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Are you considering Forest School for your child? We've collated everything you need to know about entry to Year 7, including key dates and what's covered on the entrance exam.
About Forest School
Forest School is a large private day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 18 located on the edge of Epping Forest in northeast London.
The school has a proactive approach to the promotion of mental health and wellbeing. A partnership with with Place2Be provides counselling to pupils, and every member of the teaching staff receives Mental Health First Aid Training. Pupils also have wellbeing lessons, PDM (Personal Decision Making), and drop-down days, alongside other mental health initiatives.
Forest School is committed to community collaboration and partnerships. It supports Hackney Empire's Creative Futures programme and provides academic and pastoral mentoring for students at the London Academy of Excellence.
Type of school: private day school
Address: Forest School, Snaresbrook, London E17 3PY
London borough: Waltham Forest
Age range and gender: 7–18 (boys and girls)
Number of pupils: 1,400+
Key info for 11+ admissions
Admissions contact: [email protected], 020 8520 1744 (option 4)
Number of 11+ places: 140
Overview of entry process: entrance exam, interview, collaborative task and school reference
Registration deadline: November in Year 6
Assessment date: December in Year 6
Offers emailed: Mid-February in Year 6
Acceptance deadline: Early March in Year 6
Forest School 11 plus admissions process
Each year, Forest School welcomes around 140 new boys and girls to Year 7. Children from external schools join children moving up from Forest Preparatory School, resulting in eight form groups.
1. Visit the school
If you're thinking about Forest School for your child, it's a good idea to attend an open event first. Open days are a great opportunity to see the whole school in action, including talking to senior staff, visiting pupils in classrooms, seeing what co-curricular activities are available, and touring the school facilities.
Find out more about upcoming open events and book a place on the school website.
2. Register for 11 plus entry
Once you have decided to proceed with your child's application, you will need to complete the 11 plus registration form. A non-refundable registration fee of £150 applies.
The deadline for submitting the form for entry is usually in November in Year 6.
3. 11 plus exam
All children who are registered for 11 plus entry to Forest School will take the entrance exam. This usually takes place in December in Year 6.
The exam is divided into two parts:
Part 1 of the exam takes 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete. This is broken down into individually-timed sections. It is taken online and administered by Atom Assessments. Assessments produced by Atom aim to improve typical entrance exams in English, maths and reasoning by providing an accessible, challenging, and enjoyable experience.
The English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning sections are adaptive, meaning they become more difficult or less difficult depending on how your child is performing. This ensures children see questions at the right difficulty level for them, so they are stretched but not to the point where it becomes demotivating.
Maths: 20 minutes. The first section will test your child’s understanding of national curriculum concepts. The second section has more playful questions that assess your child's ability to reason, solve problems and adapt to unexpected situations.
English: 15 minutes. Children will be tested on their comprehension of a non-fiction text, and will be assessed in spelling and grammar. Examiners will be looking for skills such as retrieval, drawing influences, and understanding the meaning of words in context.
Verbal reasoning: 10 minutes. Children will be assessed on their ability to reason and solve problems with written information. This includes tests on advanced vocabulary and language use, pattern-spotting, making connections to identify rules, thinking critically, and using logic.
Non-verbal reasoning: 10 minutes. Children will be tested on their ability to identify patterns and think logically. Questions will require your child to analyse visual information, identify and continue patterns, and visualise changes in 2D and 3D shapes.
The final section of the online exam tests puzzles and problem-solving and lasts 15 minutes. Your child will be tested on their ability to use words and numbers through interactive resources to solve multi-step problems. They will be assessed on their use of strategy, ability to use multiple resources, trial and error, and logical thinking.
Forest School 11+ familiarisation
Take a look at the types of questions your child might see in Parts 1 and 2 of the Forest School 11 plus entrance exam.
4. Interview and collaborative task
All registered children will additionally have an interview, and take part in a collaborative task, on the assessment day.
The interview will be held with a senior member of school staff and will take up to 20 minutes. The focus is on personal development, giving the school a more holistic assessment of your child and an understanding of whether the school is the right place for them to grow and thrive.
The collaborative task is a group activity with other applicants. Children will be assessed on their ability to work with others to solve problems and consider possible solutions. Children will present their ideas at the end of the task.
5. Offers
You will find out the outcome of your child's application to Forest School in February in Year 6.
Children who are offered a place will be invited to taster days and tours of the school between Wednesday 26th February and Wednesday 5th March. The deadline for accepting an offer is usually in early March.
Top tips to prepare for the Forest School 11+
Forest School assesses a variety of subjects for 11 plus entry, including content which is not traditionally taught on the national curriculum. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the selection process.
It can be tempting to jump straight into practice papers to prepare for school exams. However, this is not an effective way to learn and can cause children to feel demotivated.
Your child should have a good understanding of the content they’ve been taught in Year 5 before testing their knowledge with practice papers. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when recapping content is key, as our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. Experts recommend study sessions should last no longer than 30 minutes for children aged 10–11.
Exam support & free resources
Looking for more information? Visit the Atom blog to find out more about entrance exams, learn how to develop key skills, and download helpful resources.
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