UK school entry points explained: 4+, 7+, 11+, 13+ and 16+ side by side

The UK independent sector has more entry points than any other school system in the world. Which one your child uses depends less on their age than on the school you're aiming for — here's how the five main routes actually work.

By Deep Teaching Research · Published 2026-08-11 · 9 min read

The UK has five main independent-school entry points (4+, 7+, 11+, 13+, 16+) alongside the two state entry points (Reception at 4, Year 7 at 11). Which route your child uses is determined less by their age than by the school you're aiming for — most schools admit at some entry points and not others. Get the target school first, then work back to the entry point that leads there.

4+ — Reception (state) and pre-prep (independent)

The state route is the default. Every child in England is entitled to a Reception place starting in the September after their 4th birthday. Applications are made through the local authority — window opens in early autumn of the year before entry, closes mid-January, offers on National Offer Day in mid-April. Details at gov.uk/schools-admissions.

The independent route (pre-prep and independent primary) uses '4+' as the entry-point name. Assessment is usually informal — a play-based session, a group activity, a short informal chat with the child, and often a parent conversation. Registration timing varies wildly: some competitive London pre-preps take names shortly after birth; most others open registration 12-18 months before entry.

4+ is the earliest formal school assessment in the UK. Because 4-year-olds vary hugely in developmental readiness within a single year, most competitive schools are looking for social confidence and communication as much as anything cognitive. Coaching a 4-year-old for the assessment is widely discouraged and can backfire.

7+ — into Year 3 at an independent prep or junior school

7+ is used by many independent prep and junior schools that admit fresh cohorts into Year 3 (age 7). Common in London where many families move from state infant schools into independent junior schools at this transition.

Assessment is typically written maths and English papers plus a short interview or classroom-observation session. Some schools use a reasoning paper. The papers are set individually by each school — there is no single national 7+ test.

Registration is usually 9-12 months before assessment. Preparation for 7+ is real but should be measured; the assessments look for genuine curiosity and thinking, not drilled answers. Many schools also observe the child in a small-group task to see how they cooperate and handle a new setting.

11+ — into Year 7 at state grammar or independent senior schools

The 11+ is the highest-volume and most-discussed entry point in the UK. It's used by (1) state grammar-school consortia in the areas that still have grammar schools (Bexley, Buckinghamshire, Kent, Trafford, parts of London and elsewhere), (2) independent senior schools that admit into Year 7 rather than Year 9.

For state grammars, the exam is almost always GL Assessment (with some historical use of CEM, largely phased out). The GL 11+ typically tests English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning in some combination that varies by area. Sat in September of Year 6.

For independent 11+ entry, each school sets its own test. Highly-selective London schools (St Paul's, Westminster, City, King's Wimbledon, Wycombe Abbey, etc.) use their own papers, often with follow-up interviews. Sat between November and January of Year 6. Offers typically in February.

Preparation window: usually starts in Year 4 or the summer between Y4 and Y5 — see 'When to start 11+ preparation'.

13+ — into Year 9 at Common Entrance senior schools

13+ is used by senior schools that admit fresh cohorts into Year 9 (age 13) — historically the traditional prep-to-senior transition, and still the dominant route into schools like Eton, Harrow, Winchester and many other Common Entrance senior schools.

Because senior schools want to know earlier than the end of Year 8 whether a prep-school pupil is on track, most now use a two-stage process: (a) the ISEB Common Pre-Test in November of Year 6 — an online, adaptive multiple-choice test in maths, English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning — followed by (b) Common Entrance or the school's bespoke exam in the summer of Year 8.

Registration deadlines for 13+ are early — often before the pupil starts Year 6. Families aiming for a specific 13+ school should register in Year 5 at the latest.

16+ — sixth-form entry

16+ is entry into sixth form (Year 12), whether at a state college, a school sixth form, an independent school sixth form, or one of the specialist sixth-form colleges (e.g. Hills Road, Cardinal Newman).

Independent sixth-form entry is competitive and typically requires: GCSE predictions, a written application, subject-specific written papers or reasoning tests, and an interview. Offers are usually conditional on specific GCSE grades (often 6s and 7s minimum, with 7s or 8s in the subjects being taken at A-level).

State sixth-form entry through college or maintained-sixth-form routes is generally less competitive but still requires a UCAS-Progress or equivalent application, with grade thresholds for specific A-level courses.

Registration opens in autumn of Year 11 for entry the following September. Some competitive independent sixth forms have earlier deadlines.

How the state timeline sits alongside the independent one

Two state entry points matter for most families: Reception (age 4) and Year 7 (age 11). Both go through the local authority using a single national timeline — the application window is national even though the schools you apply to are local.

In-year admissions (moving school outside the main entry rounds) is a separate process. It depends on whether the specific school currently has a vacancy in your child's year group. Popular urban schools often have no in-year vacancies at all in oversubscribed year groups.

State schools and independent schools operate on completely separate admissions systems. A family aiming for one 11+ state grammar and one 11+ independent school runs two parallel applications with different deadlines, different tests, and different offer dates.

A single decision framework

Instead of choosing an entry point first, work back from the school. For each school on your shortlist, look up: (a) which entry points that school admits into, (b) what the assessment format is at each of those entry points, (c) when registration closes, and (d) how selective it is.

That table tells you the actual timeline your family is on. Many London families end up running two or three entry points in parallel — a 7+ at one school as a hedge, a state 11+ two years later, an independent 11+ alongside it, and Common Entrance at 13+ if the earlier attempts don't land.

Frequently asked questions

Evidence level

References

1. GOV.UK. (2025). Applying for a state school place ↗ external. gov.uk
2. Independent Schools Examinations Board. (2025). ISEB Common Pre-Test ↗ external. iseb.co.uk
3. GL Assessment. (2025). GL Assessment 11+ ↗ external. gl-assessment.co.uk