How are places decided?
Children who perform well in the entrance exam are invited back to the school for an Interview Session in January. This is a half day combining immersive learning activities in a classroom setting with a one-to-one interview, designed to give the school a sense of your child's character, curiosity, and teachability.
Latymer Upper School also writes to your child's current school for a reference ahead of the interview stage.
Places are offered in February. These are based on:
- their performance in the entrance exam
- the interview
- a reference from their current school
If your child is offered a place, you'll have three weeks to accept, along with a non-refundable confirmation deposit.
Financial information
Latymer Upper School is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school website for a full breakdown of fees per year group.
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.
At Latymer Upper School, scholarships at 11+ are only offered in Music, with no academic scholarships available. Awards are assessed by audition and can offer up to 40% remission in fees for exceptional candidates.
Visit Latymer Upper School'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.
Latymer Upper School offers one of the UK's most generous bursary programmes, supporting around 1 in 4 pupils and covering between 25% and 100% of fees depending on circumstances.
Visit Latymer Upper School's website to find out what bursaries are available and how to apply.
For more information, read: Bursaries: a parents' guide
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.
