Shrewsbury School 13+ Entry and Preparation for 2028 Entry

Shrewsbury is moving its pre-test a year earlier. Candidates for 2027 entry take the ISEB Pre-Tests in November of Year 7; candidates for 2028 entry onwards may take them in November of Year 6, or Year 7. Alongside that sits a separate 13-plus entrance examination in November of Year 8, which Shrewsbury expects most non-prep-school candidates to take.

When Does My Child Sit the Shrewsbury Pre-Test?

There is no single answer, and that is the point. Shrewsbury publishes separate arrangements for the two cohorts either side of the change.

Our reading of those two rows, rather than a claim Shrewsbury makes: a family in the 2028 cohort faces its first decision point up to 12 months earlier than the year group immediately ahead of them. If you have been told by another parent when their child sat it, check which cohort they were in before you plan around the answer.

Registration for the pre-test goes through the ISEB Guardian Portal rather than through Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury notes that the portal is expected to start accepting registrations in the June before the November exams — a five-month window, and one the family has to act in rather than the school.

What If We Are Not Ready in Year 6?

Shrewsbury keeps a second route open, and it is a full one rather than a fallback. Prep school candidates who wish to apply at a later stage can sit its established 13-plus entrance examinations in English and Mathematics in November of Year 8. Shrewsbury anticipates that the majority of candidates who are not in prep schools will take this route, with the Year 6 and Year 7 assessments as the alternative rather than the default.

That framing matters for families outside the prep school system, who often assume the pre-test route is the only one and that they have already missed it. Shrewsbury says the opposite: the Year 8 assessment is what it expects most non-prep-school candidates to take.

Our arithmetic on the two routes, rather than a figure Shrewsbury gives: a candidate taking the Year 6 pre-test for 2028 entry is assessed roughly 3 years before starting, while a candidate on the November of Year 8 route is assessed under 1 year ahead. Both arrive in the same Third Form.

What Does Shrewsbury Weigh Besides the Test?

Shrewsbury describes its pre-test route as part of a "holistic admissions process", and names the other two components: the Headteacher's reference, and an assessment day at Shrewsbury in the Lent Term following the test. For 2027 entry the assessment day is specified as being for UK-based candidates; for 2028 entry onwards it is stated without that qualification.

The reference is the component families have least control over and think about least. It is written by the child's current school, and it arrives alongside a pre-test score that Shrewsbury already has. A school that knows a child is applying can write about them properly; a school told at the last minute cannot. Telling the current Head early is free and it is the only lever a family has on this part.

The assessment day at Shrewsbury is the third component and the one that decides whether a child wants to be there. Shrewsbury pairs it with a visit structure that includes a tour with current pupils, a meeting with an Admissions Tutor and a visit to one or two houses. Since the pre-test route can now begin as early as Year 6, a first visit in Year 5 is not premature.

What Is in the 13+ Entry Assessment?

Papers in English and Mathematics, an interview, and a reference requested from the candidate's current school. UK candidates are invited to sit the assessment at Shrewsbury School itself, and Shrewsbury says arrangements can be made for overseas candidates to take it elsewhere.

The single most useful sentence on Shrewsbury's admissions page is easy to skim past: past papers are available on request from the Admissions Office. Not published, not downloadable — available on request. A family that does not ask does not get them, and a family that does gets the clearest possible guide to what the papers look like.

What Happens in Year 8 Once a Place Is Held?

One of two examination routes, decided by the child's current school rather than by preference.

The timing difference is worth noticing. The Common Entrance route sits in June, weeks before entry; the Non-Common Entrance route sits in November, nearly a year before. A child on the second route therefore finishes the whole process much earlier, which is a real advantage if the alternative is a summer of examinations.

Which Route Suits Which Family?

Shrewsbury publishes both routes without recommending one, so the choice is genuinely the family's. Three things usually settle it.

The first is whether the child is at a prep school. Shrewsbury says it anticipates the majority of candidates who are not in prep schools will take the 13-plus assessment in November of Year 8. A child at a state primary or an all-through independent school is squarely in the group Shrewsbury expects on the later route, and taking it is not a concession.

The second is whether other senior schools are on the shortlist. Because Eton and Harrow both require the ISEB Pre-Test in the autumn of Year 6, a family applying to either has to sit it then anyway — and from 2028 entry Shrewsbury will accept that same result. Doing the pre-test once at 10 years old covers three schools; leaving it until Year 7 covers Shrewsbury and Sevenoaks but not Eton or Harrow.

The third is readiness. The gap between the earliest and latest Shrewsbury routes is about 2 years of a child's development, which at that age is a very long time. A child who would be marginal on a Year 6 pre-test and comfortable on a Year 8 paper is not a weaker candidate; they are a candidate on the wrong route. Shrewsbury has kept both open precisely because that is common.

What none of the three turns on is preference. Shrewsbury sets the Third Form examination route by what the child's current school prepares for, not by what the family would rather sit, and the pre-test year is set by the cohort. The decision a family actually controls is when to start, and whether to sit the pre-test once for several schools or not at all.

How Does Shrewsbury Compare With the Other 13-Plus Schools?

Families applying to Shrewsbury are usually applying elsewhere too, and the 13-plus landscape is less uniform than it looks. Every one of these schools starts from a pre-test, and no two of them sit it the same way.

Because the ISEB Pre-Test is a shared assessment, a child sits it once in an academic year and the result travels to every school given their Applicant ID. What does not travel is the timing: a child sitting in Year 6 for Eton has a result Shrewsbury can use for 2028 entry onwards, but a child who sits only in Year 7 has nothing to show Eton at all.

That makes the shortlist the first decision rather than the last. If Eton or Harrow is on it, the pre-test has to happen in Year 6, and Shrewsbury will accept that result. If it is not, the Year 7 or Year 8 routes are genuinely open, and there is a year more of ordinary schooling before anything is decided.

Reviewed August 2026: the pre-test years for both cohorts, the Guaranteed Year 9 Place, the Year 8 pathway and the Common Entrance routes on this page were checked against Shrewsbury School's own admissions pages on 22 August 2026. Shrewsbury is mid-transition on the pre-test year, so confirm the arrangement for your child's cohort with the School.

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