North Bridge House Senior Canonbury 11 plus guide

Are you thinking about applying to North Bridge House Senior Canonbury for 11+ entry? Find out everything you need to know about the admissions process and how to prepare for the entrance exam.

Key information for North Bridge House Senior Canonbury

• School type: co-educational independent day school (Senior School and Sixth Form, ages 11–18)
• Location: Canonbury, Islington, North London
• Admissions contact: joinus@northbridgehouse.com
• 11+ exam: the school's own adaptive online assessment and interview
• Scholarships: academic, all-round (Compass), creative arts, and performing arts

Important dates for 2027 entry

• Monday 16th November 2026: application and scholarship application deadline
• Mid-November 2026: interview and assessment day
• January 2027: scholarship interviews
• Early February 2027: offers released
• End of February 2027: deadline for accepting offers

How to apply to North Bridge House Senior Canonbury

Every candidate applying to North Bridge House Senior Canonbury completes an interview and an online assessment as part of the admissions process.

You'll need to register your interest and submit an application via the school's online application portal. First-time users set up an account, which takes a few minutes, before completing the application form (this can take up to 20 minutes, though you can save and return to it). The application fee is £180. The deadline for September 2027 entry is Monday 16th November 2026.

Once your application is submitted, your child will be invited to an interview and assessment day in mid-November 2026.

What will my child be tested on?

Rather than a single written paper, North Bridge House Senior Canonbury's assessment day combines a short interview with an adaptive online test.

The interview

Your child will take part in a small-group interview with a member of the school's Senior Leadership Team. This is a chance for staff to get to know your child beyond their exam performance, and for your child to talk about their interests and what they're looking forward to at senior school.

The online assessment

The assessment is adaptive, meaning the questions your child receives adjust in real time based on their previous answers, so no two children necessarily see the same set of questions. It covers three areas:

• English: typically including reading comprehension and grammar-based questions, testing understanding of written texts and command of the English language
• Maths: numerical reasoning and problem-solving appropriate to a Year 6 level, testing core mathematical concepts and application
• Non-verbal reasoning: pattern, sequence and shape-based questions designed to assess logical thinking independent of language or curriculum content

The school uses the results to build a picture of where your child is in their learning and their academic potential, rather than applying a strict pass mark.

How are places decided?

Offers are based on your child's performance in both the interview and the online assessment on the assessment day. There's no separate headteacher reference required as part of the standard process.

Results are shared with families in early February 2027, and you'll have until the end of February 2027 to accept a place.

If your child is applying for a scholarship, this runs as an additional step alongside the standard process: scholarship candidates take the usual entry assessment and interview, then complete a further scholarship-specific review (a portfolio, additional interview, or audition depending on the category), with scholarship interviews held in January 2027.

Financial information

North Bridge House Senior Canonbury is a fee-paying school. Take a look at the school website for a full breakdown of fees per year group.

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 North Bridge House Senior Canonbury's website to see the scholarships available and how to apply.

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

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.