How to prepare for The Henrietta Barnett School 11+

The exam at a glance

The Henrietta Barnett School uses a two-round process for Year 7 entry. For 2028 entry, ElevenReady’s verified information is that Round One uses GL Assessment and covers Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. It is a paper-based test, so children should be comfortable working accurately on paper under timed conditions.

The school explains that candidates first sit an entrance examination and that the highest-scoring children are then invited back for a second round. ElevenReady’s verified directory confirms that the top 300 candidates are invited to sit Round Two. The school also states that Round Two is an English and Mathematics test.

For families planning ahead, the practical takeaway is simple: preparation should be balanced across all four Round One subjects, while keeping enough written English and problem-solving maths practice in reserve for the second stage.

Round One: GL Assessment, paper-based, with sections across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
Round Two: a further test in English and Mathematics for shortlisted candidates.
Places available: 120 in Year 7.
Catchment: there is no catchment area.

On the test day itself, schools using this kind of format usually run children through registration, seating, brief instructions and then a sequence of timed sections. Because GL-style papers move quickly, children benefit from practising steady pacing rather than trying to rush one section and lose marks through avoidable errors.

Registration and key dates

Applications for The Henrietta Barnett School entrance tests are handled by the school, not by a shared local authority test portal. The school’s admissions page publishes the registration process and the testing timetable each year.

For 2028 entry, the school had not yet published registration opening dates, deadlines or test dates at the time of writing. Parents should therefore check the school’s admissions page regularly and sign up for alerts if they want a prompt when dates appear.

The most recent official timetable the school published was for 2027 entry. That page stated:

Round One took place on 2, 3 and 4 September 2026.
Candidates were to be notified by Monday 28 September 2026 whether they had qualified for Round Two.
Round Two took place on Tuesday 6 October 2026.

Because the 2028 timetable is not yet out, the safest wording for families is that the first stage is typically in early September, with Round Two usually in early October, based on the school’s published 2027-entry schedule.

When registration opens, expect to complete the school’s own online or school-issued application process and read the admissions policy carefully before submitting. Schools often ask families to check eligibility details and candidate information closely. If any supporting documents are required for a particular year, the school will list them on its admissions page; parents should rely on that year’s official instructions rather than assumptions from previous cycles.

Useful links for parents:

Who can apply: catchment and admissions

The Henrietta Barnett School is a selective girls’ grammar school admitting pupils to Year 7 by academic selection. ElevenReady’s verified information for 2028 entry is that there is no catchment area. That matters for families because distance does not act as a first filter in the way it does at some grammar schools.

The school offers 120 places in Year 7. Its admissions process is competitive, with a first-round test followed by a second-round assessment for shortlisted candidates. ElevenReady’s verified directory confirms that the top 300 candidates from Round One are invited to sit Round Two.

Because there is no catchment, families should focus less on postcode strategy and more on understanding the selective process in good time. Read the school’s admissions policy carefully when the new cycle is published, especially the oversubscription criteria and any notes on eligibility, residence or tie-break arrangements.

If you are comparing schools, it is also sensible to separate two decisions:

Exam registration: entering your child for the school’s own assessment process.
Secondary school application: naming the school on your local authority Common Application Form by the national deadline.

Those are different steps, and both matter. Sitting the test does not replace the need to submit the local authority school application on time.

The school’s admissions pages are the right place to check the final published policy for your daughter’s entry year. If a family needs certainty on a detailed point such as waiting lists, tie-breaks or residency wording, it is best to use the school’s current admissions documents rather than older forum discussions or third-party summaries.

A month-by-month preparation plan

For a child aiming at The Henrietta Barnett School, the most effective preparation is usually calm, consistent and broad. Because Round One covers four subjects and moves at pace, children do better with regular shorter practice than with occasional very long sessions.

January to March of Year 5

Keep it light: around 1 to 2 hours a week in total is often enough at this stage.
Build core arithmetic fluency, reading stamina and vocabulary.
Introduce Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning gently so the question types do not feel unfamiliar later.
Use untimed work first. The aim is understanding, not speed.

April to May

Increase to about 2 to 3 hours a week.
Start working in short timed bursts: ten-minute maths sets, a brief VR section, a small NVR set, and some comprehension or spelling-focused English.
Track mistakes by type. For example: arithmetic slips, missed instructions, vocabulary gaps, or pattern questions that take too long.

June

Move to around 3 hours a week, split across the four subjects.
Begin mixed practice so your child gets used to switching between styles of thinking.
Introduce one longer session each fortnight to build concentration.
If your child writes slowly, include some short written English tasks and neatly set-out maths working.

July

This is often the point to begin timed papers in sections rather than whole papers every time.
Aim for 3 to 4 hours a week, depending on your child’s stamina and summer commitments.
Review every paper carefully. The value is in correcting patterns of error, not just collecting scores.
Keep one day each week completely free from 11+ work.

August

This is the main consolidation month before early-September testing.
Use 4 to 5 hours a week if your child is coping well, but avoid turning every day into exam practice.
Do a small number of realistic timed papers under quiet conditions.
Practise bubbling through instructions carefully, turning pages calmly and moving on when stuck.
In the final week, reduce volume slightly so your child arrives rested.

Early September

Keep work very light in the final days.
Use quick confidence-building revision only: times tables, vocabulary review, one or two familiar reasoning sets.
Prioritise sleep, routine and calm.

If invited to Round Two

Shift the focus quickly to English and Mathematics.
Practise more extended comprehension, precise written answers and multi-step maths problems.
Keep sessions focused and measured; there is usually only a short gap between rounds.

Subject by subject: what to practise

Maths

For Round One, focus on secure Key Stage 2 arithmetic and problem solving done accurately under time pressure. Children should be comfortable with the four operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio basics, measures, simple geometry and interpreting worded questions. Practise mental efficiency as well as written working. At this level, many marks are lost not through difficult content but through misreading or avoidable slips.

Useful practice habits include short timed arithmetic drills, mixed problem sets and reviewing any question where your child knew the method but made an error in execution. For Round Two, be ready for more sustained mathematical thinking and clear written working.

English

At Henrietta Barnett level, English preparation should cover both reading and written accuracy. For Round One, build comprehension skills, vocabulary, punctuation awareness and careful attention to wording. Children should read demanding fiction and non-fiction regularly and discuss meaning, tone and evidence.

Practise retrieving information, making inferences, explaining word choice and spotting the exact detail a question asks for. For written work, keep spelling, punctuation and sentence control in good order. If your child reaches Round Two, expect English preparation to lean more towards developed written responses and close reading.

Verbal Reasoning

GL-style Verbal Reasoning often rewards familiarity with recurring question types and strong concentration. Children should practise code-style questions, letter and number relationships, sequences, word connections, vocabulary-based items and instruction-heavy tasks. The exact mix can vary, so broad exposure matters.

The best approach is to learn one question type at a time, then revisit it in mixed sets. Keep a notebook of methods: how to approach each type, where the traps are and how long it should take. Vocabulary work helps here too, especially with synonyms, antonyms and precise word meaning.

Non-Verbal Reasoning

Non-Verbal Reasoning is about recognising visual patterns quickly and accurately. Children should practise shape sequences, rotations, reflections, symmetry, codes, nets and similarities or differences between figures. Again, GL-style questions reward familiarity, so early exposure helps reduce panic.

When reviewing mistakes, ask not just “What was the answer?” but “What changed each time?” Encourage your child to describe transformations aloud: rotate, flip, increase, shade, mirror, combine. That language often helps children see the rule more clearly and work more methodically under pressure.

Practice papers and mock exams

Practice papers are most useful when they are used sparingly and reviewed well. A child does not need dozens of papers. They need enough to become familiar with timing, instructions and the feel of switching between subjects, plus careful follow-up on weaknesses.

Start with untimed or lightly timed work to learn methods.
Move to timed sections before full papers.
Use full papers mainly in the final stretch, once techniques are secure.
Mark work honestly and review every error category.
Repeat weak areas a few days later to check that the issue is actually fixed.

Mocks can be helpful for children who need experience of working in a room with other pupils and following formal instructions. They are less useful if they simply increase stress or lead families to chase scores week after week. One or two well-chosen mock experiences are usually enough.

ElevenReady resources for this school:

If you use any third-party papers, choose ones clearly designed for GL Assessment style practice. That matters more than sheer quantity. For this school in particular, do not neglect either reasoning paper type while focusing on maths and English, because Round One is spread across all four subjects.

On the day

Children usually do best when the morning feels organised and ordinary. Prepare everything the night before, allow extra travel time and avoid last-minute tutoring on the way in.

Check the test letter carefully for arrival time and any permitted items.
Choose comfortable clothes and make sure your child has had breakfast and water.
Arrive in good time so the day begins calmly.
Remind your child that one hard question is normal and does not mean the paper is going badly.
Encourage them to listen carefully to instructions and keep moving if a question is taking too long.

A simple script can help: read carefully, do the straightforward questions well, mark any awkward one mentally, and stay steady. For paper-based GL tests, neat marking and careful page-turning are part of the job. Children should know that nerves are normal and usually settle once the paper starts.

After the test, try to keep the rest of the day low-key. Most children do not benefit from a detailed post-mortem. A reassuring “well done, that’s done now” is usually enough.

After the exam: results, allocation and appeals

After Round One, the school notifies families whether their child has been invited to Round Two. For the most recently published timetable, the school said candidates would be told by Monday 28 September 2026 whether they had qualified for the second stage, with Round Two on Tuesday 6 October 2026.

After the school’s testing process is complete, families must still follow the normal secondary admissions route through their home local authority. This means submitting the Common Application Form and listing schools in genuine order of preference by the national deadline for secondary transfer.

Offers of school places are then made on the national offer day through the local authority system. If a child is not offered a place, families usually have two possible next steps:

Join the waiting list, if the school operates one for that admission round.
Appeal the decision, following the published admissions appeals process.

The details of appeals and waiting lists depend on the school’s current admissions arrangements and timetable, so parents should use the school’s own admissions documents for the entry year in question. It is also worth keeping all correspondence and noting any deadlines carefully, as appeal windows can be short.

One important point for parents: the school does not publish a simple pass mark for general use in the way some grammar schools do. Because admission is competitive and involves ranking and a second round, families should avoid relying on rumours about cut-off scores and instead follow the school’s official admissions information.

What has changed recently

The main recent officially published update available at the time of writing is the school’s 2027-entry timetable, which set Round One across 2, 3 and 4 September 2026, notification for shortlisted candidates by 28 September 2026, and Round Two on 6 October 2026. No 2028-entry registration or test dates had been published yet.

Beyond that, no further officially announced recent change to the exam board, catchment arrangements or number of Year 7 places was clearly published in the sources reviewed for this guide. If the school announces a change for 2028 entry, parents should treat the school’s admissions page as the primary source.

Frequently asked questions

How many places are available at The Henrietta Barnett School in Year 7?

There are 120 Year 7 places.

Does The Henrietta Barnett School have a catchment area?

No. ElevenReady’s verified information for 2028 entry is that there is no catchment area.

What does the first round test cover?

For 2028 entry, Round One uses GL Assessment and covers Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

How many children go through to Round Two?

The top 300 candidates are invited to sit Round Two.

Has the school published 2028 entry dates yet?

Not at the time of writing. The school had published the 2027-entry timetable, so parents should keep checking the admissions page for the 2028 cycle.

Is the Henrietta Barnett 11+ paper-based or online?

For 2028 entry, ElevenReady’s verified information is that the Round One test is paper-based.

📄 Free The Henrietta Barnett School practice papers Start free and track readiness for The Henrietta Barnett School 🔔 Email me this school's key dates

Sources

The Henrietta Barnett School Admissions: The school handles Year 7 admissions through its own admissions information; Year 7 admission is by academic selection; the school publishes admissions details and entrance examination information on its admissions page.
London eAdmissions: Families must still apply for secondary transfer through their home local authority Common Application Form process, separate from any school-specific test registration.

Preparing for other schools in Barnet

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.