The Perse School 11+ guide

Are you thinking about applying to The Perse School 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 The Perse School

• School type: co-educational independent day school
• Location: Cambridge
• Admissions contact: admissions@perse.co.uk
• 11+ exam: Quest Admissions (computer-based assessment) and a creative writing task
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries
• Scholarships: music

Important dates for 2027 entry

• Tuesday 1st December 2026 (12 noon): registration deadline
• Saturday 16th January 2027: entrance assessment day

How to apply to The Perse School

The Perse School is selective. This means that your child will need to sit an entrance assessment to be eligible for a place in Year 7 (or Year 9).

You must register your child via the school's online registration form. Registration closes at 12 noon on 1 December in the year prior to entry. As part of registration, you'll need to upload a photo page of your child's passport, a brief outline of their hobbies and interests (maximum 500 words), and a copy of their most recent school report. A non-refundable registration fee of £240 also applies.

All candidates must sit their assessment in person; no remote or overseas testing is available.

What will my child be tested on?

The Perse School's entrance assessment is split into two parts, both taking place on the same day.

Part 1: Computer-based assessment

The first part is a 70-minute computer-based assessment delivered by Quest Admissions. This assesses:

• Maths (adaptive, 20 minutes)
• English (non-adaptive, 30 minutes)
• Non-verbal reasoning (adaptive, 10 minutes)
• Verbal reasoning (adaptive, 10 minutes)

Most questions are multiple-choice, with a small number requiring a short typed response. Have a go at a familiarisation exercise to see what the questions look like.

Part 2: Creative writing task

The second part is a 30-minute creative writing task, entirely separate from Part 1. Your child will respond to either a written prompt or an image, with full freedom over genre, style, and narrative perspective. The task is assessed on creativity, vocabulary, and accuracy of spelling and punctuation, and is typically handwritten.

How are places decided?

As well as the two assessment components, your child will take part in a group activity and a short, informal interview with a Perse teacher on the same day. This is an opportunity for staff to see how your child engages with others and to talk with them about their interests and passions.

Assessment outcomes are communicated in early February, based on:

• performance in the computer-based assessment
• performance in the creative writing task
• the group activity
• the interview

If offered a place, you'll then have until early March to accept.

Financial information

The Perse School is a fee-paying school. Take a look at the school website for a full breakdown of fees per year group.

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

The Perse offers music scholarships for pupils entering Year 7 or Year 9. Pupils are invited to audition at the end of the academic year. These awards aren't means-tested and come as a one-off payment.

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

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

Bursaries

The Perse offers means-tested bursaries worth between 5–100% of annual fees, along with support towards school lunches and device costs for higher-level awards. Bursary applications are assessed independently of the academic selection process and are reviewed annually.

Visit The Perse'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.