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
For September 2028 entry to Year 7, The Perse School’s assessment uses the school’s own process and, for the written testing, a GL Assessment-style paper covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. For families, the helpful takeaway is that preparation needs to stay broad and balanced rather than leaning too heavily on one area.
The school describes Year 7 entry as one of its main entry points, and the Upper School is the co-educational day school for ages 11 to 18. The school states that there are 70 places available at Year 7.
In practice, children should expect a test day built around timed sections, with work spread across the four subjects named above. Because the delivery is mixed, it is sensible to prepare your child to work confidently in standard exam conditions, to read instructions carefully and to switch calmly between question types.
The school’s admissions page should always be your first stop for the latest arrangements. Independent schools sometimes adjust timings, the order of the day or small administrative details from one admissions round to the next.
- School: The Perse School Upper
- Entry point: Year 7
- Places: 70
- Tested subjects: Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning
- Assessment style: school-run admissions process using a GL Assessment-style paper
- Age range of the school: 11–18 at the Upper School
Registration and key dates
For 2028 entry, the school’s published deadline is clear: registration forms must be submitted by 12 noon on 1 December 2027. The school also states a registration fee of £240. Families should register through The Perse School’s admissions process rather than through a local authority 11+ portal, as this is an independent school entry route.
For this school, you should expect to complete the school’s own registration form and follow the admissions instructions on its website. If your child is offered a place, you will still need to complete your local authority secondary school preference form in the usual way only if relevant to other state-school applications; The Perse’s own admissions process is separate.
The exact assessment date for 2028 entry was not published on the pages reviewed at the time of writing. However, the school says that for September 2027 entry, the entrance assessments for Year 7 and Year 9 took place on Saturday 16 January 2027. That makes mid-January the best guide to the usual timing if you are planning ahead for 2028 entry.
The school also says that results are communicated in early February, with an acceptance deadline in early March. Again, treat that as the current published pattern and check the admissions page regularly for the 2028 cycle.
If you want to visit before registering, The Perse published an Upper School Autumn Open Event on 26 September 2026, from 9:15am to 12:45pm. Open event dates change each year, so use that as an example of timing rather than assuming the same date will repeat.
| Stage | What to expect |
| Registration | School-run form and fee via The Perse admissions process |
| Deadline | 12 noon on 1 December 2027 |
| Assessment date | Not yet confirmed for 2028 entry; 2027 entry assessments were held in mid-January |
| Results | Typically early February, based on the school’s published 2027 entry timeline |
| Acceptance deadline | Typically early March, based on the school’s published 2027 entry timeline |
Useful planning links: The The Perse School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates) and Free email alerts for this school's key dates.
Who can apply: catchment and admissions
The Perse is an independent co-educational day school, so admissions do not work like a grammar-school catchment system. The school’s process is run by the school itself, and places are offered through its own assessment and admissions procedures.
The school states that it cannot accept applications from international pupils unless they will be living with a parent or legal guardian in the Cambridge area. For families relocating, that is an important practical point to clarify early with admissions.
At Year 7, the school has 70 places. The Upper School has around 1,200 students including Sixth Form, and Year 7 is one of its main entry points. The school pages reviewed did not publish a catchment map, priority-area rule or a fixed distance criterion in the way many state schools do.
Because this is an independent school, competition is better understood in terms of selective admissions rather than catchment distance. The school pages reviewed did not publish applicant numbers or a success rate for Year 7 entry, so it is best not to rely on unofficial figures. If you want the most current picture, ask the admissions team directly at an open event or through the school’s admissions contact route.
- School type: independent day school
- Year 7 places: 70
- Catchment: no published state-style catchment rule found on the pages reviewed
- Residency note: international applicants must be living with a parent or legal guardian in the Cambridge area
A month-by-month preparation plan
The most effective plan for this exam is steady, varied and calm. Because the paper covers four subjects, cramming one area usually leaves gaps elsewhere. For most children, short regular sessions work better than long weekend marathons.
January to March of Year 5: keep preparation light. Aim for 1 to 2 hours a week in total, split across two or three sessions. Focus on arithmetic fluency, careful reading, vocabulary building and simple reasoning habits such as spotting patterns and following instructions precisely. If your child is new to verbal or non-verbal reasoning, introduce them slowly.
April to June of Year 5: move to 2 to 3 hours a week. Start working evenly across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. At this stage, untimed practice is still useful: your child is learning methods, not proving speed. Keep a small notebook of errors so that weak areas reappear regularly.
July to August before Year 6: this is a good time to consolidate without making the summer feel like school. Aim for 2 to 3 hours a week. Mix short practice sets with reading, vocabulary games and mental maths. Toward the end of summer, begin a few timed mini-sections so that timing does not feel unfamiliar later.
September of Year 6: increase to 3 to 4 hours a week. Now the goal is familiarity with exam rhythm. Use timed sections in all four subjects, but keep them short enough that review still happens properly afterwards. Correction is where progress is made: ask not just “What was wrong?” but “Why did I choose that answer?”
October of Year 6: keep to 4 hours a week if your child is coping well. Start combining sections so they practise switching between different types of thinking. Continue reading comprehension and vocabulary work in parallel; these support both English and Verbal Reasoning.
November of Year 6: this is usually the month to become more exam-specific. Work at 4 to 5 hours a week, depending on your child’s stamina and school workload. Full papers can begin here for many children, but not too often. One full paper or one half-paper set at the weekend, plus targeted corrections during the week, is usually enough.
December of Year 6: the registration deadline falls at the start of the month, so make sure administration is complete. Academically, maintain 3 to 4 hours a week around end-of-term commitments. Focus on accuracy, timing and confidence rather than piling on new material. If your child is tiring, reduce quantity and improve review quality.
January before the exam: if the assessment follows the school’s recent pattern, this is likely to be exam month. In the final two weeks, use short, tidy revision sessions, one or two timed refreshers and plenty of sleep. Avoid last-minute overload. Children usually perform best when they feel prepared but not pressured.
Subject by subject: what to practise
Maths
For this paper, focus on secure Key Stage 2 arithmetic and worded problem solving. Children should be comfortable with the four operations, place value, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio basics, measures, time, simple geometry and interpreting information carefully. In a timed setting, many marks are lost through rushing, so practise setting work out clearly and checking whether an answer is reasonable.
Good practice includes short mixed drills, then longer sets of multi-step questions. Encourage your child to spot the difference between a calculation problem and a reading problem: sometimes the maths is straightforward, but the wording is what catches children out.
English
English preparation should cover both reading and writing-related skills as far as the school’s paper requires. Prioritise comprehension, inference, vocabulary in context, grammar accuracy, punctuation and spelling. If the paper includes written responses, children benefit from learning how to answer precisely rather than writing everything they know.
Daily reading matters. A child who reads widely usually develops stronger vocabulary, better inference and more flexible comprehension. Short discussion helps too: ask what a word suggests, why a character acted in a certain way, or which detail in the text supports an answer.
Verbal Reasoning
Verbal Reasoning usually rewards both vocabulary knowledge and careful method. Children may need to work with letter patterns, codes, relationships between words, sequences, logic-based language tasks and close attention to instructions. Because the exact paper is school-specific, broad practice is sensible.
The best approach is to learn one question family at a time, then mix them. Build vocabulary steadily, because a richer vocabulary often helps across several verbal question types. Timed practice should begin only once the method is secure.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Non-Verbal Reasoning typically tests how well a child can identify patterns and transformations in shapes and diagrams. Practice may include rotations, reflections, symmetry, shape sequences, codes and visual analogies. Children often improve quickly once they learn to look systematically for the rule rather than guessing from appearance.
Encourage your child to use a simple checking routine: what changes from one box to the next, what stays the same, is the change about shape, position, shading, number or rotation? This makes NVR far less mysterious and much more manageable under time pressure.
Practice papers and mock exams
Practice papers are most useful when they are used as a learning tool, not just as a score generator. Start with untimed or lightly timed work so your child can understand each question type properly. Move to timed sections only when methods are secure, then to occasional full papers once stamina has built up.
After every paper, spend at least as long reviewing as you did completing it. Sort mistakes into three groups:
- Knowledge gaps — for example, a maths topic or grammar point not yet secure.
- Method mistakes — the child knows the topic but used the wrong approach.
- Timing or attention slips — rushing, misreading, skipping a line or marking the wrong option.
This kind of review quickly shows where the real gains are. It also helps children feel that a low score on one paper is useful information, not a verdict.
For subject-by-subject practice, use Free The Perse School practice papers (one per tested subject, with answers). To keep track of updates, bookmark The The Perse School 11+ guide (format, catchment, dates) and sign up for Free email alerts for this school's key dates.
If you choose a mock exam, use it to rehearse the routine as much as the questions: arriving on time, listening to instructions, pacing through sections and recovering after a tricky question. One or two well-timed mocks are usually enough for most children. Too many can dent confidence without adding much value.
On the day
Keep the morning simple. Lay out clothes, stationery and travel plans the night before. Build in extra journey time so that nobody feels rushed. A calm start helps more than any last-minute worksheet.
Give your child a normal breakfast they know suits them. Avoid introducing anything unusual. Before the assessment, remind them of a few steady habits: listen carefully to instructions, keep an eye on time, move on if stuck and return if there is time left.
Emotionally, the most helpful message is that the exam is a chance to show what they can do on that day, not a test of their worth. Children often cope better when adults keep the tone matter-of-fact.
- Arrive in good time.
- Bring anything the school has asked for in the assessment instructions.
- Keep final revision very light.
- Use calm, familiar routines.
- Plan something relaxing for after the exam.
After the exam: results, allocation and appeals
The Perse states that results are communicated in early February, and that the acceptance deadline is in early March. For families applying to more than one school, it helps to keep a written list of each school’s separate deadlines and reply requirements.
As an independent school, The Perse runs its own offer process. That means allocation does not follow the state-school National Offer Day system in the same way. If your child receives an offer, read the acceptance instructions carefully and respond by the date given.
If your child is not offered a place, the next step is to ask the school politely about any waiting-list process or review options that apply that year. The pages reviewed did not set out a formal published appeals route in the way maintained schools and academies usually do, so families should check directly with admissions for the current procedure.
If The Perse is your preferred school, it is sensible to keep alternative plans moving at the same time. That reduces pressure and makes later decisions easier.
What has changed recently
From the sources reviewed, the main recent published update is the school’s current admissions timeline for the 2027 entry round: registration by 12 noon on 1 December, entrance assessments on Saturday 16 January 2027, results in early February and acceptance in early March. The school also published an Upper School Autumn Open Event on 26 September 2026.
No separate official announcement was found on the reviewed pages about a recent change to Year 7 place numbers, catchment rules or a switch to a different exam board for the 2028 cycle beyond the current assessment information on the school’s admissions page. If the school publishes a new 2028 admissions booklet or revised assessment guidance, parents should treat that as the authoritative update.
Frequently asked questions
How many Year 7 places does The Perse School offer?
The school states that there are 70 places at Year 7.
What does The Perse School 11+ test?
For 2028 entry, preparation should cover Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
When is the registration deadline for 2028 entry?
The school states that registration forms must be submitted by 12 noon on 1 December 2027.
When is The Perse School entrance exam held?
The exact 2028 assessment date was not published on the pages reviewed. The school says the 2027 entry assessments were held on Saturday 16 January 2027, so mid-January is the best current guide.
Does The Perse School have a catchment area?
No state-style catchment map or distance rule was published on the pages reviewed. As an independent school, admissions are run by the school rather than by a grammar-school catchment system.
How much is the registration fee?
The school states that the registration fee is £240.
Sources
- The Perse School – Upper School admissions assessment: Year 7 is a main entry point; 70 Year 7 places; registration forms must be submitted by 12 noon on 1 December in the year prior to entry; entrance assessments for Year 7 and Year 9 entry in September 2027 took place on Saturday 16 January 2027; results are communicated in early February; acceptance
- The Perse School – Upper School admissions: The Upper is a co-educational day school for pupils aged 11-18 years; around 1,200 students including Sixth Form; Year 7 and Year 9 are main entry points.
- The Perse School: School identity and general confirmation of The Perse as an independent co-educational day school.
- The Perse School – Events: Upper School Autumn Open Event on 26 September 2026, 9:15am–12:45pm.
Preparing for other schools in Cambridgeshire
- Abbey College Cambridge · practice papers
- Cambridge Arts and Sciences (CATS and CSVPA) · practice papers
- Cambridge Muslim Secondary School · practice papers
- How to prepare for the Cardiff Sixth Form College, Cambridge 11+ · practice papers
- Heritage School · practice papers
- Kimbolton School · practice papers
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.