Tiffin School 11+ guide

Applying to Tiffin School for September 2028? This guide covers the two-stage Tiffin School entrance test, the qualifying score, how the 180 Year 7 places are allocated and the key dates for September 2028 entry.

Tiffin School 11+ at a glance

• School type: boys' grammar school
• Location: Kingston upon Thames, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
• Admissions contact: Year7admissions@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk
• Number of places in Year 7: 180 (2027-entry figure — Tiffin School confirms each year's admission number in its determined arrangements, published the spring before entry.)
• Qualifying score: No fixed pass mark is published. Boys need a Combined Score equal to or higher than the 450th-ranked Combined Score of everyone who sat Stage Two, and are then offered places in rank order.
• 11+ test: Tiffin School two-stage entrance test (multiple-choice English and maths at Stage One, then written English and maths at Stage Two)
• Catchment or priority area: yes — a 10 km Priority Area

Source: Tiffin School Admissions Policy 2027-28 (adopted February 2026). Last checked October 2026.

Key dates for September 2028 entry

Tiffin School confirms its exact dates in the spring before each cycle. The windows below follow the 2027-entry timetable: registration ran from midday on Friday 5 June 2026 to 12 noon on Tuesday 1 September 2026, the test took place on Friday 2 October 2026 (Stage One), with Stage Two on Thursday 12 November 2026 and results were due on Friday 16 October 2026 (Stage Two invitations). We'll update this page as soon as the school publishes its 2028-entry dates.

How to apply to Tiffin School

Tiffin School is selective, so your child needs to sit the 11+ test to be considered for a place.

You register your son online through the Tiffin School website for the Stage One tests, and for the sport or music aptitude assessments if he is applying for an aptitude place. You also name Tiffin School on your local authority application form.

Once you have your child's result, you apply by naming Tiffin School on your common application form, which goes to your home local authority. For September 2028 entry the deadline is Sunday 31 October 2027. As it falls on a Sunday, you may find it easier to submit your form in the days before.

Reaching the qualifying score makes your child eligible, but it doesn't guarantee a place. If more qualifying children apply than there are places, the school uses its oversubscription criteria, set out further down this page.

What will my child be tested on?

Tiffin School works in partnership with Quest to set its Year 7 entrance tests, which run in two stages. Both stages cover English and maths only.

At Stage One, your son sits an English paper and a maths paper, each typically 40 to 60 minutes, with a short break in between. Answers go on an answer sheet (an OMR sheet) that is marked by computer. English questions are multiple choice; maths answers may be multiple choice or numerical. Boys with the strongest Stage One results are invited to Stage Two, which has English and maths papers of a similar length that need handwritten answers, including some longer written answers in English. The Stage Two papers are marked by Quest, using experts in English and maths.

The papers change significantly from year to year. Tiffin doesn't publish past papers, but it has published some illustrative Stage One and Stage Two questions on its website. Quest Assessments doesn't respond to individual enquiries from parents, so questions about registration, results, venues and special arrangements go to the school.

Raw scores are standardised and age-weighted where appropriate. The final Combined Score is 50% English and 50% maths: the English part comes from Stage Two only, while the maths part combines Stage One and Stage Two in the ratio 2:3.

Up to 10% of places go to boys who show an aptitude in sport (5%) or music (5%). These boys register for the aptitude assessments by an earlier deadline in July and still need a qualifying Combined Score in the entrance tests.

The official familiarisation materials for the Tiffin entrance tests are on the Quest Assessments parent guidance page. Read our guide to the Quest Admissions exam for what the test looks like and how it's marked.

The table below shows what each paper covers.

How are places allocated at Tiffin School?

If more children reach the qualifying standard than there are 180 Year 7 places, Tiffin School offers places in the order below. This order comes from the school's admissions policy for 2027-28. The school sets its 2028-entry policy separately, and we'll update this table if anything changes.

Only boys whose Combined Score is equal to or higher than the 450th-ranked Combined Score are offered places under B to E.

Does Tiffin School have a catchment area?

Tiffin School's Priority Area covers everyone who lives less than 10 km from the school, measured in a straight line. Boys outside it can still apply, but they come after boys in the Priority Area.

If boys tie on score for the 180th place, the boy who lives nearest is offered it, measured in a straight line by Kingston Schools Admissions to the Queen Elizabeth Road pedestrian gate. If they live the same distance away, a person independent of the school draws lots.

If you don't live close to the school, it's worth thinking about how your child will get there every day. How long will the journey take? What transport options are available? Will they be travelling independently or with support?

A longer or more complex journey can affect your child's daily routine, including how much time they have for homework, rest and after-school activities. It's a good idea to think about how manageable the school run will be and whether it will work for your family day to day.

How can I help my child prepare for the Tiffin entrance tests?

The school publishes official familiarisation materials for the test, and that is where families should start. Atom is not an authorised source for this test and has no access to its content. The guidance below is about building the skills the test draws on.

The curriculum doesn't change

The test draws on the Key Stage 2 curriculum, which is the same material every 11+ test is built from. Atom Home covers that curriculum with over 100,000 teacher-written practice questions across English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, so the work a child does is useful whichever test they end up sitting.

Find the gaps early

Atom's progress insights show which topics and question types a child finds hardest, so revision goes where it's actually needed rather than across everything equally.

Practise the conditions, not the questions

Atom's mock tests are built to give children practice working to time, reading an answer sheet and holding their nerve for a full paper. Each one returns a Standardised Age Score and a breakdown of where accuracy dropped under timed conditions.