Catholic Benedictine boarding and day school in North Yorkshire. The entrance test is a computer-based assessment in Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning, held over 15 and 16 January 2027. Expert one-to-one preparation from Leading Tuition.
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Ampleforth College tests over two days, not one. Its own Year 7 & 8 Entry page says the entrance test "takes place at Ampleforth over the course of two days" and "involves a computer-based CEM assessment in Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning for which no special preparation is required". For 2027 entry those days are 15 and 16 January 2027, and registration closes on 6 January 2027.
Updated for 2027 entry: what we corrected on this page
This page called the assessment a "CEM Select" test in six places. The school does not use that name. Its Year 7 & 8 Entry page says the entrance test "involves a computer-based CEM assessment in Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning". CEM Select was a specific product name; the current Cambridge product is Cambridge Select Insight, described as "Suitable for 11+, 13+, late transfer and fair banding" and marketed to independent schools. The page now uses the school's own wording.
It also said Ampleforth "sets and marks its own CEM Select entrance assessment". Those two things cannot both be true. A CEM assessment is bought in and delivered by computer; a school that sets and marks its own papers does not use one. The school describes the assessment as computer-based and does not claim to write it.
The assessment was given as a single day, Saturday 16 January 2027, running 9am to 4pm. The school says the test "takes place at Ampleforth over the course of two days", and its key dates table gives "15 & 16 January 2027 — Ampleforth Entrance Assessments and Scholarship Assessments". No start or finish time is published, so the 9am to 4pm window has gone.
The Armed Forces line said the opposite of the school's policy. This page said families connected to the Armed Forces or Diplomatic Service "receive 10% off boarding fees". Ampleforth states that for children of HM Armed Forces and HM Diplomatic Service personnel in receipt of the Continuity of Education Allowance, "families will pay only the mandatory 10% of our boarding fees". They pay ten per cent; they do not save it.
Two unsourced specifics have been removed: a school roll of "roughly 410 pupils", and a claim that the pass mark is set after each year's papers are marked. Neither appears on the school's own pages.
The results and destinations section relied on third-party summaries of GCSE, A-level and university outcomes. The school's own results page does not present those figures in a form that can be quoted unambiguously, so the section has been replaced with the admissions detail the school does publish in full — the two-day structure, the scholarship dates, and what a Development Award is actually worth.
Reviewed August 2026: every date, fee and assessment detail here was checked against Ampleforth College's own admissions, scholarships and fees pages, on 23 August 2026.
The school states it in one sentence: "For most children joining Ampleforth at 11+, entry is through sitting our Ampleforth entrance test in January of Year 6." The test "takes place at Ampleforth over the course of two days" and "involves a computer-based CEM assessment in Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning for which no special preparation is required. Children also have an interview with our Registrar, and, after lunch, enjoy an afternoon of activities with potential future classmates."
Two details in that are worth separating. The academic element is delivered on a computer and covers three areas, which is a different proposition from a written paper — navigation, on-screen reading and pace all matter. And the interview and the afternoon activity sit alongside it, so a child is being met as well as measured. The school frames the whole thing that way: "Admission is through assessment and interview, and is subject to reports and a Head's reference from your child's current school."
On the name: CEM is legacy branding. Cambridge's current product is Cambridge Select Insight, described as "Suitable for 11+, 13+, late transfer and fair banding", with the 11+ and 13+ versions sold to independent schools. Cambridge also states that it does "not provide any commercially available practice materials (including practice or past papers) nor endorse any other commercially available resources or tuition services". So there is no official past paper for this assessment, which is consistent with the school saying no special preparation is required. Our guide to CEM and GL Assessment explains where the name went and which tests still sit under it.
Registration comes first and is not automatic. "Registration must take place before the formal assessment process commences", and parents "need to complete the registration form and pay a non-refundable registration fee of £100 to secure a place for their child on the list for their year of entry". The school recommends doing this "by the beginning of Year 6", and adds that "All applicants should be registered with us before sitting the assessments."
The school publishes a single table for Year 7 entry in 2027, and one date on it does more work than the rest: 6 January 2027 is the deadline for registration and for scholarship applications, nine days before the assessments.
| Date the school publishes | What happens |
|---|---|
| September 2026 | Registration |
| 19 September 2026 | Open Morning at Ampleforth College |
| 6 January 2027 | Deadline for registration and scholarship applications, and for bursary applications (the Randag Bursary deadline is 30 September 2026) |
| 15 & 16 January 2027 | Ampleforth Entrance Assessments and Scholarship Assessments |
| 23 January 2027 | Open Morning at Ampleforth College |
| February 2027 | Offers of a place, and scholarship application outcomes |
| March 2027 | Bursary Committee meets and decisions agreed |
| June 2027 | New Starters Day |
Source: Ampleforth College, Year 7 & 8 Entry key dates, retrieved 23 August 2026.
The scholarship timetable published separately puts the 11+ Development Award and Entrance Assessment Day on "Friday 15 January 2027", with applications closing "Wednesday 6 January 2027". Read the two tables together and the two-day window makes sense: award candidates are assessed on the Friday, and the entrance assessment runs across both days.
What happens after the assessment is short. "After our assessment day in January, we will issue offers to those children who have performed well in this process." Accepting involves a confirmation form and "a confirmation deposit", which "is refunded at the end of your child's time at Ampleforth College". The school then seeks a reference from the current Head, and notes that "In the unlikely event that a Head raises a concern, we reserve the right to reassess our offer."
Preparation for a computer-based assessment is its own skill
The school says no special preparation is required, and we take that at face value. What we build instead is comfort with reading and answering on screen at pace, and the Maths and English foundations the three sections rest on. 91% of our students achieve their desired grades, and we are rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews.
Book a Free ConsultationAt this stage they are called Development Awards, and the school is precise about what they are worth. "In Years 7 and 8, to encourage junior pupils to further their interests, Academic and Sports Development Awards carry a 10% fee remission, whilst Music, Dance, and Drama Development Awards cover tuition in an instrument, LAMDA, or dance." Awards at this stage "are held for two years".
It is worth knowing what changes later, because families often assume a scholarship keeps its value. "From Year 9 onwards, scholarships are honorary and bring no fee remission (although in the case of Music Scholarships, music tuition is covered)." The school adds that they "can be extremely helpful in supporting a bursary application as a strong indication of a child likely to flourish at Ampleforth", which is a different kind of value and worth planning around.
The mechanics: "Applications can be made for more than one scholarship, but due to the commitment required of our scholars, it is not possible for a pupil to hold more than two awards." There is "a fee of £50 per scholarship", non-refundable and payable to the St Laurence Education Trust. All awards "are won in open competition and are awarded solely on merit", and "The number of awards and bursaries made in any year is at the discretion of the Head." Every award is also "subject to annual review".
Ampleforth publishes its 2026-27 fees in full, including the VAT split, and the Junior House figures for Years 7 and 8 are lower than the College figures a family will meet from Year 9.
| Fee band | Termly fee | VAT | Termly total | Annual total inc. VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Boarding (Y7-8) | £11,857 | £2,371 | £14,228 | £42,684 |
| Junior Day (Y7-8) | £7,708 | £1,541 | £9,249 | £27,747 |
| College Boarding (Y9-13) | £16,612 | £3,323 | £19,935 | £59,805 |
| College Day (Y9-13) | £11,569 | £2,314 | £13,883 | £41,649 |
Source: Ampleforth College fees page, 2026-2027, retrieved 23 August 2026.
Two reductions are published. "A sibling discount of 10% will be applied to younger siblings when multiple siblings are at the College. This applies to new families joining after September 2026." And for service families: "For the children of HM Armed Forces and HM Diplomatic Service personnel who are in receipt of the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA), families will pay only the mandatory 10% of our boarding fees. No further discounts, such as sibling, will be applied." Read that second one carefully — it is a far larger reduction than a ten per cent discount, and it excludes the sibling discount rather than stacking with it.
Bursary decisions run on their own clock. The Randag Bursary application deadline is 30 September 2026, general bursary applications close on 6 January 2027 alongside registration, and the Bursary Committee "meets and decisions agreed" in March 2027 — after offers have gone out in February. A family who needs the bursary answer before accepting should plan for that sequence rather than against it.
We start from what the school says rather than around it. Ampleforth states that the assessment is one "for which no special preparation is required", and Cambridge publishes no practice papers for the product, so there is nothing legitimate to drill and nobody selling a real past paper. What we do instead is build the two things the format quietly demands.
The first is the subject foundation across all three areas: Maths beyond routine calculation into multi-step problems, English comprehension and accuracy, and pattern and spatial work for the Non-Verbal Reasoning section. The second is screen fluency. A computer-based assessment changes how a child reads a question, whether they can annotate, and how they pace themselves without a paper in front of them. A child who has only ever worked on paper meets all of that for the first time on the day.
The interview and the afternoon activity are part of the assessment too, and they reward a child who can talk about what interests them. We work on that in the same way we do for other interviewing schools — not rehearsed answers, but the habit of giving a reason and an example. For families weighing entry points, our Ampleforth 13+ guide covers the Year 9 route and the Common Entrance condition attached to it, and the wider 11+ school guides cover comparable boarding schools. Book a free consultation and we will map the January dates against where your child currently stands.
Everything above is quoted from the school's own admissions, scholarships and fees pages and dated. Dates and fees do change: confirm current details with the school's Year 7 & 8 Entry page before you register.
The school does not use that name. Its Year 7 & 8 Entry page says the entrance test "involves a computer-based CEM assessment in Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning for which no special preparation is required". CEM Select was a specific older product name; the current Cambridge product is Cambridge Select Insight, described as "Suitable for 11+, 13+, late transfer and fair banding", with its 11+ and 13+ versions marketed to independent schools. The practical consequence is the same either way: Cambridge provides "no commercially available practice materials", so no official past paper exists for it.
The school's key dates table gives "15 & 16 January 2027" for Ampleforth Entrance Assessments and Scholarship Assessments, and its Year 7 & 8 Entry page says the test "takes place at Ampleforth over the course of two days". The separate scholarship timetable puts the 11+ Development Award and Entrance Assessment Day on Friday 15 January 2027. Registration and scholarship applications both close on 6 January 2027, and offers are made in February 2027. No start or finish time is published.
Three areas, delivered by computer: Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Alongside the academic assessment, children "have an interview with our Registrar, and, after lunch, enjoy an afternoon of activities with potential future classmates". The school describes admission as being "through assessment and interview", subject to school reports and a Head's reference, so the written element is one input among several rather than the whole decision.
Registration comes before anything else: "Registration must take place before the formal assessment process commences." Parents complete the registration form and pay "a non-refundable registration fee of £100 to secure a place for their child on the list for their year of entry", and send copies of school reports at the same time. The school recommends registering "by the beginning of Year 6" and states that "All applicants should be registered with us before sitting the assessments." Later applicants are welcome but should contact Admissions about availability.
Development Awards, in Academic, Dance, Drama, Music and Sport. The school states that "Academic and Sports Development Awards carry a 10% fee remission, whilst Music, Dance, and Drama Development Awards cover tuition in an instrument, LAMDA, or dance", and that awards at this stage "are held for two years". There is "a fee of £50 per scholarship", non-refundable. A pupil may apply for more than one but may not hold more than two. From Year 9 onwards scholarships become honorary and carry no fee remission, so the financial value is specific to Years 7 and 8.
For 2026-27 the school publishes Junior Boarding at £11,857 a term plus £2,371 VAT, a termly total of £14,228 and an annual total of £42,684; Junior Day is £7,708 plus £1,541 VAT, £9,249 a term and £27,747 a year. From Year 9 the College rates apply, with boarding at £19,935 a term including VAT. A 10% sibling discount applies to younger siblings for new families joining after September 2026, and families receiving the Continuity of Education Allowance "will pay only the mandatory 10% of our boarding fees".
No. The assessment is Ampleforth's own process rather than a shared consortium test, and entry does not depend on where a family lives — the school describes admission as being "through assessment and interview", subject to reports and a Head's reference. It welcomes "children from a broad range of educational backgrounds into our Year 7 & 8 Junior House including independent, state and international schools", so families relocating or applying from overseas are assessed on the same footing.
By preparing the things the format actually demands, given that the school says no special preparation is required and Cambridge publishes no practice papers. That means the subject foundations across the three assessed areas — Maths beyond routine calculation, English comprehension and accuracy, and pattern work for Non-Verbal Reasoning — plus fluency at reading and answering on a screen under time, which is a distinct skill from working on paper. We also prepare children for the Registrar interview in the way that helps rather than hinders: giving reasons and examples for their own interests, not rehearsed answers. Book a free consultation to plan against the January dates.