11+ Past Papers by School: A Free Directory of 75 Schools and Boards

Many schools that set their own 11+ exam publish a few past or sample papers somewhere on their website. Finding them is the hard part. They sit several clicks deep in admissions pages, and some of the older ones have already disappeared from the school's own site.

So we collected them. The free 11+ past papers library holds over 1,000 papers and resources from more than 140 schools and exam boards, all free to download. The 75 biggest collections each have a page of their own, and this post lists every one of them.

Before the list, a few things worth knowing about what a school paper actually is, and how to get the most out of one.

Not every paper is a real past paper

Schools publish three kinds of paper, and it helps to know which one you are holding.

• Real past papers were set in an actual entrance exam. They are the closest thing to what your child will sit, and they are the rarest.
• Sample, specimen and practice papers are written by the school to show the style of its exam. They were never sat for real, but they match the question types and the level.
• Familiarisation booklets are published by test providers such as GL Assessment and the CSSE to show the format, the answer sheet and the instructions.

About a third of the papers in the library are real past or entrance papers. The rest are sample, specimen and practice papers, which are still worth doing because each school wrote them to match its own exam.

Only about one paper in ten comes with a mark scheme from the school. Many schools publish the questions and nothing else, so for most papers you will be working out the answers yourself or checking them with someone who can.

GL, CEM, CSSE, FSCE or the school's own paper?

Grammar schools in most areas use a test written by GL Assessment. Some areas have used CEM tests, the selective schools in Essex use the CSSE, and a growing group of schools now use the new FSCE test. Most independent schools write their own papers, and some join a consortium that sets one test for several schools.

Check the school's admissions page to see which test it uses this year, because some areas have changed provider. Then practise with papers from that test first. A paper that matches the real question style and timing is worth more than three that do not.

What about FSCE?

FSCE is the newest 11+ test. It is written by Future Stories Community Enterprise, which was set up by Reading School, and for September 2027 entry it is used by schools including Reading School, Chelmsford County High School for Girls, The North Halifax Grammar School, The Crossley Heath School, Heckmondwike Grammar School, Ermysted's Grammar School, Skipton Girls' High School, Lancaster Girls' Grammar School, Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith.

There are no FSCE past papers yet. FSCE does not publish them, and it changes the format from year to year, so a paper sold as an FSCE past paper is really someone else's practice paper.

What each school does publish is a familiarisation guide with sample questions. Download it from the school's admissions page and work through it first, because it is the only practice material written by FSCE itself.

The test is built on the Key Stage 2 curriculum up to the end of Year 5, so the best alternatives for practice are materials written to the same curriculum.

• KS2 maths SATs papers, which are free, real and written to the same national curriculum. Some questions go beyond Year 5, so skip any topic your child has not been taught yet.
• The schools' older papers, from the tests they used before FSCE. North Halifax Grammar School and Ermysted's Grammar School both have a page in the list below, and the format is different, but the maths and English they test are the same.
• Free maths practice by topic, for building up the Year 3 to Year 5 maths the test is based on, one topic at a time.

How to use a past paper properly

1. Keep the real papers for later. Use sample and practice papers while your child is still learning topics, and save the real past papers for the last few months, so they tell you something new when you need it most.
2. Time every paper. Pace is a skill of its own. The free 11+ timing trainer runs alongside any paper and shows your child whether they are ahead of or behind the pace for each question.
3. Mark it and sort the mistakes by topic. A child who drops marks on fractions in three different papers has a fractions gap, not three bad days.
4. Fix the topic before the next paper. Doing another paper without fixing the gap only tests the same gap again.

For the fixing, the free maths practice pages give you questions on a single topic at three levels, and the Maths Level Finder checks all 16 topics at once if you are not sure where the gaps are.

Exam boards and consortia

These pages cover the tests that are shared across many schools: GL Assessment, CSSE (Essex), ISEB Common Entrance at 11+ and The Independent Schools Examinations Board.

The North London Independent Girls' Schools Consortium has three pages, one for the consortium as a whole, one for Group 1 and one for Group 2.

Every school with its own page, A to Z

68 schools, listed alphabetically. Each page gathers that school's papers in one place, with the answers and mark schemes alongside where the school published them.

A. Aldenham School, Alderley Edge School for Girls and Alleyn's School.

B. Bablake School, Bancroft's School and Benenden School.

C. Caterham School, Chigwell School, Christ's Hospital, City of London Freemen's School, City of London School, City of London School for Girls and Colfe's School.

D. Dame Alice Owen's School, Devonport High School for Boys and Dulwich College.

E. Eltham College, Emanuel School and Ermysted's Grammar School.

F. Forest School.

G. Godolphin & Latymer School and The Grammar School at Leeds.

H. Haberdashers' Boys' School, Hampton Court House and Highgate School.

I. Ipswich School.

J. James Allen's Girls' School and The John Lyon School.

K. Kent College, King David High School, Manchester, King Edward's School, Birmingham, King Henry VIII School, Coventry, King's College Junior School, Wimbledon, King's College School, Wimbledon and The King's School, Chester.

L. The Latymer School, Latymer Upper School and The Leys School.

M. Magdalen College School, Oxford, The Manchester Grammar School, Manchester High School for Girls, Merchant Taylors Crosby and Merchant Taylors' School.

N. North Halifax Grammar School and North London Collegiate School.

O. Oundle School.

P. The Perse School, Cambridge, Plymouth College and Pocklington School.

Q. The Queen's School, Chester and Queenswood School.

R. Reigate Grammar School and Royal Russell School.

S. Sevenoaks School, St Albans School, St Anselm's College, St George's College, Weybridge, St John's School, Leatherhead, St Margaret's School, Bushey, St Olave's Grammar School, St Paul's Girls' School, Stockport Grammar School, Streatham & Clapham High School, Sutton Grammar School and Sydenham High School.

T. Trinity School, Croydon.

W. Warwick School and Withington Girls' School.

Schools with only one or two papers are grouped together on the smaller school collections page. For extra practice in the same style, the free sample papers from Bond, CGP and Collins are collected on a page of their own.

If your school is not on the list

Use the school dropdown on the main 11+ past papers page. It covers more than 140 schools and boards, including the ones too small to have a page of their own.

If the school is not there at all, check its admissions page. Some schools only send practice material to children who have registered for the exam, so it never appears online.

Aadam, SHLC Tutors