How to prepare for the Mount 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 Year 7 entry, Mount House School uses its own entrance assessment process. For 2028 entry, the working assumption for this guide is a paper using GL-style questions across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. That means children should build confidence across all four areas rather than focusing narrowly on one subject.

The school’s admissions information says that, after registration, children are invited to an Entrance Assessment Day. For the most recently published Year 7 cycle on the school website, that assessment day is described as being typically held in January. The school also says that applicants may be invited for an interview with the Head or another senior member of staff, and that a reference from the current school is part of the admissions process.

The exact delivery details for 2028 entry are not confirmed on the sources reviewed, so parents should check the school’s admissions page when the 2028 round opens. In practical terms, children should prepare for standard timed sections and for steady, accurate work under exam conditions.

Board/format: school’s own assessment, using GL-style papers across four subjects
Subjects: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning
Assessment day: school-run Entrance Assessment Day
Other parts of admissions: interview and school reference may be included
Best preparation approach: balanced practice across all four subjects, with timing introduced gradually

Registration and key dates

Mount House runs its own admissions process, so parents should register directly with the school rather than through a grammar-school consortium or local-authority 11+ portal.

For the Year 7 round currently published on the school’s admissions page, the school asks parents to complete the registration form, submit a copy of the child’s birth certificate or passport, and pay a £120 registration fee. The same page says children are then invited to an Entrance Assessment Day.

For the cycle relevant to families applying now, the school’s admissions page gives a registration deadline of 12 November 2026 for Year 7 and Year 9 applicants. The page does not give a confirmed 2028-entry assessment date on the material reviewed, but it does say that for Year 7 entry the Entrance Assessment Day is typically held in January. If you are planning ahead for 2028 entry, that is the most sensible working assumption until the school publishes the exact date.

The school also states that parents are informed of the outcome in writing, but the exact results date for 2028 entry is not yet published on the sources reviewed. Check the school’s admissions page regularly, or sign up for alerts.

Who runs registration: Mount House School
How to register: school registration form
Documents mentioned by the school: birth certificate or passport copy
Fee: £120
Verified deadline: 12 November 2026
Typical assessment timing for Year 7: January, following registration

Useful links for parents:

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Mount House is an independent coeducational school, so entry is not run through the state-school coordinated admissions system. Families apply directly to the school.

From the school material reviewed, there is no published catchment area for Year 7 entry. The sources reviewed also do not give a published priority-area rule, cut-off distance or pass mark. If catchment, feeder-school priority or any oversubscription criteria are introduced or updated for 2028 entry, parents will need to rely on the school’s own admissions page and current policy documents.

The admissions page reviewed says that Year 7 applicants sit an Entrance Assessment Day and may also be invited to interview. A reference from the child’s current school forms part of the process. In other words, this is not simply a one-paper offer system: families should expect the school to look at the child more broadly.

The number of Year 7 places for 2028 entry was not published in the sources reviewed, so it would be wrong to guess at competition levels. If place numbers matter to your planning, check directly with Mount House admissions.

What parents can safely assume is that a child applying for Mount House should be prepared to show:

secure core skills in English and Maths
familiarity with GL-style Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning questions
good pace and composure in timed work
a positive, thoughtful attitude at interview

A month-by-month preparation plan

For September 2028 entry, most children will sit the assessment in Year 6, likely in January 2028 if the school keeps the same pattern. A calm plan works better than a rushed one. The aim is steady progress across all four subjects.

March to May of Year 5

Keep preparation light and regular: about 1 to 1.5 hours a week split across short sessions. Focus on arithmetic fluency, careful reading, vocabulary growth and exposure to GL-style reasoning questions. At this stage, avoid too much timing. Children need understanding before speed.

Maths: number facts, four operations, fractions, basic problem solving
English: comprehension habits, punctuation, spelling patterns, inference
Verbal Reasoning: simple code, letter and word patterns, vocabulary work
Non-Verbal Reasoning: shape sequences, rotations, similarities and differences

June to August of Year 5

Increase to around 1.5 to 2 hours a week. This is a good time to identify weaker areas without pressure. Start short timed drills of five to ten minutes, especially in reasoning, where pace matters.

Summer is ideal for building stamina gently. One mixed weekly session can help children get used to switching between subjects.

September to October of Year 6

Move to around 2 to 3 hours a week. By now, preparation should be balanced across all four subjects. Begin more formal timed practice, but keep most sessions focused on learning from mistakes rather than chasing scores.

Do one Maths and one English session each week
Do one combined reasoning session each week
Keep a notebook of errors: careless slips, unknown vocabulary, slow question types

November of Year 6

If registered, this is the point to become more exam-specific. Aim for 3 hours a week, still broken into manageable sessions. Introduce short sections under realistic timing, then review thoroughly. The priority is consistency, not cramming.

Children should now know the main question types in each subject and have a routine for checking work calmly.

December of Year 6

Use December for consolidation. Sit one or two mixed papers or paper sections each week, depending on your child’s confidence. Keep total prep around 3 to 4 hours a week, but reduce it if your child is tired at the end of term.

Over the holidays, short practice is better than marathon sessions. A rested child usually performs better than one who has overworked.

January of Year 6, just before the assessment

In the final fortnight, focus on familiar routines and confidence. Do a small amount of timed work, but avoid introducing lots of new material. Briefly revisit common traps, checking methods and pacing.

The last few days should be calm:

light review only
good sleep
normal meals
no last-minute overload

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For Mount House, prepare for GL-style Maths work: quick, accurate arithmetic and straightforward problem solving under time pressure. Children should be secure with number operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, averages, measures and basic geometry at an age-appropriate level.

Practise in two strands: first, untimed learning to make methods secure; second, timed sections to improve speed without losing accuracy. Encourage children to estimate before answering and to check whether an answer is sensible.

English

English preparation should cover both comprehension and writing fundamentals. In comprehension, children should practise retrieving information, making inferences, understanding tone, explaining word choice and selecting evidence from a passage. In written work, focus on clear sentence control, punctuation, spelling and organised expression.

A strong reading habit helps more than endless worksheets. Short daily reading, followed by a few thoughtful questions, is one of the best ways to prepare. Vocabulary building is especially helpful because it supports both English and Verbal Reasoning.

Verbal Reasoning

GL-style Verbal Reasoning usually rewards familiarity with recurring patterns. Children should practise letter sequences, codes, word relationships, vocabulary-based items, hidden words and other standard logic tasks. The biggest gains often come from learning to recognise question types quickly.

When practising, group mistakes by type. If a child is weak on codes or alphabet patterns, do several short drills on that exact area rather than moving randomly between topics. Accuracy first, then speed.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-Verbal Reasoning typically involves visual patterns and shape logic. Children should work on rotations, reflections, symmetry, sequencing, odd-one-out tasks, shape combinations and similarities or differences between figures.

This subject improves when children learn a method for scanning systematically: look at shape, position, size, shading and movement. Many errors come from rushing past one small change, so careful observation matters as much as speed.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are most useful when they are used diagnostically, not just as a score-chasing exercise. After each paper or timed section, review three things: what your child knew well, what they nearly got right, and what they did not understand at all. That review stage is where progress happens.

For Mount House, keep practice balanced across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Do not let a strong subject crowd out a weaker one. Independent-school assessments often reward children who are steady across the board.

A sensible approach is:

learn a topic or question type untimed
practise a short set of similar questions
repeat under timing
review mistakes carefully
return to the same skill a few days later

Mocks can be helpful later in the process because they build stamina and confidence in a formal setting. They are most worthwhile once a child already knows the main question types. Too early, and they can become discouraging rather than useful.

Use these Mount House-specific resources as part of your plan:

One final tip: stop every paper while your child still has enough energy to review it properly. A fully marked and discussed short paper is usually more valuable than a longer paper that is never analysed.

On the day

Keep the morning simple. Aim to arrive in good time, with everything prepared the night before. If the school gives specific instructions about equipment or arrival arrangements, follow those rather than relying on general habits from other schools.

Children usually perform best when the day feels familiar rather than dramatic. That means:

a normal breakfast they know suits them
comfortable uniform or clothes if instructed by the school
plenty of time to travel
no last-minute teaching in the car

Remind your child of a few calm exam habits:

read the question fully
keep moving if stuck
watch the time, but do not panic
check carefully if there is time left

If an interview is part of the day, your child does not need polished speeches. What helps most is being ready to speak naturally about school, interests, reading and activities they enjoy. A warm, thoughtful conversation is usually more effective than over-rehearsed answers.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

For the admissions cycle currently described by Mount House, the school says parents are informed in writing of the outcome after the assessment process. The exact timetable for results for 2028 entry was not published in the sources reviewed, so families should expect details to come directly from the school.

Because Mount House is an independent school, the process is different from state-school National Offer Day arrangements. If your child is successful, the school will usually explain the next steps for accepting the place, paying any required deposit and completing joining paperwork.

If your child is not offered a place, ask politely whether there is a waiting list and whether any feedback can be provided. Independent schools do not follow the same statutory appeal system as local-authority school admissions, so any review or complaint route will depend on the school’s own policy and procedures.

The practical next step for parents is simple: keep copies of all correspondence, note any reply deadlines, and contact the admissions team directly if anything in the offer or waiting-list process is unclear.

What has changed recently

From the sources reviewed, the clearest recent published detail is that Mount House’s admissions page currently gives a 12 November 2026 registration deadline for Year 7 and Year 9 applicants, and states that for Year 7 the Entrance Assessment Day is typically held in January. The same page also refers to interview and school-reference stages as part of admissions.

We did not find an officially published announcement on the sources reviewed of a recent change in exam board, catchment, place numbers or assessment format for Year 7 beyond the current admissions information. Parents should still check the school’s admissions page each year, because independent schools can update procedures between entry rounds.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Mount House School Year 7 entrance exam?

The school page reviewed says that, after registration, Year 7 applicants are invited to an Entrance Assessment Day that is typically held in January. The exact 2028-entry date was not yet published in the sources reviewed.

How do I register for Mount House School Year 7 entry?

You apply directly to Mount House School using the school’s registration form, not a local-authority 11+ portal. The admissions page reviewed also asks for a copy of the child’s birth certificate or passport and a registration fee.

What subjects should my child prepare for?

For 2028 entry, the subjects to prepare for, pending the school's confirmation, are Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Preparation should be balanced across all four.

Does Mount House School have a catchment area?

We did not find a published Year 7 catchment rule in the sources reviewed. Check the school’s admissions page for the latest policy documents if this is important to your application.

How much is the registration fee?

The school’s admissions page reviewed states a £120 registration fee.

Is there an interview for Mount House School Year 7 entry?

The admissions page reviewed says children may be invited for an interview with the Head or another senior member of staff. A reference from the child’s current school is also part of the process.

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Sources

Mount House School – Year 7 and 9 Assessment: School runs its own admissions process; Year 7 and Year 9 applicants complete a registration form; copy of birth certificate or passport required; £120 registration fee; registration deadline 12 November 2026; following registration, children are invited to an Entrance Assessment Day; for Year 7 the
Mount House School – Home: School identity and official website for Mount House School.
Mount House School – Admissions: Mount House is an independent school and admissions are handled directly by the school.

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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.