Canford School 13+ entry guide

Are you thinking about applying to Canford School for 13+ entry? Find out everything you need to know about the admissions process and how to prepare for the entrance exam.

Key information for Canford School

• School type: co-educational independent school (day and boarding)
• Location: Wimborne, Dorset
• Admissions contact: admissions@canford.com
• 13+ exam: ISEB Common Pre-Test
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries
• Scholarships: academic, art, DT, drama, music and sport

Important dates for 2027 entry

• End of July (Year 5 or Year 6): registration deadline, to be included in the Year 6 or Year 7 assessment round
• January/February (Year 6 or Year 7): assessment day at Canford, including the ISEB Common Pre-Test and an interview — check the school's website for confirmed dates
• Easter (Year 6 or Year 7): outcomes communicated
• 31st October (Year 8): late registration deadline for Year 8 entrance testing
• 1st December (Year 8): deadline for scholarship and financial assistance applications

How to apply to Canford School

Canford School is selective. This means that your child will need to sit an entrance assessment to be eligible for a place.

You can register your child for Year 9 entry via the school website at any time, though Canford recommends registering by the end of July in Year 5. This allows your child to be included in the school's first round of assessments, held in January or February of Year 6. A non-refundable registration fee applies.

If you register after this point, you can still register by the end of July in Year 6 to be included in the second round of assessments, held in January or February of Year 7.

Children who register later than this can still be considered — registration remains open until the end of October in Year 8 for Year 8 entrance testing, or 1st December in Year 8 for academic scholarships.

What will my child be tested on?

Canford School uses the ISEB Common Pre-Test as part of its 13+ admissions process, alongside an assessment day at the school.

Part 1: ISEB Common Pre-Test

The ISEB Common Pre-Test is an online, adaptive assessment, meaning the questions get harder or easier depending on how your child is performing. It's taken at your child's current school, in Year 6 or Year 7. It assesses:

• Maths
• English
• Verbal reasoning
• Non-verbal reasoning

Part 2: assessment day

Children who perform well in the ISEB Common Pre-Test are invited to an assessment day at Canford. This includes a mix of activities and an informal interview, giving the school a chance to get to know your child beyond their test results.

How are places decided?

Places at Canford are based on:

• your child's performance in the ISEB Common Pre-Test
• their performance at the assessment day, including the interview
• a reference from their current school

Outcomes are communicated at Easter following the assessment day.

Financial information

Canford School is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school's fees and finance page for a full breakdown of fees per year group and for boarding students.

Financial assistance

When exploring independent schools for your child, scholarships and bursaries are worth considering. They can ease the pressure of school fees and open doors to opportunities that might otherwise feel out of reach.

Scholarships

Scholarships are awarded for a child's talent or achievement. While many schools focus on academic excellence, some offer awards in music, sport, drama, art, or other specialist areas.

Scholarships often come with a small fee reduction and acknowledge your child's talents, motivating them and boosting their confidence. Some schools automatically consider all applicants, while others may request an additional application, assessment or audition.

Visit Canford's website to see the scholarships available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Your guide to independent school scholarships.

Bursaries

Bursaries are means-tested awards (based on a family's financial situation) designed to make independent education more accessible. Depending on your circumstances, a bursary could cover part or all of the school fees and sometimes extras like uniforms, lunches or school trips.

Families provide financial information to qualify, and awards are reassessed each year. For many families, bursaries make an excellent education possible that might otherwise seem out of reach.

Visit Canford's website to find out what bursaries are available and how to apply.

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

Applying to senior school can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be overwhelming. Here's how you can help your child prepare for test day.

Stay on track with a clear plan

One of the hardest parts of exam preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build smart exam technique

As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom's mock tests are exact replicas of real entrance exams. They're also unlimited — your child can take the same test repeatedly and see new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

Atom's mock tests are automatically marked. You'll see your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in preparation for entrance exams.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading — not just see it as exam preparation.

Looking for inspiration? Atom's reading and writing starter kit has suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through exam preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.