How to prepare for the Redmaids' High School 11+

The exam at a glance

Redmaids' High School is an independent girls' school in Bristol with a junior school, senior school and sixth form. The school says there are 713 pupils across the school.

For 2028 entry, ElevenReady's verified information is that Redmaids' High School uses the school's own paper. Beyond that, the school does not clearly publish a full 11+ test specification on the pages reviewed, so parents should treat the assessment format as school-set and school-specific and check the admissions page directly before planning detailed preparation.

That means it would not be responsible to label this exam as GL, CEM or any other provider unless the school itself confirms that. It is also not sensible to assume the tested subjects from another Bristol school or from older forum discussions.

What the day looks like is therefore best approached in practical terms. At independent schools, the assessment day often includes some combination of an entrance assessment, time in school, and sometimes an interview or group activity, but for Redmaids' High specifically you should rely on the school's admissions team for the exact arrangements for your daughter's cohort.

Exam board: school's own paper
Format: not clearly published for 2028 entry on the sources reviewed
Tested subjects: not clearly published on the sources reviewed
Delivery: not clearly published on the sources reviewed
Best next step: use the school's admissions page and ask admissions for the current Year 7 entry process

If you want a quick overview page to monitor for updates, see The Redmaids' High School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates).

Registration and key dates

Redmaids' High School handles its own admissions. On the school's admissions pages, the route for prospective families is to make an enquiry or register interest directly with the school rather than through a local authority 11+ portal, which is typical for an independent school.

For families aiming at Year 7 entry in September 2028, the detailed application and assessment dates for that cohort were not yet clearly published on the sources reviewed. In that situation, the safest advice is to work from the school's normal admissions cycle and then confirm with admissions as soon as the 2028 entry information is released.

The school's website currently advertises Senior School Visiting Mornings on Tuesday 3 or 17 November. Because the homepage does not make the year fully explicit in the short notice reviewed, treat this as a current admissions event listing and check the live page before booking.

Based on independent-school practice, families should usually expect this sequence:

Attend an open event or visiting morning.
Submit an enquiry or registration form to the school.
Receive details of the assessment and any interview arrangements.
After assessment, receive the school's decision and, if offered a place, complete acceptance paperwork and deposit steps set out by the school.

What to prepare when registering:

Basic pupil details and current school information
Parent contact details
Any reports or documents the school requests
Awareness of bursary or scholarship timelines if relevant, as these can run on separate schedules at independent schools

Because the school did not clearly publish the 2028 deadlines, exam date or results date on the pages reviewed, do not rely on unofficial summaries. Instead, sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates and keep checking the school's admissions page.

If you want a summary page while waiting for official publication, see The Redmaids' High School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates).

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

Redmaids' High School is an independent school, so admission is not run through the Bristol grammar-school system and there is no evidence on the reviewed pages of a state-style catchment area rule for Year 7 entry. Independent schools normally assess applicants directly and offer places according to their own admissions process.

On the sources reviewed, the school presents itself as a girls' school with junior, senior and sixth form provision. For practical purposes, families considering Year 7 entry should assume that external applicants can apply, but should check directly with admissions how places are allocated between internal progression from the junior school and external candidates in a given year.

The school pages reviewed did not clearly publish a verified figure for:

the number of Year 7 places available to external applicants
any catchment or priority area
a published acceptance rate or competition ratio
minimum pass marks or cut-off scores

That is common in the independent sector. If these details matter to your planning, ask the admissions team directly rather than relying on hearsay. In particular, the school does not appear to publish a standardised score threshold or pass mark on the pages reviewed, so parents should not trust figures quoted on forums or social media.

If your daughter may need financial support, it is worth asking early about bursaries or scholarships, as independent schools often operate separate application processes and evidence requirements for these.

A month-by-month preparation plan

Because Redmaids' High School sets its own assessment and does not clearly publish a full paper specification on the pages reviewed, the best preparation is broad, steady and flexible rather than narrowly coached to one provider's style.

Below is a realistic plan working back from an autumn exam in Year 6 for September 2028 entry.

Month	Focus
January-April, Year 5	Build strong core skills in reading, vocabulary, spelling accuracy, arithmetic fluency and clear written work. Around 1 to 2 hours a week is enough at this stage.
May-July, Year 5	Begin gentle familiarisation with independent-school entrance work: comprehension, problem solving, careful maths methods and short written responses. Aim for 2 hours a week split over small sessions.
Summer holidays before Year 6	Keep momentum without overdoing it. Two or three short sessions a week works well. Read daily, revise tables and number facts, and practise working carefully under light time limits.
September, Year 6	Move into regular timed practice once you know the school's arrangements. Aim for 3 to 4 hours a week, including one timed task at the weekend and short review sessions in the week.
October, Year 6	Refine exam technique: pacing, checking, neat working and staying calm when a question feels unfamiliar. Keep practice realistic rather than cramming.
Final 1-2 weeks	Reduce volume slightly. Focus on confidence, sleep, routines and a few sharp review tasks rather than lots of new material.

A sensible pattern for most children is:

One reading and vocabulary session each week
One maths session focused on secure methods and problem solving
One writing or comprehension task if the school may assess written English
One short timed task once your child is comfortable with the basics

When should timed papers start? For a school-set assessment with limited public detail, avoid heavy timed work too early. Most Year 5 children benefit from first learning the skill slowly, then introducing timing in the summer before Year 6, and using fuller timed practice in September of Year 6.

The biggest mistake is over-specialising before the school has released the details. Build strong all-round literacy and numeracy first; that preparation is rarely wasted.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Redmaids' High School does not clearly publish the tested subjects for 2028 entry on the sources reviewed. So the most helpful approach is to prepare the core areas that commonly underpin independent-school Year 7 assessments, while checking the school's admissions page for confirmation.

English

Focus on fluent reading, secure comprehension and clear written expression. Practise retrieving information from a passage, explaining word meanings in context, making simple inferences and supporting answers with evidence from the text. For writing, work on accurate punctuation, paragraphing, varied sentence openings and answering the task directly.

Useful habits include daily reading, discussing unfamiliar vocabulary, and short written tasks completed neatly under light time pressure.

Mathematics

Build confidence with the Year 5 and early Year 6 curriculum: the four operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, measures, basic geometry and multi-step word problems. Children should show clear working, estimate sensibly and check whether an answer is reasonable.

Independent-school maths papers often reward method as well as the final answer, so encourage tidy layout and step-by-step thinking rather than rushed mental leaps.

Reasoning or broader problem solving

The school has not clearly confirmed whether reasoning is assessed, but many school-set entrance assessments include questions that test patterns, logic, vocabulary precision or mathematical thinking. A light programme of age-appropriate problem solving can therefore be useful.

Keep this balanced. If the school later confirms there is no separate reasoning component, strong reading and maths preparation will still have helped.

Interview or school interaction

The reviewed pages did not clearly confirm whether Year 7 applicants are interviewed, but independent schools sometimes include a conversation, group activity or informal interaction. If that applies, preparation should stay simple: practise speaking clearly, listening carefully, answering in full sentences and showing genuine curiosity about school life.

Avoid scripting model answers. Schools usually want to meet the child as she is.

Practice papers and mock exams

When a school uses its own assessment, practice papers are most useful for building transferable skills and good exam habits rather than trying to second-guess exact questions.

A practical way to use them is:

Start untimed so your child learns the method properly.
Review every mistake and sort it into one of three groups: knowledge gap, misunderstood question, or avoidable slip.
Redo only a small number of errors the next day.
Add timing gradually once accuracy is sound.
In the final weeks, practise a calm routine: instructions first, steady pacing, and a short check at the end.

Useful ElevenReady resources:

If you use mock exams, choose them carefully. The aim is not to frighten your child or create a false sense of precision about the paper style. A good mock should help with stamina, timing and confidence in an unfamiliar setting. One or two well-timed mocks are usually enough for most children.

After any mock or practice paper, spend more time reviewing than testing. That is where most of the learning happens.

On the day

Keep the day calm and ordinary. A child who feels steady usually performs better than a child who has been told this is the most important morning of her life.

Set out clothes, stationery and travel plans the night before.
Aim to arrive in good time without rushing.
Choose a familiar breakfast and keep hydration sensible.
Do not squeeze in last-minute teaching on the journey.
Remind your daughter to read instructions carefully and move on if one question feels hard.
Encourage neat working and a brief check at the end if time allows.

A simple script can help: read carefully, do the easy marks first, stay steady, and let one tricky question go if needed.

If there is an interview or group activity, the best advice is to be polite, listen well and answer naturally. Schools are used to children being nervous.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

Because this is an independent-school admissions process, the post-exam steps are different from state secondary allocation.

In general, the sequence is:

The school reviews the assessment and any other parts of its admissions process.
Parents receive the school's decision directly from Redmaids' High School.
If a place is offered and accepted, the family completes acceptance forms and any deposit or deadline requirements set by the school.
If a place is not offered, parents can ask whether a waiting list operates and whether there is any review or appeal route under the school's own admissions arrangements.

The reviewed pages did not clearly publish a verified date for results for the 2028 cohort, nor a published appeals timetable. Independent schools do not usually follow the local authority's National Offer Day process for making their own offers, although families applying to state schools alongside independent schools should of course still meet local authority deadlines for those applications.

If you are unsuccessful, it is reasonable to ask politely whether the school can share next steps, waiting-list information or feedback policy. Some schools will explain the process; others keep detailed assessment information confidential.

What has changed recently

On the official sources reviewed, I did not find a clearly published announcement in the last two years confirming a change to the Year 7 entrance exam board, format, catchment, places or key dates for Redmaids' High School. If the school publishes an update later, parents should rely on that notice rather than older summaries.

One current point visible on the school's homepage is the advertisement of Senior School Visiting Mornings on Tuesday 3 or 17 November, which is useful for families tracking admissions activity, but this is an event notice rather than a stated change to the admissions process.

Frequently asked questions

Does Redmaids' High School use GL or CEM for 11+?

For 2028 entry, ElevenReady's verified information is that the school uses its own paper. The school pages reviewed did not clearly confirm a GL, CEM or other external provider, so it is best to treat it as a school-set assessment unless the school states otherwise.

What subjects are in the Redmaids' High School 11+?

The tested subjects were not clearly published on the sources reviewed for the 2028 cohort. Check the school's admissions page directly before narrowing preparation too much.

When do I register for Redmaids' High School Year 7 entry?

The detailed 2028 registration dates were not clearly published on the pages reviewed. Contact the school's admissions team and sign up for key-date alerts so you can act as soon as the school releases them.

Is there a catchment area for Redmaids' High School?

It is an independent school, and I did not find a published state-style catchment rule on the pages reviewed. Admissions are handled by the school rather than through a grammar-school catchment system.

Does Redmaids' High School publish pass marks or cut-off scores?

I did not find any published pass mark or cut-off score on the sources reviewed. Parents should be very cautious about unofficial numbers shared online.

Should my child sit lots of mocks for Redmaids' High School?

Usually no. One or two well-chosen mocks can help with timing and confidence, but steady skill-building and careful review are more valuable than doing large numbers of tests.

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Sources

Redmaids' High School homepage: School website; school is an independent girls' school with junior school, senior school and sixth form; homepage states there are 713 students across the school; homepage advertises Senior School Visiting Mornings on Tuesday 3 or 17 November.
Redmaids' High School admissions page: Admissions are handled by the school directly; parents are directed to enquire/register with the school rather than a local authority 11+ portal.
Redmaids' High School senior school page: Confirms the school's senior school provision for Year 7 entry context.

Preparing for other schools in Bristol, City of

Written by ElevenReady from the school's published information and reviewed by a person before publishing. Last reviewed 20 October 2026. Exam arrangements change. Check the school's admissions page for the current year.