Own exam in English, Maths and a modern foreign language — specialist 1-to-1 preparation for Year 9 entry
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Chigwell School is a co-educational independent school in Chigwell, Essex, admitting pupils into Year 9 at 13+ through its own entrance examination in English, Mathematics and a modern foreign language — not the ISEB Common Pre-Test used by many other 13+ schools. For September 2027 entry, registration closes at 5pm on 11 January 2027, with the written papers set for 1 February 2027. Places at this entry point are limited and not guaranteed to run every year.
Many independent schools now share their 13+ selection round through the ISEB Common Pre-Test, a standardised, adaptive online assessment sat once and passed to several schools at once. Chigwell does not use it. The school sets its own three-paper examination, taken only by Chigwell applicants and marked to its own standard, which means a family cannot rely on generic ISEB practice materials to cover this school.
All candidates sit papers in English, Mathematics and a modern foreign language. Successful candidates are then invited back for an interview, held after the written papers rather than alongside them, and the school separately requests a confidential reference from your child's current school. There is no non-verbal or verbal reasoning component at 13+, which is a further point of difference from Chigwell's own 11+ round.
The practical consequence is that preparation aimed at a computer-adaptive reasoning test — the kind of practice that suits ISEB or CAT4-based schools — does not transfer well to Chigwell's 13+. What transfers is timed, handwritten practice on the actual paper types: comprehension and composition in English, arithmetic and problem-solving in Maths, and translation, grammar and comprehension in the chosen language.
This is the single most distinguishing fact about entry to Chigwell at 13+, and it is the fact that no competing page for this search currently explains. Ahead of the exam, Chigwell emails registered families a form asking them to confirm which language their child will be tested in: French, Spanish or German.
The choice matters more than it might first appear. This is a genuine written language paper, not a general aptitude or reasoning test, so a child's result depends directly on how much classroom study they have already had in that language. A language only picked up casually, or one the child dropped after Year 6, is a weak foundation for a Year 8 candidate to be examined in five or six months later. We advise checking with your child's current school which language has been taught most consistently and for the longest period, and building the preparation programme around that language rather than switching close to the exam date in the hope that a "stronger" language on paper will help.
Chigwell has not published a public specimen paper for the modern foreign language component at the time of writing, unlike its English and Maths papers, where specimen material exists. Families should not assume the format mirrors a GCSE-style paper; treat the absence of a published specimen as a reason to work directly from the child's current classroom syllabus and vocabulary lists rather than from assumptions about question style.
For September 2027 entry, the closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday 11 January 2027. Registration is completed through Chigwell's online form together with a non-refundable £180 registration fee, and applies to children born between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014. The written papers are provisionally timetabled for Monday 1 February 2027, with interviews for shortlisted candidates following on Thursday 11 February 2027. Results are due to be posted on Monday 22 February 2027, and families accepting an offer must confirm by 10am on Monday 8 March 2027.
Chigwell is unusually direct about the scale of this entry point: the school states that "the 13+ entry is only held if there are places available," and describes the current round as likely to have "very limited places on offer." That is a materially different position from Chigwell's 11+ entry into Year 7, which runs as the school's main, scheduled intake each year. A family treating 13+ as a fallback route into Chigwell after missing out at 11+ should register early, given the closing date sits five to six months before the exam, and should keep at least one other school genuinely live in parallel rather than relying on a capacity-dependent round.
Families who know Chigwell only through its 11+ route sometimes assume the 13+ exam works the same way. It does not. Chigwell's 11+ entry into Year 7 uses the Quest Assessment, a digital admissions platform with partly adaptive sections in Maths, non-verbal and verbal reasoning, alongside English and a handwritten creative writing task — detailed on our Chigwell School 11+ preparation page. The 13+ round into Year 9 abandons that format entirely in favour of traditional written papers and a post-exam interview.
| Aspect | 11+ entry (Year 7) | 13+ entry (Year 9) |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Digital, partly adaptive (Quest Assessment) | Traditional written papers |
| Subjects tested | English, Maths, NVR, VR, Creative Comprehension, Creative Writing | English, Maths, modern foreign language (French, Spanish or German) |
| Interview | Individual interviews for all candidates; separate scholarship interview if invited | Only for candidates who pass the written papers, held after the exam |
| Scale of intake | Main, scheduled annual entry point | Run only if places are available; very limited this year |
The implication for preparation is direct: a child who sat and practised for Quest at 11+ has built skills — adaptive pacing, non-verbal reasoning, rapid-fire computer-based questions — that simply are not tested at 13+. Preparation for the 13+ round has to start close to zero on format, even where subject knowledge in English and Maths carries over.
Chigwell's fees for 2026/27 are £10,224 per term for Year 7 to Year 13, which covers the Year 9 intake at 13+, inclusive of VAT and inclusive of tuition, meals, textbooks and most clubs. On acceptance of a place, an acceptance deposit of £1,680 is payable, made up of a £1,200 day deposit credited to the first term's fees, a £180 refundable acceptance deposit, and a £300 retained acceptance deposit.
Means-tested bursaries, worth up to 100% of tuition fees depending on household circumstances, are available at Year 9 (13+) entry alongside Year 7 (11+) and Year 12 (16+). Academic scholarships are also offered at 13+; Chigwell states that it expects its scholars to achieve grades of 7, 8 or 9 across the board at GCSE, so it is worth discussing predicted grades with your child's current school before applying for one. Both bursary and scholarship interest are indicated on the same online registration form used for standard applications, and all candidates — scholarship applicants included — sit the same entrance assessment.
We build a personalised programme around Chigwell's three 13+ papers rather than a generic 13+ or Common Entrance course. Every child begins with a diagnostic assessment across English, Maths and their chosen modern foreign language, so we know exactly where the gaps are before a single lesson is booked. From there, subject-specific tutors work on the technical content each paper demands: comprehension and structured composition for English; arithmetic, problem-solving and multi-step reasoning for Maths; and grammar, translation and comprehension in whichever of French, Spanish or German the family has confirmed with the school.
Our tutors covering Chigwell candidates include specialists in each of the three offered languages, alongside English and Maths specialists who work on exam technique under timed conditions rather than open-ended tuition. Because Chigwell's interview follows the written papers rather than sitting alongside them, we build interview preparation into the later stage of a programme rather than the earlier one, once results of the written papers are known.
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We build a programme around Chigwell's own three papers — English, Maths and the modern foreign language your child has been entered for — plus interview preparation once results are known. Personalised 1-to-1 tutoring from specialists in French, Spanish, German, English and Maths.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppMost candidates for Chigwell's September 2027 13+ round are in Year 7 or early Year 8 when they start with us, since the exam itself falls in February 2027, while they are still in Year 8. A typical programme begins with the diagnostic assessment described above, followed by a personalised plan that allocates time across English, Maths and the chosen language in proportion to where the diagnostic shows the greatest gap — rarely an even three-way split.
As the exam date approaches, sessions move from skills-building toward full timed papers under exam conditions, so the pressure of the real assessment is familiar rather than novel on the day. Once written results are known, any candidate invited to interview moves into a short, focused block of interview coaching — articulating interests clearly, answering follow-up questions, and discussing the current-school reference confidently. Because 13+ places at Chigwell are not guaranteed to run in full each year, we also encourage families to keep a second school genuinely under consideration throughout, rather than treating preparation for Chigwell as preparation for a single, certain outcome.
For the official process and current key dates, see Chigwell School's own 13+ admissions page. Families preparing for multiple entry points may also find our guide to the ISEB Common Pre-Test useful for comparison, our 13+ Tuition service page for how we support Common Entrance and independent-school 13+ routes generally, and past Chigwell material on our Chigwell School 13+ Maths specimen paper.
Chigwell sets its own 13+ entrance examination in English, Mathematics and a modern foreign language, rather than using GL Assessment, CEM or the ISEB Common Pre-Test. All three papers are taken by every candidate; there is no separate reasoning or science paper at this entry point, unlike many other 13+ schools. Successful candidates are then invited to an interview, and the school also requests a confidential reference from your child's current school. For September 2027 entry the written papers are timetabled for Monday 1 February 2027 (TBC), with interviews for shortlisted candidates on Thursday 11 February 2027 (TBC).
Chigwell offers a choice of French, Spanish or German for the modern foreign language paper. The school sends a form asking families to confirm which language the candidate will be tested in ahead of the exam date. Because this is a genuine written language paper rather than an aptitude or reasoning test, a child needs sustained classroom study in that language beforehand — a course started from scratch in Year 8 is unlikely to be sufficient. Families should check with their child's current school which language has been taught most consistently, and prepare in that language rather than switching close to the exam.
No. Chigwell School sets its own 13+ examination in English, Mathematics and a modern foreign language, and does not use the ISEB Common Pre-Test that many other 13+ schools rely on. This matters for families juggling several school applications, because preparation aimed purely at the adaptive, computer-based ISEB format will not adequately prepare a child for Chigwell's traditional written papers or its language paper. If your child is also sitting the ISEB Common Pre-Test for other schools, treat Chigwell's exam as a separate strand of preparation rather than an overlapping one.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday 11 January 2027. Registration requires the online form and a non-refundable £180 registration fee. The written exam follows on Monday 1 February 2027 (TBC), interviews for successful candidates take place on Thursday 11 February 2027 (TBC), and results are posted on Monday 22 February 2027. Families accepting an offer must confirm by 10am on Monday 8 March 2027. Because places at 13+ are limited and the round is only run when spaces are available, registering promptly matters more here than at Chigwell's main 11+ entry point.
Chigwell states plainly that the 13+ entry is only held if there are places available, and describes this year's round as likely to have very limited places on offer. This is different from Chigwell's 11+ entry into Year 7, which is the school's main entry point with a fuller cohort intake. Families relying on 13+ as their route into Chigwell should treat it as a competitive, capacity-dependent round rather than a guaranteed annual intake, and should have a considered second choice alongside their application.
Yes. Chigwell offers means-tested bursaries, worth up to 100% of tuition fees, at Year 9 (13+) entry, alongside Year 7 (11+) and Year 12 (16+). Academic scholarships are also available; the school states that it expects scholars to achieve grades of 7, 8 or 9 across the board at GCSE, so families should discuss predicted grades with their child's current school before applying. Bursary applications are assessed independently of the academic decision and do not affect the outcome of the entrance examination. Fees for Year 7 to Year 13 are £10,224 per term for 2026/27, inclusive of VAT.
Chigwell's 11+ entry into Year 7 uses the Quest Assessment, a digital, partly adaptive platform covering English, Maths, non-verbal and verbal reasoning, plus creative writing. The 13+ round into Year 9 is a different, traditional format: written papers in English, Maths and a modern foreign language, followed by an interview for successful candidates. A child who prepared for Quest at 11+ and did not gain a place should not assume the same preparation transfers to 13+ — the modern foreign language paper and the absence of a reasoning component make this a genuinely separate assessment.
We build a personalised programme around Chigwell's three 13+ papers — English, Mathematics and the candidate's chosen modern foreign language of French, Spanish or German — plus interview preparation for the stage that follows. Programmes typically begin with a diagnostic assessment to establish a starting point, then combine subject-specific tutoring with timed practice under exam conditions as the February exam date approaches. Our tutors covering Chigwell candidates include specialists in each of the three offered languages as well as English and Maths. We're rated 4.8 out of 5 from 57 reviews on Trustpilot.
Book a free consultation and we can build a plan around Chigwell's own 13+ papers, including whichever modern foreign language your child has been entered for.
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