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
Queen Anne's School assesses Year 7 applicants using the school's own admissions process. For 2028 entry, the working assumption for this guide, not yet verified with the school, is a mixed assessment using a GL Assessment-style paper across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. In practice, that means children need broad preparation rather than a narrow focus on one paper type.
The school says that girls applying for 11+ attend an assessment day and complete a written English paper plus online maths and reasoning assessments. For families, the useful takeaway is that preparation should cover both paper-based written work and computer-based question practice, so your child is comfortable switching between the two.
Because the assessment draws on four subject areas, the most effective preparation is steady and balanced. A child who is strong in English but has ignored Non-Verbal Reasoning, or who has practised maths heavily but rarely writes under time pressure, is unlikely to feel fully at ease on the day.
- Board/format: the school's own paper, using a GL Assessment-style mix
- Tested subjects: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning
- Delivery: mixed, with a written English paper and online maths/reasoning assessments
- What the day looks like: an assessment day rather than a single standalone paper
The school also offers scholarship and bursary routes, but the core 11+ assessment remains the main academic entry point for Year 7 applicants. If your daughter may also be applying for scholarship consideration, check the admissions page carefully so that you do not miss any earlier deadlines.
Registration and key dates
Queen Anne's School runs its own admissions process, so parents register directly with the school rather than through a local authority 11+ portal. The school's admissions pages include an enquiry and registration route for Year 7 entry, and the school publishes key admissions dates for its assessment cycle.
For the most recently published 11+ cycle available at the time of writing, the school's key dates for September 2027 entry were as follows:
- Scholarship and bursary application deadline: Monday 5 October 2026
- 11+ registration deadline: Monday 19 October 2026
- Scholarship day: Thursday 5 November 2026
- Assessment day: Saturday 7 November 2026
- Outcomes sent: December 2026
- Bursary outcomes: by the end of January
For families targeting September 2028 entry, the school had not yet published a full new set of dates at the time of writing. Based on the latest cycle on the school's own site, registration typically closes in October, the assessment day is usually in early November, and decisions are normally sent in December. Treat those as a guide only and check the school's 11+ page regularly for the confirmed 2027/28 timetable when it appears.
The school also publishes its registration fees. The current published amounts are £120 for UK students and £210 for overseas students, both described as non-refundable.
In practical terms, parents should aim to do three things early:
- Read the school's 11+ entry page in full.
- Register well before the deadline, especially if you are also considering scholarship or bursary applications.
- Gather any documents the school requests as part of its registration process.
If you want a simple way to keep track of updates, you can use Free email alerts for this school's key dates. You can also cross-check the broad overview in The Queen Anne's School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates).
Who can apply: catchment and admissions
Queen Anne's School is an independent girls' school, so its admissions process is different from a state grammar-school catchment system. At the time of writing, we did not find a published geographic catchment area for 11+ entry on the school's own admissions pages. In other words, families should not assume there is a state-style distance rule unless the school later publishes one.
The school offers multiple points of entry, including 11+, 13+ and 16+. For Year 7 applicants, the relevant route is the 11+ assessment day.
The school also offers scholarships and bursaries, with separate deadlines and outcomes published for the latest admissions cycle. That matters because some families will need to plan for an earlier bursary or scholarship application deadline than the main 11+ registration deadline.
We did not find a confirmed published figure on the school's site for the exact number of Year 7 places available through 11+ entry, nor a published cut-off score or pass mark. Independent schools often assess applicants holistically rather than publishing a single qualifying score. Parents should therefore rely on the school's admissions team and current 11+ page for the most up-to-date information on availability, oversubscription and financial support.
If your daughter is applying from overseas or from a school using a different timetable, contact admissions early. Queen Anne's clearly distinguishes between UK and overseas registration fees, which suggests that some application arrangements may differ depending on where a family is based.
A month-by-month preparation plan
For September 2028 entry, your child will sit the assessment in the autumn of Year 6. A calm, sensible approach is to use Year 5 to build the skills gradually, then use the start of Year 6 for timed practice and exam readiness.
September to October of Year 5
Keep it light. Two short sessions a week is enough at this stage, around 1 to 1.5 hours total per week. Focus on reading quality fiction and non-fiction, secure arithmetic, and gentle introduction to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning question types. The goal is familiarity, not speed.
November to December of Year 5
Move to three sessions a week, around 1.5 to 2 hours total. Start keeping topics balanced across all four subjects. In English, work on comprehension and short written responses. In maths, make sure number facts and written methods are fluent. In reasoning, learn one or two question types at a time until they feel routine.
January to February of Year 5
This is a good point to become a little more systematic. Aim for 2 to 2.5 hours a week. Begin short timed exercises, but not full papers yet. For example, use ten-minute bursts for mental maths, comprehension retrieval, vocabulary work and reasoning sets. Children at this age usually respond best to short, regular practice rather than long weekend marathons.
March to April of Year 5
Increase to about 2.5 to 3 hours a week. Start mixing subjects within one study week so your child gets used to changing gear. Introduce writing under time limits for English, including planning quickly and checking carefully at the end. For online-style maths and reasoning, make sure your child is comfortable entering answers accurately and working on screen without losing focus.
May to June of Year 5
Begin the transition from skill-building to test practice. Around 3 hours a week is usually realistic. This is the right time to start timed sections more regularly. Do not rush straight into full papers every weekend; instead, use one timed section and one untimed review session so your child learns from mistakes properly.
July to August before Year 6
Summer is useful, but it should not feel relentless. Three or four sessions a week, around 3 to 4 hours total, is plenty for most children. Complete some mixed practice and a small number of longer timed tasks. Keep reading every day and continue vocabulary building. If your child tires quickly, reduce the amount and protect confidence.
September to October of Year 6
This is the sharper preparation phase. Use 3.5 to 5 hours a week, depending on your child's stamina and other school commitments. Now is the time for fuller timed practice, careful error analysis, and occasional rehearsal of a whole assessment morning. Keep one session each week for review only: correcting mistakes is where much of the progress happens.
Throughout the process, watch energy and mood. If your daughter is becoming anxious, scale back and return to shorter, more successful tasks for a week. Consistency beats intensity for this kind of exam.
Subject by subject: what to practise
Maths
Queen Anne's says applicants complete online maths assessments, so your child needs secure core Key Stage 2 skills and confidence answering efficiently on screen. Prioritise arithmetic accuracy, place value, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio basics, measures, word problems and interpreting straightforward tables or diagrams. Practise short timed sets, then review errors by topic so mistakes become teachable moments rather than repeated habits.
Good maths preparation for this format means building fluency first and speed second. A child who understands methods clearly will usually become faster naturally.
English
The school refers specifically to a written English paper. That usually means your child should be ready for comprehension, grammar and vocabulary, and some form of written response. Practise reading carefully, spotting evidence in a passage, inferring character or tone, and writing clearly in complete sentences under time pressure.
For the writing element, focus on planning quickly, structuring ideas into sensible paragraphs, and leaving a minute or two at the end for checking punctuation, tense and missing words. Strong reading habits are especially helpful here, so regular reading remains one of the best forms of preparation.
Verbal Reasoning
GL-style Verbal Reasoning commonly draws on vocabulary, letter patterns, codes, sequences, relationships between words and careful handling of instructions. Preparation works best when children learn question types explicitly and then revisit them often. Keep a notebook of unfamiliar words and common patterns. Many children improve markedly once they stop treating every question as brand new and start recognising the underlying type.
Accuracy matters just as much as speed. Encourage your child to read instructions slowly at first, because many errors come from misreading what the question is asking.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Non-Verbal Reasoning typically tests pattern recognition, shape transformations, symmetry, rotations, reflections and visual sequences. Because Queen Anne's uses online maths and reasoning assessments, include digital practice where possible so your child is comfortable scanning shapes on screen. Start by teaching one visual rule at a time, such as rotation or shading changes, before combining several rules in one set.
This is often the subject that improves fastest with practice because the patterns become more familiar. A calm step-by-step approach is usually more effective than guessing quickly.
Practice papers and mock exams
Practice papers are most useful when they are part of a routine, not just a way to generate scores. For Queen Anne's School, aim to use them in three stages.
- First stage: untimed familiarisation, so your child learns the question styles without pressure.
- Second stage: timed sections, building pace while keeping accuracy steady.
- Third stage: mixed or longer sessions that feel closer to a real assessment morning.
After every paper, spend at least as long reviewing as your child spent completing it. Ask:
- Which questions were true knowledge gaps?
- Which were careless mistakes?
- Which took too long?
- Which instructions were misunderstood?
That review stage is what turns practice into progress.
For subject-specific practice, use Free Queen Anne's School practice papers (one per tested subject, with answers). For a fuller overview of format, dates and admissions details, see The Queen Anne's School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates). If you want reminders when the school updates deadlines, sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates.
If you choose a mock exam, use it thoughtfully. One or two mocks can help a child experience a formal setting, but too many can dent confidence and crowd out the real work of learning from mistakes. Choose timing carefully: one mock in late Year 5 or the summer before Year 6, and perhaps one more near the start of Year 6, is enough for many children.
On the day
Because Queen Anne's uses an assessment-day format, the best preparation is practical as well as academic. In the week beforehand, keep routines normal: good sleep, ordinary meals, no last-minute cramming.
- Check the school's instructions carefully a few days in advance.
- Prepare any required stationery or documents the night before.
- Allow plenty of travel time so the morning feels calm.
- Make sure your child has eaten something familiar and sustaining.
- Remind her that some questions are meant to feel stretching.
For a mixed paper-and-screen assessment, it also helps to remind your child to reset mentally between tasks. A written English paper needs a different rhythm from quick-fire reasoning questions. Encourage her to treat each section as a fresh start.
A useful script for parents is very simple: Do one question at a time, listen carefully, and keep going if one part feels hard. Children usually feel more settled when adults keep the tone matter-of-fact.
After the exam: results, allocation and appeals
For the latest published cycle on the school's site, Queen Anne's said that outcomes are sent in December, with bursary outcomes by the end of January. For 2028 entry, parents should expect a similar general pattern unless the school announces otherwise: assessment in the autumn, offers or outcomes later in the term, and bursary decisions afterwards where relevant.
As an independent school, Queen Anne's does not follow the same National Offer Day process used for state secondary admissions in the same way a grammar school would. Families may therefore receive a direct admissions decision from the school and then need to decide whether to accept a place according to the school's own timeline.
If your daughter is unsuccessful, the right next step is to ask the admissions team politely whether any feedback is available and whether there is a waiting-list process. We did not find a published 11+ appeals procedure on the pages reviewed, so parents should check directly with the school for its current policy and timelines.
If you are also applying to state schools, keep those applications running alongside the independent-school process so that you preserve all options.
What has changed recently
On the sources reviewed, we found published key dates for the 2027 entry cycle, including the October registration deadline, early November assessment events and December outcomes. We did not find a newly announced change to the underlying 11+ assessment structure, catchment rules or published place numbers in the last two years beyond the current admissions timetable and fee information on the school's own admissions pages.
As always, check the school's 11+ page directly before applying, because independent schools can update dates, fees or assessment arrangements between cycles.
Frequently asked questions
Does Queen Anne's School use the CEM or GL 11+?
For 2028 entry, our working assumption, not yet verified with the school, is that Queen Anne's uses the school's own paper in a GL Assessment-style format across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
Is the Queen Anne's 11+ fully online?
No. The process is mixed: the school says there is a written English paper alongside online maths and reasoning assessments.
When is the Queen Anne's School 11+ exam?
For the latest published cycle found, the assessment day for 2027 entry was Saturday 7 November 2026. For 2028 entry, treat early November as typical until the school publishes confirmed dates.
How much is the registration fee?
The school publishes a non-refundable registration fee of £120 for UK students and £210 for overseas students.
Does Queen Anne's School have a catchment area?
We did not find a published 11+ catchment area on the school's admissions pages reviewed. As an independent school, it may not operate a state-style catchment system.
When do Queen Anne's 11+ results come out?
For the latest published cycle, outcomes were due in December, with bursary outcomes by the end of January. Check the school's admissions page for the current year's confirmed timetable.
Sources
- Queen Anne's School – 11+ Entry: School's 11+ entry route; assessment day for Year 7 applicants; written English paper; online maths and reasoning assessments; direct school-run admissions process.
- Queen Anne's School – Admissions: School offers 11+, 13+ and 16+ entry points; independent girls' school admissions context.
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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.