South West Hertfordshire 11 plus guide

Are you considering a partially-selective school in South West Hertfordshire for your child? We’ve collated everything you need to know about admissions in 2025–2026. Keep reading to:

• Find out more about the South West Herts Schools Consortium

• Learn about the academic ability test

• Discover which subjects your child will be tested on

• Plus, get exclusive resources to help your child prepare!

What is the South West Herts Schools Consortium?

The South West Herts Schools Consortium is a group of seven partially-selective schools in southwest Hertfordshire. Children who apply under the academic, music, or sports criterion (Queens’ School only) for entry to any of these schools might be prioritised for places. If your child is applying for a selective place at more than one of these schools, they will only have to take that aptitude test once.

The seven schools and their aptitude tests are:

• Croxley Danes School (music test only)
• Parmiter’s School (academic and music tests)
• Queens’ School (academic, music and sports tests)
• Rickmansworth School (academic and music tests)
• St Clement Danes School (academic and music tests)
• Watford Grammar School for Boys (academic and music tests)
• Watford Grammar School for Girls (academic and music tests)

There are a further six partially-selective schools in Hertfordshire, but these are not members of the South West Herts Schools Consortium:

• Bishop’s Stortford High School
• Chancellor’s School
• Dame Alice Owen’s School
• Goffs Academy
• Hertfordshire and Essex High School
• Hockerill Anglo-European College

Dates for your diary

• Tuesday 1st April 2025: South West Herts Secondary Transfer Test registration opens
• Thursday 1st May 2025: Dame Alice Owen’s School test registration opens
• Thursday 12th June 2025: Dame Alice Owen’s School test registration closes
• Friday 6th June 2025: South West Herts Secondary Transfer Test registration closes
• Monday 1st September 2025: Dame Alice Owen’s School entrance exam part 1 (verbal reasoning) and first round musical aptitude test
• Saturday 6th September 2025: South West Herts academic test
• Monday 8th September 2025: South West Herts first round music test
• Wednesday 10th September 2025: South West Herts sports test (Queens’ School only)
• Thursday 18th September 2025: South West Herts first round music scores notified to parents
• Monday 22nd–Friday 26th September 2025: South West Herts second round music test and Dame Alice Owen’s School second round music test
• Saturday 27th September 2025: Dame Alice Owen’s School entrance exam part 2 (English and maths)
• Thursday 16th October 2025: South West Herts Secondary Transfer Test results day
• Mid-October 2025: Dame Alice Owen’s school secondary transfer test results day
• Friday 31st October 2025: secondary school common application deadline
• Monday 2nd March 2026: national school offers day

Dates can vary, so always check with your target schools!

What are the South West Herts Schools Consortium tests?

There are three tests used by the South West Herts Schools Consortium – an academic ability test, a musical aptitude test, and a sports test (only used by Queens’ School).

Academic ability test

The academic ability test is used by Parmiter’s School, Queens’ School, Rickmansworth School, St Clement Danes School, Watford Grammar School for Boys and Watford Grammar School for Girls. If your child is applying under the academic criterion for entry to any of these schools, they will only have to take this test once. If they pass this test, they may be eligible for a priority place at your target school(s).

The academic criterion test consists of two papers. These papers are produced by GL Assessment – one of the UK’s leading providers of 11 plus exams. The two papers are:

• Maths: questions based on the Key Stage 2 national curriculum for maths.
• Verbal reasoning: questions which test your child’s ability to use logic and solve problems with written information, such as words, letters, symbols and numbers.

Both papers are multiple-choice. Your child will be given a question booklet and an answer sheet for each paper. The answer sheet is marked using OMR (optical mark recognition), which scans the marks your child has made to indicate their chosen answer(s) for each question.

Musical aptitude test

The musical aptitude test is used by all seven schools in the South West Herts Schools Consortium. If your child is applying under the music criterion for entry to any of these schools, they will only have to take this test once. If they pass this test, they may be eligible for a priority place at your target school(s).

There are two stages in the musical aptitude test.

The first stage is a written test which takes around 45 minutes. There are 60 questions across four sections, which are played on a CD. These questions assess pitch, melody, texture and rhythm.

Children who score highly in the first stage are invited to the second stage. If your child is invited to this stage, they will need to perform a piece of music (no longer than 3 minutes).

More information about these two stages can be found on the South West Herts Schools Consortium website.

Sports test

The sports test (PE aptitude) is only used by Queens’ School. This test is very popular, so only children who have exceptional sporting aptitude and live within Queens’ School’s catchment area should consider applying.

The test is selected from the Council of European Physical Fitness (Eurofit) and covers core movement skills. More information about this test is available on the South West Herts Schools Consortium website.

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How is the South West Herts academic ability test scored?

After the academic ability test, your child’s answer sheets are marked using Optical Mark Recognition (OMR). This technology picks up the marks your child has made to indicate which answers they think are correct. Your child receives a mark for every correct answer.

These marks are then age-standardised. Age-standardisation is a common practice in 11 plus scoring and ensures younger children aren’t disadvantaged.

You'll receive your child's results on Thursday 16th October 2025. If your child achieves the qualifying score for the academic criterion for your target school, you can then apply for a place on your common application form (CAF). This must be submitted to your home local authority by 31st October 2025.

What's the pass mark for the academic test?

There is no single pass mark for the South West Herts Schools Consortium academic ability test. Places are offered at each school depending on its admission arrangements. Achieving a high score doesn’t guarantee that your child will be allocated a place at your target school, as other criteria are taken into account to prioritise places.

You might find historical scores helpful. These can be used to get an idea of the academic standard of children who are offered places at South West Herts schools. Here are the lowest marks achieved by children taking the academic ability test in 2024 for entry in 2024:

• Parmiter’s School: 216 (from priority postcodes), 245 (other postcodes)
• Queens’ School: 186 (admission area only)
• Rickmansworth School: 191 (priority area only)
• St Clement Danes School: 214 (priority area only)
• Watford Grammar School for Boys: 203 (Area A – Watford), 216 (Area B – outer)
• Watford Grammar School for Girls: 204 (Area A – Watford), 217 (Area B – outer)

How to apply to South West Herts schools

If you’re thinking about registering your child under the academic criterion for a South West Herts Consortium school, it's a good idea to speak to your child's teacher first.

Many children take the academic ability test each year, and the test is designed to select children working towards the top of their year group. Your child's teacher will be able to indicate whether they think your child has a likely chance of being offered a place under that criterion.

1. Register with the South West Herts Schools Consortium

To begin your child’s application, create an account with the South West Herts Schools Consortium. Once you have created your account, you will need to complete an application for your child. You will need to confirm:

• Key information, such as parental responsibility and your child’s religion (if relevant)
• Whether your child has any SEND requirements (supporting information will be required)
• If your child has any medical conditions
• Your child’s current school
• The tests (sports/musical/aptitude) you would like your child to be registered for

Registration for the 2025 tests opens on Tuesday 1st April 2025 and close on Friday 6th June 2025.

2. Apply for school places

You’ll receive a notification of your child’s scores in October 2025 (around midday). Once you have received your child’s final standardised score, you can decide which school(s) you would like to apply to.

To apply for school places, complete the secondary school common application form on the website for your home local authority. Note that this is the local authority for your child’s current address – not necessarily the local authority for your target school. Before listing a school on your form, check its admissions policy and make sure your child is eligible.

The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2025.

3. National school offer day

In March 2026, you will find out which school your child has been allocated a place at. They will be allocated a place at your highest-preferred school for which they meet the entry criteria and which has places available.

If no places are available at your preferred schools, they will be offered a place at another school in your area. You can appeal via an independent panel. Information about how to appeal will be sent to you by your local authority along with your school offer on National Offers Day.

How can I help my child prepare for the South West Herts academic test?

The South West Herts academic test is an 11 plus exam, so it’s designed to be challenging. Here are our top tips to help your child prepare for the test in 2025.

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before the test. Using a ‘little and often’ approach when learning is key – our brains encode new information more effectively when dealing with smaller ‘chunks’ of information. For children aged 10–11, child psychologists recommend regular study sessions of 20–30 minutes.

Atom Home makes learning a more enjoyable process for your child. They'll explore exciting worlds full of interactive questions, earning coins to spend in the Atom shop. Atom adapts to your child, showing them questions at just the right level of difficulty to keep them motivated.

Read widely

11 plus exams test your child’s ability to analyse and interpret written information. Regular reading is a great way to help your child build these skills.

Encourage them to read books from different genres and by a diverse range of authors. Increasing the variety of your child’s reading will help them understand different styles, tones and purposes. Meanwhile, reading a little every day will help widen their vocabulary, sharpen their analytical thinking, and enhance their imagination.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with the topics they’ve learnt in Year 5, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Practice tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and build confidence working under test conditions. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning and highlight knowledge gaps for further improvement.

With Atom Home, you'll unlock online mock tests and printable practice papers for the South West Herts Schools Consortium academic ability tests. Enjoy automatic marking and progress tracking with the online tests, and help your child get familiar with the real exam experience with printable practice papers.

Celebrate progress

Setting regular, achievable goals and celebrating your child’s progress – no matter how big or small – will help keep their motivation high.

Make sure to encourage a growth mindset. This means celebrating effort, as well as achievement! When your child makes mistakes or struggles to understand a particular topic, help them understand that they’ll improve through practice. Regular praise will help your child improve their resilience when tackling new and challenging topics.

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