The exam at a glance
Northwood College for Girls is part of the London independent schools consortium for Year 7 entry, so applicants sit a shared consortium entrance examination rather than a paper written by the school alone. For 2028 entry, ElevenReady’s verified information is that families should expect a consortium-set paper and should prepare across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
The school’s admissions information says registration and fees are submitted in the autumn term before entry, with assessments taking place in January. In practice, that means girls aiming for Year 7 entry in September 2028 will sit their assessments in January 2028, unless the school announces a change.
The exact delivery method for 2028 entry is not yet confirmed in the verified information we hold, so parents should check the school’s admissions page when registration opens. Because this is a consortium process, the precise paper mix can vary slightly from year to year. The safest approach is to prepare all four tested areas well, then confirm the exact format from the school’s published arrangements for your daughter’s year.
As with many independent school assessments, the day may include more than just written papers. Schools in this sector often combine entrance tests with an interview, a group activity or a school visit, but you should treat any Northwood-specific detail as needing confirmation from the school once the admissions cycle opens.
- Board/setting: consortium entrance examination
- Subjects to prepare: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning
- Timing: assessments take place in January before September entry
- Delivery: not yet confirmed for 2028 entry
- Best parent takeaway: build broad skills across all four subjects, then check the school’s published format as soon as registration opens
Registration and key dates
For Northwood College for Girls, the school’s admissions page says that registration forms and fees must be received during the autumn term prior to entry. It also states that the school then sends families details of the assessments, which take place in the following January.
For families considering financial support, the school says that bursary applications must be made no later than the end of November before the September of entry. If bursary funding matters to your family, it is sensible to contact admissions early so that you understand the separate paperwork and evidence required.
At the time of writing, we did not find a published 2028-entry calendar with exact opening and closing dates for registration. So for now, the only safe guidance is the typical timing given by the school itself:
- Registration: usually in the autumn term before entry
- Assessment: usually in January before entry
- Bursary application deadline: by the end of November before entry
Because this is an independent school process, registration is handled by the school, not by a local authority secondary transfer portal. Families should use the school’s admissions route and watch for the correct registration form or online process on the Northwood College for Girls admissions pages.
In practical terms, for September 2028 entry, we would expect parents to watch for registration information in autumn 2027, with assessment details following for January 2028. That is based on the school’s stated annual pattern rather than a published 2028 schedule, so do sign up for updates and check regularly.
If you want reminders as soon as dates are published, use Free email alerts for this school's key dates: /school-alerts?school=northwood-college-for-girls-gdst.
It is also worth keeping an eye on The Northwood College for Girls GDST 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates): /schools/northwood-college-for-girls-gdst for any newly published details.
Who can apply: catchment and admissions
Northwood College for Girls is an independent girls’ school admitting pupils into the Senior School at Year 7. Unlike state grammar-school admissions, independent schools do not usually operate a local-authority catchment system in the same way. We did not find a published Year 7 catchment area for Northwood College for Girls in the sources reviewed, so parents should not assume that living nearby gives a formal admissions priority unless the school specifically says so.
The school does, however, publish one important bursary-related rule: to be eligible for a Year 7 bursary, a candidate must be within the top 20% in the consortium entrance examination. That does not guarantee an award by itself, but it is a useful benchmark for families hoping to apply for means-tested support.
We did not find a verified published figure for the number of Year 7 places or a school-published statement of competition levels for the relevant entry year. Independent schools can be selective without publishing the kind of cut-off data that grammar schools sometimes release, so it is best to avoid reading too much into anecdotal claims about how hard it is to get in.
What matters most for parents is this:
- there is no verified published catchment rule for Year 7 in the material reviewed;
- entry is through the school’s own admissions process and consortium assessment;
- if you are considering a bursary, academic performance in the entrance examination matters because candidates need to be in the top 20% to be eligible to apply.
If your daughter has additional needs, access arrangements or a disability that may affect testing, contact the admissions team well before the registration deadline. Independent schools usually need evidence in advance in order to consider any arrangements.
A month-by-month preparation plan
Because the assessment is typically in January of Year 6, most families do best with a calm, steady build through Year 5 rather than a late rush. Below is a realistic plan for a child targeting Northwood College for Girls for September 2028 entry.
January to March of Year 5
Keep it light. Around 1 to 1.5 hours a week in short sessions is enough. Focus on reading fluency, secure arithmetic, vocabulary building and gentle familiarisation with verbal and non-verbal reasoning styles. The aim at this stage is not speed; it is confidence and breadth.
April to June of Year 5
Increase to around 2 hours a week. Start working topic by topic:
- Maths: core number skills, fractions, percentages, problem solving
- English: comprehension, spelling accuracy, punctuation, clear written expression
- Verbal reasoning: code, sequence, vocabulary and pattern-based tasks
- Non-verbal reasoning: shape patterns, rotations, reflections and visual logic
This is also a good time to notice whether your daughter tires quickly under timed conditions. If so, keep sessions short and finish with one thing she can do well.
Summer holidays before Year 6
Aim for 2 to 3 hours a week, spread over several days. This is the point to begin mixed practice rather than isolated topic drills. You want your child to get used to switching between question types without losing concentration.
Begin very gentle timing now: perhaps one short timed section at a time, followed by careful review. Do not move straight into full papers every week. Children usually improve faster when they first learn why they made mistakes.
September of Year 6
Move up to around 3 hours a week. By now, you want a clear picture of strengths and weaker areas. Build one session around teaching or revision, one around untimed accuracy, and one around timed practice.
If the school publishes the exact format in autumn, use that information to sharpen your planning. Until then, keep all four subjects in the programme.
October of Year 6
Keep to roughly 3 to 4 hours a week. Start using longer timed sections and, if your daughter is coping well, the first occasional full paper. Review is crucial: go through every error and sort it into one of three boxes — knowledge gap, misunderstanding, or timing slip.
November of Year 6
This is usually the month to make practice feel more exam-like. Continue with 3 to 4 hours weekly, including one timed paper or paper set every week or two. For bursary applicants, this is also a sensible point to check that all bursary paperwork is moving forward before the school’s stated end-of-November deadline.
December of Year 6
Do not overdo it. Keep to 2.5 to 3 hours a week and prioritise calm consistency. Use a small number of good-quality papers, not a huge pile. In the final fortnight, focus on confidence, tidy methods, checking work and keeping routines steady.
January of Year 6
In the last week, scale back. A little light review is fine, but avoid marathon sessions. Sleep, routine, breakfast habits and emotional steadiness matter more than squeezing in one more paper.
Subject by subject: what to practise
Maths
For a consortium independent-school test, maths preparation should cover secure Key Stage 2 content plus selective-style problem solving. Focus on number operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio basics, averages, perimeter, area, simple algebraic thinking and multi-step word problems.
Practise:
- working accurately under time pressure;
- setting out steps neatly so that your child can keep track of method;
- mental arithmetic speed;
- choosing the right operation from a worded problem.
A common issue at this level is not weak maths knowledge but rushing. Encourage your daughter to underline key information and estimate whether an answer looks sensible.
English
For English, prepare both comprehension and written accuracy. In consortium-style admissions, the balance can vary, so it is wise to build broad confidence. Strong preparation includes reading fiction and non-fiction regularly, discussing tone and inference, and writing concise, well-punctuated answers.
Practise:
- retrieval, inference and vocabulary-in-context questions;
- finding evidence in a passage rather than guessing;
- spelling, punctuation and grammar in everyday writing;
- planning a short piece of writing quickly if a writing task is included.
Reading quality matters. Ten thoughtful minutes with a demanding text is often more useful than racing through easy comprehension sheets.
Verbal Reasoning
Verbal reasoning usually rewards two things: vocabulary and familiarity with recurring question types. Children often improve quickly once they recognise the patterns. Build word knowledge steadily through reading, word games and direct vocabulary revision.
Practise:
- letter and number codes;
- letter sequences;
- word relationships and synonyms;
- hidden words, compound words and logical language patterns;
- answering methodically rather than impulsively.
Short, regular sessions are ideal here. Five or ten minutes several times a week can be more effective than one long session.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Non-verbal reasoning is often the least familiar area for parents, but it becomes much easier once children learn the standard visual rules. The main job is to train the eye to spot pattern changes quickly and consistently.
Practise:
- rotations and reflections;
- shape sequences;
- codes and analogies using shapes;
- symmetry, shading and positional change;
- elimination strategies when the answer is not obvious straight away.
Teach your daughter to look for one rule at a time: shape, size, shading, position, number and direction. That simple checklist can stop panic when a question looks busy.
Practice papers and mock exams
Practice papers are most useful when they are used to diagnose, not just to generate scores. One careful paper with thorough review is worth much more than three rushed papers that are never discussed properly.
A sensible routine looks like this:
- start with untimed or lightly timed practice to learn the question types;
- move to timed sections once accuracy is reasonably secure;
- use full papers later, when stamina becomes part of the task;
- review every mistake and record patterns;
- repeat weak areas before attempting the next paper.
For Northwood College for Girls preparation, use these resources exactly as part of your plan:
- Free Northwood College for Girls GDST practice papers (one per tested subject, with answers): /schools/northwood-college-for-girls-gdst-mock-tests
- The Northwood College for Girls GDST 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates): /schools/northwood-college-for-girls-gdst
- Free email alerts for this school's key dates: /school-alerts?school=northwood-college-for-girls-gdst
If you use mock exams, treat them as a rehearsal rather than a verdict. They can be helpful for learning how your child reacts to formal timing, unfamiliar rooms and small setbacks. After any mock, keep the tone practical: what went well, what felt hard, and what one change should we make next?
Try not to compare scores from different publishers too closely. Difficulty varies, and independent consortium papers are not always mirrored perfectly by commercial materials. What matters more is whether your daughter is becoming more accurate, more confident and more composed.
On the day
The best exam-day support is calm and ordinary. Children tend to borrow their parent’s emotional temperature, so aim for steady rather than over-encouraging.
- Lay out clothes, stationery and travel plans the night before.
- Allow plenty of time so the morning does not feel rushed.
- Choose a familiar breakfast and keep hydration sensible.
- Avoid last-minute cramming; a few quick confidence notes are plenty.
- Remind your daughter that some questions are meant to feel hard.
Useful exam-room reminders for children are simple:
- listen carefully to instructions;
- keep an eye on time without panicking;
- move on if stuck and come back if allowed;
- check easy slips before the end;
- treat one difficult section as normal, not as disaster.
If there are interviews or informal interactions on the day, encourage your daughter simply to be polite, speak clearly and show interest in the school. There is no need for rehearsed speeches.
After the exam: results, allocation and appeals
For independent schools, the process after testing is different from the state-school national offer system. Results are usually followed by an offer, a waiting-list decision or a polite decline from the school, rather than a local-authority allocation on 1 March.
At the time of writing, we did not find a verified published Northwood College for Girls schedule stating exactly when Year 7 results are issued for the relevant cycle, so parents should check the school’s admissions communications carefully once they have registered.
If your daughter is applying for a bursary, remember that academic eligibility is only one part of the process. The school states that a candidate must be in the top 20% of the consortium entrance examination to be eligible for a Year 7 bursary, and bursaries are typically means-tested, so further financial assessment is likely.
If your daughter is not offered a place, the next steps depend on the school’s own admissions policy and terms. Independent schools do not run the same statutory appeals process as state schools, though they may have review or complaint procedures. In practice, it is sensible to ask courteously whether a waiting list operates, whether there is any further movement expected, and whether there are other possible entry points later on.
Keep paperwork organised after the exam: registration confirmation, bursary forms, assessment emails and any offer deadlines. Independent school offers often require a response within a set timeframe.
What has changed recently
In the sources reviewed, we did not find a clearly announced recent change from the last two years to Northwood College for Girls’ Year 7 entrance arrangements that we could verify safely for publication. The key point for families is that the school’s admissions information currently describes autumn-term registration, January assessments and an independent-school consortium entrance examination, with bursary applications due by the end of November.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Northwood College for Girls 11+ exam?
The school says assessments take place in January before September entry. For 2028 entry, that points to January 2028 unless the school publishes a different schedule.
What subjects should my child prepare for?
For 2028 entry, ElevenReady’s verified information is to prepare Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Because consortium formats can vary, check the school’s published details when registration opens.
Does Northwood College for Girls have a catchment area?
We did not find a published Year 7 catchment rule in the sources reviewed. As an independent school, it does not usually work like a state grammar-school catchment system, but always check the school’s own admissions page.
How do bursaries work for Year 7 entry?
The school says a candidate must be in the top 20% in the consortium entrance examination to be eligible for a Year 7 bursary. Families should also expect a separate bursary application and financial assessment.
When should we start preparing?
For a January exam, most children do well starting gently in Year 5 and building up through Year 6. A steady routine is usually more effective than intensive last-minute cramming.
Are the exact 2028 registration dates published yet?
We did not find exact 2028-entry registration dates in the sources reviewed. The school’s current guidance gives the usual pattern: registration in the autumn term before entry, assessments in January, and bursary applications by the end of November.
Sources
- Northwood College for Girls GDST Admissions: School identity as an independent girls’ school with Senior School entry at Year 7 and Year 12; registration forms and fees must be received during the autumn term prior to entry; details are then sent of the assessments, which take place in the following January; bursary applications must be made n
- Northwood College for Girls GDST website: School identity and general admissions context for Northwood College for Girls as part of GDST.
Preparing for other schools in Hillingdon
- ACS Hillingdon International School · practice papers
- Lady Nafisa School · practice papers
- How to prepare for the St Helen's School 11+ · 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.