ask whether a waiting list operates and whether later vacancies are possible.

If your daughter is unsuccessful, it is reasonable to ask for brief feedback if the school is willing to provide it, but many independent schools give only limited detail. Keep the focus on next steps rather than on a post-mortem of the test.

What has changed recently

No recently announced change to Manor House School’s Year 7 entrance test format, catchment arrangements or published admissions structure was clearly set out in the official sources reviewed for this guide. The school’s admissions page does, however, state that later applications are accepted subject to availability, and its published open-morning pattern remains twice yearly for the Prep School.

If the school publishes a new admissions timeline or a more detailed Year 7 testing note for 2028 entry, parents should treat that as the current position and follow the school’s own page first.

Frequently asked questions

Does Manor House School have a catchment area for Year 7 entry?

No. Manor House School is an independent school and does not use a state-school catchment rule for admission.

What does Manor House School test at 11+?

For 2028 entry, our working assumption, not yet verified with the school, is that the assessment covers Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, using the school’s own process in a GL-style format.

Is the Manor House School 11+ on paper or on a computer?

For 2028 entry, the assessment is computer based. It is worth including some on-screen practice, not just printed papers.

When is the Manor House School 11+ exam?

A verified Year 7 exam date for 2028 entry was not published in the sources reviewed. Check the school’s admissions page or contact the Registrar directly for the current cycle.

Can you apply late to Manor House School?

Yes, the school says later applications are accepted subject to availability of places. That does not guarantee a place, so it is still best to contact admissions early.

Does Manor House School publish pass marks or cut-off scores?

No published pass mark or cut-off score was found in the sources reviewed. If you want current admissions detail, ask the school directly.

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Sources

Manor House School - Prep School Admissions: School runs admissions directly; Prep School open mornings are held twice a year in October and March; later applications are accepted subject to availability of places; admissions contact/Registrar route; school admissions information is on the school's own website.
Manor House School - Home: Manor House School is an independent girls' school in Little Bookham, Surrey; the school refers to a Prep School and Sixth Form.
Ofsted report - Manor House School: Ofsted rating Outstanding.

Preparing for other schools in Surrey

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.