How to prepare for the St Dunstan's College 11+

The exam at a glance

For children applying for Year 7 entry in September 2028, ElevenReady’s verified information says St Dunstan’s College is using GL Assessment for its 11+ testing, with assessment across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The delivery is listed as mixed, so families should be ready for a process that may include both written testing and later in-person assessment stages.

The school’s admissions information describes Year 7 as its main Senior School entry point and explains that entry is a multi-stage process. In practice, that means parents should prepare for more than one step rather than assuming there is just a single test morning. The first academic stage is followed by later assessment activity for shortlisted candidates.

Because the test uses a GL-style format, preparation should be broad and even. Children do best when they build secure skills in all four areas rather than trying to chase one weak spot at the last minute. GL papers typically reward children who can work accurately under timed conditions, move on sensibly when stuck, and keep their concentration across several short sections.

Board: GL Assessment
Subjects: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning
Format: one GL Assessment paper covering all four areas, using standard timed sections
Delivery: mixed
Likely overall process: initial test, then later assessment or interview stages for some applicants

On the day itself, parents should expect a structured admissions session rather than an informal taster. Children are usually checked in, guided to the assessment room, given instructions before each section, and supervised throughout. At independent schools such as St Dunstan’s, the wider admissions journey may also include school events, interviews and optional scholarship or bursary processes, so it helps to think of the 11+ as one important part of a longer admissions timetable.

Registration and key dates

St Dunstan’s College handles its own admissions through the school rather than through a local authority 11+ portal. The Senior School admissions page explains the application route for Year 7 entry and sets out the different stages of the process.

For the current published cycle on the school site, the school gives a registration deadline of 23 November 2026 for Year 7 entry, with the Assessment and Problem-solving Paper (APP) on 28 or 29 October 2026. The school also lists a Part 2 Assessment on 11 January 2027, general interviews in the week commencing 25 January 2027, academic interviews on 23 or 30 January 2027, and says offers are communicated on 12 February 2027. Those dates relate to the published admissions cycle on the website and are the best guide currently available for families planning ahead to 2028 entry.

For September 2028 entry, the exact dates may change when the school publishes the new cycle. Until then, the safest approach is to treat the current pattern as typical timing: registration usually runs through the autumn term, the first assessment is typically in late October, later assessment stages fall in January, and offers are usually sent in February.

The school also publishes admissions events linked to the Year 7 application process. These include open events and a booking deadline for the APP. Parents should check the school’s admissions page regularly because independent schools sometimes update event booking arrangements before they update the full admissions booklet.

Stage	Published timing seen
Whole School Open Day	19 September 2026
Football Open Morning	14 October 2026
APP booking deadline	21 October 2026
APP	28 or 29 October 2026
Orchestral Workshop	5 November 2026
Registration deadline	23 November 2026
Part 2 Assessment	11 January 2027
Academic interviews	23 or 30 January 2027
General interviews	Week commencing 25 January 2027
Offers communicated	12 February 2027
Welcome event	26 February 2027
Deadline to accept offers	3 March 2027

In addition, the school states an application fee of £250 including VAT and an APP fee of £250. Before submitting anything, parents should check what supporting information is requested for that year’s application, such as a completed online form and any school report or reference requirements.

Useful links for families tracking this school’s process:

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

St Dunstan’s College is an independent coeducational school, so entry is not based on state-school grammar catchment rules. Instead, places are offered through the school’s own admissions process. The school’s admissions pages make clear that Year 7 is the most popular Senior School entry point and that there are also optional scholarships and bursaries.

The school’s website describes a multi-stage assessment process for Year 7 applicants. That matters because parents should not think only in terms of “passing the 11+”. At independent schools, offers are usually made after the school has considered performance across the different stages of assessment and, where relevant, interview or wider school fit.

We did not find a published catchment area, priority postcode rule, or a published 11+ pass mark for St Dunstan’s College. If you are looking for a fixed score threshold or distance rule, the school does not appear to publish one on the admissions page we reviewed. It is best to check the latest Year 7 admissions information directly with the school.

Likewise, if the school has a set number of Year 7 places, that figure was not clearly published on the admissions material we reviewed for this guide. Independent schools often focus more on the admissions process and timetable than on a single headline places number.

Catchment: no state-style catchment rule found on the admissions pages reviewed
Priority rules: not clearly published in the material reviewed
Competition: the school says Year 7 is its most popular Senior School entry point
Financial support: scholarships and bursaries are available through separate processes described by the school

For parents, the practical takeaway is simple: apply in good time, prepare for a staged process, and read both the standard Year 7 admissions information and any separate scholarship or bursary guidance if relevant to your child.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For September 2028 entry, your child will sit the main assessment during Year 6, in the autumn before entry. A calm, steady plan works much better than intense cramming. Below is a sensible route for a Year 5 family working towards a GL-style four-subject paper.

January to March of Year 5

Keep things light. Aim for 1 to 2 hours a week in short sessions. Focus on secure arithmetic, careful reading, vocabulary building and puzzle-style reasoning work. At this stage, the goal is familiarity, not speed.

Read widely and discuss vocabulary in context.
Revise number facts, place value, fractions and written methods.
Introduce basic verbal and non-verbal reasoning question types gently.
Encourage neat working and checking habits.

April to June of Year 5

Increase to around 2 to 3 hours a week. Start rotating all four subjects so none gets neglected. Keep English work balanced between comprehension, grammar accuracy and clear written expression.

Build a routine of two or three short study slots each week.
Start untimed practice sets by question type.
Review mistakes carefully and keep an error notebook.
Use mental maths and vocabulary little and often.

Summer holidays before Year 6

This is the key foundation period. Aim for roughly 3 to 4 hours a week, spread across the week. Children often make their biggest gains here because there is time to practise steadily without school-term pressure.

Cover every GL-style area regularly.
Begin short timed sections once methods are secure.
Practise switching between subjects without losing focus.
Keep one or two sessions each week enjoyable and confidence-building.

September of Year 6

Move up to around 4 to 5 hours a week. This is the point to use more timed practice. Children should now know the main question types and be learning how to manage the clock.

Do timed sections rather than full papers at first.
Work on accuracy under pressure, not rushing.
Practise bubbling answers or marking clearly if using answer sheets.
Keep school homework and wellbeing in balance.

October to the exam

Keep preparation focused and tidy rather than overwhelming. Around 4 hours a week is usually enough if the earlier groundwork has been done well.

Use full or near-full mixed papers sparingly.
Review errors the same day while they are fresh.
Practise moving on from difficult questions.
Taper slightly in the final few days so your child arrives fresh.

A good rule of thumb is this: do not start heavy timed papers too early. Build knowledge first, then timing, then exam stamina.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For a GL-style independent school test, Maths preparation should centre on core Key Stage 2 content done accurately and briskly. Children should be secure with the four operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio basics, measures, shape and simple data handling. Worded problems matter because they test both understanding and method selection.

Practise arithmetic fluency daily in short bursts.
Use mixed problem sets, not only one topic at a time.
Teach your child to underline what the question is really asking.
Encourage estimation to sense-check answers.

English

English preparation should include reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and careful writing skills where relevant to the school’s process. For GL-style assessment, children need to read closely, infer sensibly, and notice how words are used.

Practise short comprehensions with discussion before marking.
Build vocabulary from reading rather than memorising random lists.
Revise punctuation, sentence structure and common spelling patterns.
Encourage concise answers that use evidence from the text.

Verbal Reasoning

Verbal Reasoning rewards pattern recognition with language. Typical preparation includes codes, sequences, letter patterns, vocabulary-based logic, word relationships and instructions that must be followed precisely. The biggest gains usually come from learning the common formats and then practising them regularly.

Learn one question type at a time before mixing them.
Build speed only after accuracy is reliable.
Keep a record of recurring mistakes such as misreading instructions.
Strengthen vocabulary alongside reasoning practice.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-Verbal Reasoning focuses on visual logic: rotations, reflections, sequences, similarities, hidden rules and shape-based changes. Many children improve quickly once they are shown how to look systematically for the rule.

Teach your child to check shape, position, number, shading and direction in order.
Practise spotting one change at a time, then combinations of changes.
Use short timed sets to build confidence with visual speed.
Review wrong answers by identifying the missed rule.

Across all four subjects, the aim is steady familiarity. Children usually perform best when no single area feels neglected or intimidating.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are most useful when they are used thoughtfully rather than in bulk. Start with short topic-based work, then move to mixed sections, then to occasional full papers once your child knows the main question types. After every paper, spend at least as long reviewing mistakes as you spent completing it.

A simple review routine works well:

Mark the paper carefully.
Sort mistakes into content gaps, timing issues and avoidable slips.
Redo incorrect questions without pressure.
Note patterns: for example, rushing, weak vocabulary, or missing a step in maths.

Mock exams can help with stamina and nerves, but they are only worthwhile if your child has already covered the basics. A mock too early can dent confidence. A mock at the right moment can show whether timing, concentration and exam-room habits are ready.

Use these ElevenReady resources as part of your preparation:

When using papers at home, try to recreate calm exam habits: quiet room, visible clock, sharpened pencils, no interruptions, and a short break between sections if you are using multiple papers in one sitting.

On the day

Keep the morning simple. Lay out everything the night before, allow extra travel time, and aim to arrive with a few minutes to spare rather than very early. Children usually take their cue from the adults with them, so a matter-of-fact tone helps more than repeated reminders to “do your best”.

Choose a normal breakfast your child likes and digests well.
Avoid last-minute cramming on the journey.
Remind your child to listen carefully to instructions for each section.
If a question feels hard, move on and come back if there is time.
Check answers only if there is genuine time left; avoid panicked changing.

For a school with a multi-stage process, it also helps to frame the day properly: this is one part of the admissions journey, not the whole story. Children often stay calmer when they know one difficult question or one wobbly section does not define everything.

After the assessment, try not to conduct a detailed post-mortem. A brief check-in is enough. Then move the day on.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

At St Dunstan’s College, the published admissions journey for Year 7 does not end with the first assessment. The school’s timetable shows later stages including a Part 2 Assessment and interview activity in January, followed by offers communicated in February. That is typical of independent school admissions, where decisions are made by the school rather than through National Offer Day for state secondary transfers.

For the published cycle we reviewed, offers were due on 12 February 2027, with a closing date for accepting offers of 3 March 2027. For 2028 entry, families should wait for the school to publish the updated timetable, but February offers and an early spring acceptance deadline appear to be the current pattern.

Because this is an independent school process, the term “appeal” may not work in the same formal way that it does for state schools. If your child is not offered a place, the practical next steps are usually to ask whether a waiting list operates, whether further movement is expected, and whether bursary or scholarship decisions are issued separately where relevant.

If you need certainty on how results are shared, whether numerical scores are released, or how waiting lists are managed, check the latest admissions information directly with St Dunstan’s College, as these details can vary between schools and between entry cycles.

What has changed recently

For this guide, we found school-published evidence of the current Year 7 admissions cycle being organised as a multi-stage process including the APP, a later Part 2 Assessment, interviews and February offers. We also found the school’s published fees for application and APP, and its description of Year 7 as the most popular Senior School entry point.

ElevenReady’s verified information for 2028 entry confirms the use of GL Assessment across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning with mixed delivery. Parents should prepare across all four areas rather than narrowing revision too early.

We did not find a separately announced recent change to catchment, published places, or a newly stated pass mark on the sources reviewed. If the school announces a change for 2028 entry later in the admissions year, the school’s own Senior School admissions page should be treated as the first place to check.

Frequently asked questions

Does St Dunstan's College have a catchment area for 11+?

We did not find a published state-style catchment rule on the admissions pages reviewed. As an independent school, St Dunstan's runs its own admissions process rather than a grammar-school catchment system.

What subjects are tested for St Dunstan's College 11+?

For 2028 entry, ElevenReady’s verified information says the test covers Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning using GL Assessment.

When should my child start preparing for St Dunstan's College 11+?

For most children, light preparation from Year 5 works well, with more structured timed practice from the summer before Year 6. The key is steady progress across all four subjects.

Does St Dunstan's College publish a pass mark?

We did not find a published pass mark or score threshold in the admissions material reviewed. Check the school’s latest admissions page if you want to see whether it has released any further detail for your child’s entry year.

Are there interviews after the St Dunstan's College 11+ test?

The school’s published Year 7 process includes later assessment stages and interview activity in January for the current cycle shown on its website. Families should expect a staged admissions process rather than a single test only.

How much does it cost to apply?

The school states an application fee of £250 including VAT and an APP fee of £250 on the admissions information reviewed for this guide.

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Sources

St Dunstan's College – Senior School Entry: School runs its own Year 7 admissions; Year 7 is the most popular Senior School entry point; admissions are multi-stage; scholarships and bursaries are available; registration deadline 23 November 2026; APP booking deadline 21 October 2026; APP on 28 or 29 October 2026; Part 2 Assessment on 11 Janua
St Dunstan's College website: School identity and context: independent coeducational school; official school website for admissions checking.

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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.