Whitgift School 11+ entry guide

Whitgift School 11+ entrance exam

All children who are registered for 11+ entry to Whitgift School take an entrance exam in January in Year 6.

Whitgift School sets its own exam papers. There are three exams – English, maths and thinking skills.

English

The Whitgift School English entrance exam contains two papers. The first tests creative writing and lasts 45 minutes. The other tests reading comprehension and lasts 30 minutes.

The creative writing paper will test your son’s ability to write good English, with proper regard for accuracy and sentence structure. Control, imaginative flair and convincing personal writing will be rewarded. He will be asked to write a prompt-based story or an essay.

The reading comprehension paper tests comprehension, punctuation, vocabulary, syntax and grammar. Questions include filling in gaps in sentences and punctuation, as well as multiple-choice questions to show reading comprehension.

Maths

Whitgift School also tests your son’s ability with maths. 60 minutes are allocated for this paper.

This paper is aligned to Level 5 of the national curriculum. It tests calculations, measurements, sequences, shapes and angles, graphs, long division, area, averages and data sets, pie charts and simple probability.

Some questions might be more challenging than the ones your child is used to, as they are designed to show your child’s potential and ability to work through challenging problems.

Thinking Skills

Whitgift School's thinking skills assessment is a unique age-related paper. It tests reading comprehension, critical thinking and problem-solving.

Practising verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning can help your child prepare for this paper. Verbal reasoning skills include finding common words and combinations, identifying antonyms, letter transfer and number codes. Non-verbal reasoning skills may include patterns and shapes.

Children who perform well in the Whitgift School entrance exam are invited to an interview with a senior member of staff in January in Year 6. At the interview, your child will be assessed on his academic suitability and will provide a chance for him to talk about his interests and activities beyond the classroom. This interview is followed by a short meeting between the child's parent/guardian and the same member of staff.

Atom’s top tips for applying to Whitgift School

Whitgift School is a popular selective school in South London, and competition for places can be high. Here are our top tips to help your son prepare for the selection process.

Bitesize learning

It’s important to build a good knowledge base before school entrance exams. Your child should have a good understanding of the content they’ve been taught at school before testing their knowledge with practice tests.

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.

With Atom Home, you don’t need to worry about creating a study schedule. When you enter your target schools, you’ll get a bespoke learning plan tailored to your schools’ entrance exams. Know exactly what your child needs to do each week to confidently pass.

Read widely

Entrance exams test children’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.

Looking for reading inspiration? Check out our Key Stage 2 reading list.

Hone curiosity

Selective schools are often looking for children who are interested in learning. You can help by supporting your child’s broader learning, their intellectual curiosity, and their passion for developing an understanding of the world.

Talk to your child about the world we live in and inspire an interest in current affairs with age-appropriate journalism. It’s also a good idea to make sure they’re benefitting from a rich variety of experiences, such as visiting libraries, museums and galleries.

Refine exam technique

When your child feels confident with their knowledge of the exam topics, they’ll be ready to put their knowledge to the test.

Mock tests can help your child develop problem-solving skills and refine exam technique. They’re also a great way to consolidate learning, while highlighting any knowledge gaps they might want to tackle before exam day.

When you set Whitgift School as a target school on Atom Home, your child will get tailored mock tests for Whitgift School as part of their learning plan. Know what to expect on exam day.

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.