13+ entry: why the timeline starts in Year 6

If your child's prep school runs to Year 8, the 13+ can feel far off. But at some schools the decision comes in Year 6. Here is what each school says on its own admissions pages.

Which schools assess for 13+ in Year 6

Each route is for children who will stay at a prep school until the end of Year 8. Westminster puts it simply: "While a pupil is in Year 6, we decide whether to offer them a place."

What happens in Years 7 and 8

• References and reports. King's College School asks for two satisfactory head teacher's reports, one by the end of the summer term in Year 7 and one by the end of the spring term in Year 8. It confirms the place by the middle of May in Year 8. Westminster asks for an unreserved reference from your child's school in March of Year 8. Sevenoaks requests a further school reference in the spring term of Year 8. St Albans asks for school reports in Years 7 and 8, with no further official assessments.
• Staying put. Dulwich's deferred offer is conditional on boys staying at their current 13+ UK prep school until the end of Year 8.
• Accepting. St Paul's says the offer must be accepted by March of Year 7. Sevenoaks sets its acceptance deadline in early January of Year 7. Hampton requires acceptances at the beginning of January of the following year.

Some schools offer a second chance. Hampton boys who are not successful in Year 6 can sit its Year 7 Pre-test completely afresh. St Paul's invites some boys back to sit English and maths papers in September of Year 8; its dates for the 13+ 2029 process list this exam in mid-September 2028. King's runs a Year 8 assessment for some pupils, and St Albans has a 12+ preliminary assessment in the May of Year 7. Sevenoaks also runs Later Decision, with registration by 1 November in Year 7.

The final 13+ exams in Year 8

Not every Year 9 place is decided in Year 6. These schools also run a Year 8 round:

• Dulwich College: written English and maths papers and online reasoning tests on Saturday 9 January 2027, for 30 places (September 2027 entry).
• Haberdashers' Boys' School: its own 13+ papers in English, maths, science and general humanities on Thursday 26 November 2026. The school's policy says this exam is taken "prior to the year of entry"; its dates page doesn't name the entry year.
• St Albans School: 13+ Assessment on Friday 11 December 2026 (September 2027 entry).
• Wycombe Abbey: ISEB Pre-Test by 9 October 2026, then an assessment day on 14 January 2027 for selected girls (2027 entry). The school says "the majority of girls" aiming for Year 9 sit its assessments in Year 8.

Where Common Entrance fits

ISEB describes Common Entrance as paper-based exams, used at 11+ and most commonly at 13+. Pupils are usually entered by their prep school.

St Paul's may add a Common Entrance condition to an offer. Its example is "a minimum of 70% in prescribed subjects at Common Entrance", for boys whose schools don't follow its Years 7 and 8 curriculum. King's College School says it uses Common Entrance results only for setting.

Questions parents ask