The London 11+ Consortium is a group of independent girls’ schools in London that share one entrance assessment. Instead of sitting a separate test for every school, a girl sits the Consortium assessment once in Year 6, and the result goes to every Consortium school she has applied to. For families applying to two or three of these schools, that makes the autumn far calmer.
This guide covers entry in September 2027, for girls who are in Year 6 now.
Thirteen schools use the Consortium assessment for September 2027:
St James Senior Girls’ School has left the Consortium and no longer uses its assessment. If it is on your list, apply to it directly and follow its own process.
Each school also asks your daughter’s current head for a reference before the assessment, so it is worth letting her primary school know early which schools you are applying to.
The assessment is taken online and lasts 100 minutes in total. It has two parts:
Across the two parts it covers cognitive reasoning (verbal, numerical and non-verbal), English comprehension, maths and some creative tasks. Any knowledge it expects is based on the National Curriculum for Year 5, with extra challenge built in for the most able.
Girls usually sit it at their own primary school. If the school cannot host it, she can sit it at one of the Consortium schools she has applied to. Either way, she sits it only once.
The Consortium publishes familiarisation materials on its website, and I recommend every girl looks at them before the day. Knowing what the screens look like and how the questions are laid out removes a lot of nerves.
The assessment is only one part of the picture. Each school also reads the reference from her current school, which covers her academic work and her attitude to learning, and then holds its own interview. The interviews are different at each school, and they are designed to find out how a child thinks rather than what she has memorised.
Not every girl is interviewed everywhere: Godolphin and Latymer and South Hampstead High School select girls for interview based on the assessment.
A girl with a diagnosed learning difficulty may be given 25% extra time, provided the schools receive the supporting evidence they ask for. The Consortium follows the national exam board rules (JCQ) for this, so if you think your daughter may qualify, speak to the schools well before the registration deadline.
The Consortium has been clear that it wants to avoid relentless “teaching to the test”, and I agree with it. The best preparation builds real skills, with just enough practice of the format that nothing on the day is a surprise.
Many families combine Consortium schools with others that run their own tests, and the dates can sit close together. City of London School for Girls, for example, runs its own first assessment between 13 and 18 November 2026, with registration closing on Friday 30 October 2026. Put every deadline and test date in one calendar in September, so nothing is missed.
You will find each Consortium school’s own page below, with what the school looks for and how entry works there.
I prepare children 1:1 online for 11+, 13+ and 16+ entry to the UK’s leading independent and grammar schools. Tell me about your child and the schools you are considering, and I will tell you honestly what the preparation should look like.
Enquire About LessonsSources: The London 11+ Consortium · City of London School for Girls: 11+ admissions. Details change from year to year, so always check the official websites before you apply.