Cheltenham Ladies' College 16+ entry admits around 45 pupils for 2027, with two registration deadlines and four assessment dates. Our tutors explain it all.
Book a Free ConsultationCheltenham Ladies' College runs a genuinely two-stage 16+ entry timetable for September 2027 entry: a non-UK school registration deadline of 1 September 2026 and a UK school registration deadline of 30 September 2026, followed by four separate Assessment Days on 12 October, 4 and 5 November, and 10 November 2026. Around 45 external pupils join the Sixth Form each September, out of a senior school of roughly 850 girls aged 11 to 18, sitting two written subject papers, adaptive reasoning tests, an interview and a group activity before offers go out the week of 1 December 2026. This guide sets out the verified 2026-27 process, fees, results and scholarship routes for families considering Cheltenham Ladies' College from Sixth Form rather than Year 7 or Year 9 - a genuinely different admissions round from the college's own 13+ entry process.
Cheltenham Ladies' College's own 16+ admissions page confirms that only "a small number of spaces" remain available in any given cycle, but does not publish an exact place count. Two independent admissions consultancies that specialise in this market - Owl Tutors and Keystone Tutors - both put the figure at around 45 new boarders and day girls joining the Sixth Form each September. Because neither figure comes from the college itself, families should treat 45 as a well-corroborated estimate rather than an official statistic, but the fact that two separately-researched sources converge on the same number gives it more weight than a single uncited claim.
That figure sits against a senior school of roughly 850 pupils aged 11 to 18, of whom approximately 80% board and 20% are day pupils - a materially different profile from many London day schools, and one reason the college can genuinely draw 16+ applicants from well beyond Gloucestershire. Founded in 1853, Cheltenham Ladies' College is one of the oldest girls' senior schools in the country, and was most recently inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in a routine inspection dated December 2025.
| 2026-27 admissions cycle fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| External Sixth Form places (estimated) | Around 45 per year |
| Total senior school roll (ages 11-18) | Approximately 850 pupils |
| Boarding / day split | Approximately 80% boarders, 20% day pupils |
| Registration deadline - non-UK schools | 1 September 2026 |
| Registration deadline / Exam Form - UK schools | 30 September 2026 |
| Scholarship application deadline | 1 October 2026 |
| Assessment Days (four dates) | 12 October; 4 & 5 November; 10 November 2026 |
| International assessment option | Singapore, 21-22 November 2026 |
| Offers released | Week of 1 December 2026 |
| Sixth Form day fee, new entrants (2026-27) | £14,460 per term |
| Sixth Form boarding fee, new entrants (2026-27) | £22,740 per term |
| Bursary support (Beale Awards) | 1%-100% of fees, means-tested |
The "two deadlines, four assessment dates" structure is genuinely how Cheltenham Ladies' College organises 16+ entry, and it catches out families who assume a single application date applies to everyone. The first deadline, 1 September 2026, applies specifically to candidates currently at non-UK schools, who typically need longer lead time for references, transcripts and, where relevant, a UKiset Profile if English is not their first language. The second deadline, 30 September 2026, applies to candidates at UK schools and is also when the college's own "Exam Form" - the document confirming a candidate's chosen assessment subjects - must be submitted. Scholarship applicants face a slightly earlier cut-off of 1 October 2026, regardless of which registration deadline applies to them.
Once registered, candidates sit their assessment on one of four published Assessment Days: 12 October, 4 November, 5 November, or 10 November 2026. Scholarship candidates are assessed specifically on 4-5 November or 10 November, by subject. International families unable to travel to Cheltenham have the option of sitting assessments in Singapore on 21-22 November 2026, though the college requires that "parents and pupils must have previously visited CLC before sitting the assessment" in Singapore - a condition easy to miss when planning an application from overseas. Offers are released the week of 1 December 2026, with acceptances due shortly afterwards.
Unlike Cheltenham Ladies' College's 13+ process, which uses the ISEB Common Pre-Test and Common Entrance papers, 16+ assessment is built entirely around each candidate's own choice of Sixth Form subjects. Candidates complete two written papers in subjects they intend to study, alongside an adaptive verbal reasoning test and a further adaptive test covering either maths and science or art and humanities, depending on their chosen subject mix. The written papers are designed to test depth of subject knowledge and analytical writing at a level closer to the start of A-level or IB study than to GCSE.
Beyond the written and adaptive components, every candidate has a one-to-one interview with Sixth Form or senior academic staff and takes part in a small group activity assessing collaboration and communication under mildly pressured conditions - a stage that several competitor guides to the school omit entirely when describing 16+ entry. Candidates applying for a scholarship undergo additional assessment specific to their category: academic scholarship candidates face extra subject interviews, music scholarship candidates (including organ) audition, and art and sport scholarship candidates submit portfolios or attend trials.
Preparing for Cheltenham Ladies' College 16+ entry?
With two separate registration deadlines, four assessment dates and a two-paper written test built entirely around a candidate's own chosen A-level or IB subjects, there is no single generic way to prepare for Cheltenham Ladies' College at 16+. Our specialist tutors build a plan around your child's actual subject choices, the adaptive reasoning components, and the interview and group activity stage.
Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot. Families who start preparing the summer before Year 11 typically arrive at their chosen Assessment Day noticeably calmer and better rehearsed than those who begin after the registration deadline has passed.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppCheltenham Ladies' College is unusual among girls' senior schools in offering pupils a genuine choice between A-levels and the International Baccalaureate Diploma at Sixth Form, and both routes produced strong outcomes in the most recent published results. Across 456 A-level entries in 2025, 35% achieved A*, 70% achieved A*-A, 87% achieved A*-B and 96% achieved A*-C. Across the smaller IB cohort of 35 students, the college's average points score was 40.6 out of a possible 45 - equivalent to roughly four A* grades at A-level - with 71.4% of the IB cohort achieving 40 or more points and 94.3% achieving 35 or more.
Feeding into these Sixth Form results, GCSE and IGCSE performance across 1,373 entries in 2025 saw 74% graded 9/8/A*, 88% graded 9-7/A*-A and 100% graded 9-4/A*-C - the academic base a 16+ candidate is effectively joining mid-stream. On university progression, the college reports 120 places secured at Oxbridge, Russell Group and Ivy League institutions in 2025, alongside 421 offers from top US colleges in the same year, with popular UK destinations including UCL, Durham, St Andrews, Cambridge, Exeter, Imperial College London and Bristol.
Yes to both categories, but they function quite differently and families researching the school sometimes conflate them. Academic, Music (including organ), Art and Sport scholarships are all available at 16+ entry, assessed through additional subject interviews, auditions or portfolios layered onto the standard Assessment Day. Crucially, Cheltenham Ladies' College states plainly that "scholarships do not carry a fee remission" - they recognise achievement with the title of Scholar rather than reducing the termly bill, which is a meaningfully different model from schools where a scholarship directly cuts fees.
Means-tested financial support instead comes through the college's Beale Award bursaries, which can cover between 1% and 100% of fees depending on family circumstances. Around 65 pupils currently hold a Beale Award, funded by approximately £1.6 million a year from the college. Eligibility is restricted to families who are UK taxpayers resident in the UK for tax purposes; overseas applicants are not eligible for bursary support, even though international families can and do apply for 16+ places on a fee-paying basis. For the current cycle, Sixth Form bursary registration closes at the end of September 2026, with assessments in early November 2026 and final bursary decisions confirmed in January 2027 - later than the general offer date, since bursary assessment runs as an additional layer on top of the standard admissions process.
This is a detail no competitor guide to Cheltenham Ladies' College currently publishes, but it is a real and verifiable cost difference. For the 2026-27 academic year, a new Sixth Form day entrant pays £14,460 a term, against £13,500 a term for a continuing pupil who has simply moved up from Year 11 (Upper College 5) - a difference of £960 a term, or just under £2,900 across a three-term academic year. The gap is proportionally similar for boarders: £22,740 a term for new entrants versus £21,300 a term for continuing pupils, a difference of £1,440 a term. Over the two years of Sixth Form study, that premium adds up to a meaningful sum that families comparing a 16+ move against staying at a pupil's current school should factor into their budgeting alongside the college's non-refundable registration costs.
These are two entirely separate admissions routes into the same college, sitting years apart with different tests, different timelines and a different competitive picture. Families who have already been through - or are currently preparing for - the college's 13+ process should not assume the same format or dates carry over to 16+.
| Factor | 13+ entry (Year 9) | 16+ entry (Sixth Form) |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment format | ISEB Common Pre-Test plus Common Entrance / CLC's own assessment | Two subject-choice written papers, adaptive verbal reasoning, adaptive maths/science or art/humanities test |
| Registration deadlines | Single published deadline | Two deadlines (non-UK: 1 Sept; UK: 30 Sept 2026) |
| Assessment dates | Set Assessment Day(s) earlier in the cycle | Four dates: 12 Oct, 4 & 5 Nov, 10 Nov 2026 |
| Interview | Not always a standard feature | One-to-one interview plus group activity for all candidates |
| Scholarships | Available at 13+ | Available at 16+ (no fee remission on either) |
| Bursary support | Available, means-tested | Available, means-tested (Beale Awards) |
| Fee structure | Standard Upper College termly fee | New-entrant premium over continuing pupils |
If your daughter is currently preparing for Cheltenham Ladies' College's 13+ entrance process, our Cheltenham Ladies' College 13+ entry guide covers that route in full, including the ISEB Common Pre-Test format and Year 9 scholarship options. This page is specifically for families whose daughter did not sit the 13+ assessment, or who are now considering a move to Cheltenham Ladies' College for Sixth Form study instead - a genuinely different question with its own subject-driven assessment format.
Because the two registration deadlines and four assessment dates compress the practical preparation window into a single autumn term, families are best served starting groundwork the summer before Year 11 ends rather than waiting for the September deadline itself. Our specialist tutors typically build preparation around three strands specific to this school's format.
The first strand is the two written subject papers: because these are chosen by the candidate rather than fixed as English and maths, preparation has to be built around the exact A-level or IB subjects a student intends to study, with particular attention to the kind of extended analytical writing the papers reward over rote GCSE-style answers. The second strand is familiarity with the adaptive verbal reasoning and maths/science-or-arts/humanities tests, which - like any adaptive assessment - reward genuine pacing practice rather than last-minute cramming. The third strand is the interview and group activity: candidates need to discuss their intended subjects with real depth and demonstrate collaborative thinking under the kind of mild pressure a small group task creates, since a school assessing roughly 45 external places a year is genuinely screening for intellectual engagement rather than simply confirming predicted grades.
For students planning ahead to university applications alongside 16+ entry, our university personal statement support and Oxbridge admissions preparation run alongside 16+ entry preparation, given the college's own reported 120 Oxbridge, Russell Group and Ivy League offers in 2025 alone. Our A-Level tuition and IB support are also available once a student joins, since the subject-specific 16+ papers are effectively a preview of the analytical depth Cheltenham Ladies' College expects from its Sixth Form. Families relocating to the area can also see our Cheltenham tutoring page for local subject and exam-preparation support near the college's Bayshill Road site.
Independent admissions consultancies Owl Tutors and Keystone Tutors both put the figure at around 45 new boarders and day girls joining Cheltenham Ladies' College's Sixth Form each September, out of a senior school of roughly 850 pupils aged 11 to 18. Cheltenham Ladies' College's own 16+ admissions page does not publish an exact place count, so families should treat 45 as a well-corroborated estimate from two independent sources rather than an official published figure. Because the college is roughly 80% boarding and 20% day overall, most 16+ places are genuinely open to both boarding and day applicants rather than being reserved primarily for local families.
For the 2026-27 admissions cycle, Cheltenham Ladies' College sets two separate registration deadlines: 1 September 2026 for applicants from non-UK schools, and 30 September 2026 for applicants from UK schools, which is also the deadline for submitting the college's Exam Form. Scholarship applications must be submitted slightly earlier, by 1 October 2026. Assessment Days then run on 12 October, 4 and 5 November, and 10 November 2026 - four dates in total - with offers released the week of 1 December 2026 and acceptances due shortly after.
Candidates complete two written papers in subjects they intend to study at Sixth Form, an adaptive verbal reasoning test, and a further adaptive test covering either maths and science or art and humanities depending on their chosen subjects. The assessment day also includes a one-to-one interview with Sixth Form or senior academic staff and a small group activity assessing collaboration and communication. International applicants unable to attend Cheltenham can sit assessments in Singapore on 21-22 November 2026, provided the family has previously visited the college in person.
Yes to both, but they work differently. Academic, Music (including organ), Art and Sport scholarships are all available at 16+ entry, assessed through additional interviews, portfolios or auditions alongside the standard assessment day - but the college states plainly that scholarships do not carry any fee remission, so they recognise achievement rather than reduce fees. Means-tested Beale Award bursaries, by contrast, can cover between 1% and 100% of fees and are held by around 65 pupils at any time, funded by roughly £1.6 million a year, though only UK taxpayer families resident in the UK for tax purposes are eligible to apply.
For 2026-27, a new Sixth Form day entrant pays £14,460 a term against £13,500 for a continuing pupil moving up from Year 11 - a difference of £960 a term, or just under £2,900 across the academic year. The gap is proportionally similar for boarders, at £22,740 a term for new entrants versus £21,300 for continuing pupils. Cheltenham Ladies' College does not explain this differential publicly, and none of the admissions consultancies covering the school's entry points mention it, but it is a real and verifiable cost difference families should budget for when comparing a 16+ move against staying at a pupil's current school.
Our specialist tutors prepare Year 11 candidates for the specific shape of Cheltenham Ladies' College's 16+ process - two written subject papers in the applicant's own chosen A-level or IB subjects, the adaptive verbal reasoning and maths/science-or-arts/humanities tests, and the interview and group activity stage. Because the college runs two separate registration deadlines and four assessment dates rather than a single sitting, we help families plan preparation around the specific date their child is registered for, rather than a generic entrance-exam timetable. Book a free consultation to discuss a plan built around your child's chosen Sixth Form subjects and application timeline.
Our specialist tutors work with Year 11 students preparing for Cheltenham Ladies' College's 16+ written papers, adaptive tests, interview and group activity, building a plan around the exact Sixth Form subjects your daughter intends to study. Rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot by parents.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsApp