How to prepare for the St Olave's 11+ in 2028

The exam at a glance

St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School uses its own entrance tests for 2028 entry. For Year 7 admission, the school runs a two-stage process, and the assessed subjects are Maths and English. The tests are paper-based.

That matters for preparation. Because St Olave's does not test Verbal Reasoning or Non-Verbal Reasoning for this entry route, families can keep preparation tightly focused on strong core literacy and numeracy. In practice, that means accuracy, written method, problem solving, comprehension, vocabulary and clear written expression matter more than spreading effort across lots of different 11+ formats.

The school's admissions information says boys in Year 6 sit a Selective Entrance Test, with the outcome of that first stage released in mid-October before half term. Candidates who are invited back then sit a Stage 2 Entrance Test in November. All entrance tests take place at St Olave's Grammar School.

On the day itself, parents should expect a formal test setting at the school rather than a computer-based assessment centre. As with most paper-based selective tests, children usually need to listen carefully to invigilator instructions, complete answer booklets neatly and pace themselves sensibly across the time available. The school does not, on the pages reviewed, publish a detailed minute-by-minute breakdown of each paper for 2028 entry, so it is best to check the latest admissions page when registration opens.

Registration and key dates

For 2028 entry, registration is run by the school. St Olave's publishes its admissions timeline on its own key dates page.

Registration opens: 7 June 2027
Registration deadline: 28 June 2027
Open Evening: 24 June 2027
Selective Entrance Test: typically 17 September 2027
Outcome of the first stage: mid-October 2027, before half term
Stage 2 Entrance Test for invited candidates: 12 November 2027
National Offer Day: 1 March 2028

The school states that all entrance tests take place at St Olave's Grammar School. Because schools can amend arrangements, parents should use the school's admissions page as the final check before submitting a form.

When you register, expect to complete the school's own online or school-managed process rather than a borough-wide grammar consortium form. The pages reviewed confirm that the school handles its own testing timetable, but they do not clearly list every supporting document needed at registration for 2028 entry. In practice, schools commonly ask for basic pupil details and current school information, and sometimes proof connected to any special category being applied under. Check the school's live form carefully when it opens.

It is also important to separate test registration from the local authority secondary application. Sitting the entrance test does not replace naming the school on your home local authority's secondary transfer application. Parents living in Bromley and elsewhere should follow their home council's process for submitting school preferences by the national deadline in the autumn of Year 6.

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

St Olave's is a boys' grammar school admitting pupils to Year 7 through academic selection. The school says it selects pupils purely on the basis of high academic performance in its entrance tests.

For 2028 entry, ElevenReady's verified information confirms two additional priority routes within the Year 7 intake:

Up to 10 Year 7 places are available each year for applicants in receipt of Pupil Premium.
Up to 4 places are available annually via the Wakeham Choristership Scheme.

The school website also confirms that Year 7 applicants are boys in Year 6 who sit the school's Selective Entrance Test.

On the evidence reviewed for this guide, the school does not publish a simple catchment-distance rule in the way some grammar schools do. Parents should not assume there is a distance cut-off. Instead, read the current admissions policy in full when applying, especially if you are considering one of the named priority categories.

The exact number of Year 7 places, any oversubscription ranking detail beyond the points above, and any tie-break wording should be checked on the school's latest admissions policy before you apply. If you are looking for a published pass mark, qualifying score or lowest score offered, the school pages reviewed for this guide did not provide one, so parents should check the latest admissions page directly.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For St Olave's, a calm and steady plan usually works better than a highly intensive one. Because there are only two tested subjects, children benefit from building depth over time rather than racing through lots of mixed 11+ materials.

January to March of Year 5

Keep things light: around 1 to 2 hours a week is enough for most children at this stage. Focus on secure arithmetic, times tables, fractions, reading stamina, vocabulary and clear written sentences. If your child reads well but writes reluctantly, start short written responses now rather than leaving English until later.

April to June of Year 5

Increase gently to around 2 to 3 hours a week. In Maths, cover multi-step word problems, fractions, decimals, percentages and method accuracy. In English, practise comprehension using short fiction and non-fiction passages, plus one or two pieces of guided writing each fortnight. This is also a good point to identify any persistent gaps, such as careless arithmetic or weak inference skills.

July to August before Year 6

Summer is useful for consistency, not overload. Aim for 2 to 4 hours a week, split across several short sessions. Start working under gentle time pressure: one Maths task with a timer, one comprehension with a timer, then review mistakes carefully. Children sitting for St Olave's need to become comfortable showing working clearly and writing complete, relevant answers rather than rushing.

September to December of Year 6

Build to 3 to 5 hours a week. This is the time to make preparation more exam-shaped. Use one timed Maths paper section and one timed English section most weeks, but keep plenty of untimed learning in the plan too. After each session, spend as long reviewing as you spent testing. Look for patterns: does your child lose marks on inference, vocabulary in context, decimal operations, or long word problems?

January to April of Year 6

Now move towards 4 to 5 hours a week if your child is coping happily. Timed work should become more regular, though not every session needs to be a full paper. Rotate between skill practice, half papers and error correction. In English, encourage precise quotation use and fuller written explanations. In Maths, insist on method marks habits: lining up calculations, checking units and annotating multi-step problems.

May to July of Year 6

This is often the most productive period. Aim for 4 to 6 hours a week, depending on your child's temperament and school workload. Start using fuller timed papers more often, then review them in detail. Children should learn how to recover after one difficult question instead of freezing. Keep one weekly reading session in the plan even if Maths feels more urgent.

August before the September test

Use the final stretch for consolidation. Two or three good sessions a week plus one full timed practice is often enough. Do not cram every day. Revisit error logs, weak topics and handwriting stamina. In the last week, reduce volume slightly so your child arrives fresh.

As a rough rule, many children are ready for regular timed papers from the spring or summer of Year 5 only in short sections, and from Year 6 in fuller form. Starting full papers too early can dent confidence and teach rushing rather than good habits.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For St Olave's, Maths preparation should centre on strong Key Stage 2 content used in a selective, demanding way. Focus on number fluency, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio ideas, area and perimeter, angles, averages basics, algebraic thinking at an introductory level and multi-step problem solving. Paper-based tests also reward tidy layout and visible method.

Useful practice types include:

Short arithmetic drills to build accuracy and speed without panic
Word problems that require selecting the right operation rather than spotting it immediately
Questions with several steps where children must decide an order of working
Mixed topic sets, so your child learns to switch between methods
Error-correction exercises, where your child explains what went wrong and fixes it

Encourage your child to underline key information, estimate before calculating and check whether an answer is sensible. Many able pupils lose marks through avoidable slips, especially on paper when there is no on-screen prompt.

English

English preparation should cover both reading and writing. Because the school uses its own paper, parents should avoid assuming a multiple-choice VR-style English format. Build deep reading habits instead: inference, vocabulary in context, tone, viewpoint, retrieval and explaining how the text creates an effect.

Useful practice types include:

Comprehension from fiction and non-fiction passages
Questions requiring short evidence-based written answers
Vocabulary work drawn from real reading, not just word lists
Sentence improvement: punctuation, grammar, clarity and precision
Structured writing tasks that develop ideas, paragraphing and control

For writing, help your child plan briefly before starting. Strong answers are usually clear and purposeful rather than over-decorated. It is better to write accurately with control than to force in ambitious vocabulary that does not quite fit. Regular reading aloud, discussing why an author chose particular words and rewriting weak sentences are all useful preparation for this kind of school-specific English testing.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are most useful when they are used as a learning tool, not just a score generator. For St Olave's, choose materials that reflect the school's focus on Maths and English rather than general 11+ packs heavy on reasoning. A sensible pattern is:

Learn or revise the skill first
Try a short set of related questions
Move to timed mixed practice
Review every error carefully
Repeat weak areas a week later to check that the improvement has stuck

Keep an error log. After each paper, write down not only what was wrong, but why: misunderstood the question, ran out of time, weak method, careless arithmetic, vague comprehension answer, too little evidence from the text, and so on. This turns practice into progress.

Mock exams can help with stamina and nerves, but they are not essential every month. One or two well-timed mocks in Year 6 are usually enough for most children. The aim is to practise working in silence, following instructions and recovering composure after a hard section.

ElevenReady has school-specific support here:

When using any practice paper, leave time afterwards for discussion. Ask: Which questions felt familiar? Which caused panic? Did your child read carefully? Were they thrown by one awkward item and lose focus on the next few? Those reflections often matter as much as the raw mark.

On the day

Keep the morning straightforward. Aim for a normal breakfast, comfortable school-appropriate clothes and plenty of time to travel. Rushing raises stress for children who otherwise cope well.

For a paper-based test, remind your child of a few simple routines:

Listen carefully to the instructions at the start of each paper
Read every question fully before beginning
Show working in Maths
Keep handwriting clear in English
If stuck, move on and return if there is time
Check that every page has been attempted properly

The best final message is usually calm and practical: do the question in front of you. Children do not need a speech about the importance of the day just before they walk in. They need steady reassurance that one difficult question does not ruin a paper, and one paper does not define them.

Because St Olave's uses a two-stage process, it can also help to present the first test as exactly that: the first step. That mindset can reduce all-or-nothing pressure and help children stay composed.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

After the first stage, the school says the outcome of the SET is released in mid-October before half term. Candidates who are invited to continue then sit the Stage 2 Entrance Test on 12 November 2027.

Offers of school places are then handled through the normal national secondary transfer process, with National Offer Day on 1 March 2028. That means parents must still have named St Olave's on their local authority common application form if they want to be considered for a place.

If your child is not offered a place on 1 March, the usual next steps are to consider the waiting list and, if appropriate, an admission appeal. The exact appeals timetable is normally published separately by the admission authority or school each year. The pages reviewed for this guide did not set out the full 2028 appeals timetable, so parents should check the school's current admissions and appeals information after offers are released.

Where schools do not publish qualifying scores or offer cut-offs in advance, parents should be cautious about online claims from forums or informal groups. Use only the school's own admissions information when making decisions about waiting lists, appeals or realistic preference choices.

What has changed recently

For 2028 entry, the school continues to use a two-stage Year 7 entrance process at St Olave's Grammar School. The key dates page reviewed includes both 2028 entry dates and earlier entry information on the same page, which suggests families should check they are reading the correct year carefully.

ElevenReady's verified information for 2028 entry confirms that the current test focus is Maths and English only, using the school's own paper and delivered on paper. On the sources reviewed for this article, we did not find any separately announced recent change to the exam board, tested subjects or admissions structure beyond the published dates and the ongoing two-stage process.

We also did not find an official announcement in the reviewed sources of a newly introduced catchment rule or a published qualifying score for 2028 entry. If the school publishes an updated admissions policy later in the cycle, parents should use that latest version as the controlling document.

Frequently asked questions

Does St Olave's test Verbal Reasoning or Non-Verbal Reasoning?

No. For 2028 entry, ElevenReady's verified information is that St Olave's assesses Maths and English only.

Is the St Olave's 11+ computer-based?

No. For 2028 entry, the test is paper-based.

When do I need to register for 2028 entry?

The school's published key dates say registration opens on 7 June 2027 and closes on 28 June 2027.

How many stages are there?

There are two stages. The school says Year 7 admission uses a two-stage entrance process, with the second-stage test for invited candidates in November.

Does St Olave's have a catchment area?

Do not assume there is a simple distance catchment. The school says it selects on high academic performance in its entrance tests; check the latest admissions policy for the full oversubscription rules.

When do results come out?

The school says the outcome of the first-stage test is issued in mid-October before half term. Final school offers are made on National Offer Day, 1 March 2028.

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Sources

St Olave's Grammar School - Key Dates: Registration opens 7 June 2027; registration deadline 28 June 2027; Open Evening 24 June 2027; typical exam date 17 September 2027; outcome of SET mid-October before half term; Stage 2 Entrance Test for those invited back on 12 November 2027; all entrance tests take place at St. Olave's Grammar Scho
St Olave's Grammar School - Home: The school is St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School in Orpington; it is a boys' grammar school.

Preparing for other schools in Bromley

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.