The North London Girls' Schools 11+: What Parents Need to Know for 2027 Entry

The London 11+ Consortium closes registrations on 6 November 2026 and makes offers on 12 February 2027. Henrietta Barnett's entry form closed on 1 July 2026 and its Round One was held on 2, 3 and 4 September. North London Collegiate sets paper English and Maths exams with creative writing and no reasoning tests, while the consortium's online assessment asks for no extended writing. This page puts every 2027-entry date, place number and test format in one place.

What does the 2027-entry calendar actually look like?

The registration deadlines for this group of schools are not clustered. The Henrietta Barnett School's entry form closed on 1 July 2026, and the school states "We do not accept late applications". City of London School for Girls closes on 30 October, Highgate at noon on 4 November, the consortium on 6 November and North London Collegiate on 13 November.

Here is the calendar in one place. Every cell comes from a school's own admissions page or from the consortium's own site, read on 9 October 2026. Where a cell names a month rather than a day, confirm the exact date with the school before you diarise it.

Two things jump out of that table. The first is the gap at the top. The Henrietta Barnett School's entrance test entry form closed on 1 July 2026, months before any independent school on the list closes its registrations. The second is that the offer dates converge even though the deadlines do not: the consortium schools, City of London School for Girls and North London Collegiate all send offers on Friday 12 February 2027, and Highgate sends its offers in early February.

The acceptance deadline then does the squeezing. The consortium wants a decision by 12 noon on Wednesday 3 March 2027, which is just under three weeks after offers are sent. City of London School for Girls says all offer holders will be "invited to visit the school one last time before the acceptance deadline", and North London Collegiate invites everyone who has been offered a place to an offer holders' event. Our entrance exam preparation planning starts from the calendar.

Which schools are actually in the London 11+ Consortium?

The consortium's own Code of Practice names its members, and that is the list to use. It runs: Channing School, Francis Holland (Regent's Park), Francis Holland (Sloane Square), Godolphin and Latymer, More House, Northwood College for Girls, Notting Hill and Ealing High School, Queen's College, Queen's Gate School, South Hampstead High School, St Augustine's Priory, St Helen's School and St Margaret's School. Thirteen schools, one shared assessment, one shared offer date.

The more useful half of the question is which North London schools are not in it, because each of those has its own application, format and dates. Four matter here: The Henrietta Barnett School, North London Collegiate School, Highgate and City of London School for Girls. None of the four is named in the consortium's list.

City of London School for Girls is not a consortium school: it sets a computer-based Cambridge Select Insight test in November and its own English and maths papers in January. Highgate is co-educational and is not a consortium member either; its admissions policy provides for "approximately 80 (girls and boys)" new places in Year 7.

South Hampstead High School is a consortium member. Its own admissions page gives the same three test dates, and the school hosts the test on the first two of them for candidates whose own school cannot host it.

What is actually on the consortium assessment?

The consortium assessment is taken online rather than on paper, in six timed components with a break after the fourth. The consortium's own FAQs give the order and the times: 20 + 10 + 20 + 10 + 15 + 25 minutes comes to 100 minutes of testing, which the consortium describes as a test that is "100 minutes in total", and it describes the break as "up to 30 minutes". Channing's admissions page repeats the structure.

Three of the six sections are computer-adaptive: Maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. The consortium says "The adaptive nature ensures every child can have a good experience completing the assessment" because the questions are tailored to each candidate's performance, so every candidate answers different questions in those three sections. The other three sections — English, Problem Solving and Creative Comprehension — are non-adaptive: all candidates see exactly the same questions, with different content on each of the three exam days.

The English section is comprehension plus spelling and grammar, built on a piece of fiction written specially for the exam, and the consortium says "There is no extended writing required". The final section, Creative Comprehension, is a different task: candidates "use information from a variety of different sources" to answer questions. Because no extended writing is required, the consortium adds, "typing ability will not impact on results".

The consortium states that the Maths questions are based on the National Curriculum for Year 5 and that it does not test anything on the Year 6 curriculum, and that it provides "stretch and challenge through the style and depth of the questions we ask". On preparation, its own guidance is that "your daughter does not need special tuition or intensive practice for this assessment". Our subject tuition for this group deliberately works backwards from the Year 5 curriculum.

The assessment is a collaboration between the consortium and Quest Assessments, and the consortium describes it as "almost entirely bespoke". The consortium recommends that every candidate looks at its familiarisation materials. During the test a clock on screen counts down in minutes for each section, and once a section is completed, candidates cannot go back to amend it. We run admissions test support for computer-delivered assessments generally.

Where does she sit it, and does the venue change anything?

A candidate sits the consortium assessment once, however many member schools she has applied to, and the results are shared with all the schools at which she is registered. For a family looking at four member schools, that means one sitting, not four.

The consortium says the assessment is taken in the candidate's current school where possible and that, where that is not possible, she sits it at a consortium school to which she has applied; families name a first and a second choice of exam centre, and the location has "no bearing on the outcome of the application". If her school can host the assessment, the consortium asks families to use that facility. The sittings fall on one of three dates — Friday 27 November, Tuesday 1 December or Thursday 3 December 2026 — and not every host runs all three. South Hampstead High School hosts on the first two of those dates only, for candidates whose own school cannot host the test. Channing, which has approximately 75 places available in Year 7 for girls applying from other schools, offers its assessment on 27 November 2026 only.

Because the non-adaptive content differs across the three sittings, results are standardised "to ensure parity between candidates taking the assessment on different days", and the consortium says candidates "do not gain any advantage by sitting the test on a later test date". The North London Collegiate entrance exam is on Thursday 3 December 2026, which is also one of the three consortium dates, so a candidate applying to both needs to check which date her school or her chosen exam centre will run.

Access arrangements have to be evidenced by the application deadline. For the Autumn 2026 testing series the consortium "will be guided by the 2025-26 JCQ regulations": candidates who have been assessed by a professional and "identified with a learning difficulty or particularly uneven learning profile" may have 25% extra time as long as they have two below-average standardised scores of 84 or less, or one of 84 or less and one low-average score (85 to 89), relating to two different areas of speed of working. Written evidence from both specialist and school is due by Friday 6 November 2026, and the consortium asks families to contact the schools they have applied to "well in advance of the deadline".

Henrietta Barnett: the earliest deadline and a distance rule that outranks your score

The Henrietta Barnett School is a state school that admits by academic selection. Its Published Admission Number for Year 7 is 120. Its Entrance Test Entry Form closed at 5pm on Wednesday 1 July 2026, and it is separate from the Common Application Form returned to your local authority, which the school's FAQs date as 31 October 2026 (admissions policy 2027-2028, admissions FAQs).

There are two rounds. Round One, a verbal, non-verbal and English test set by a nationally recognised body, was held in morning or afternoon sessions on 2, 3 and 4 September 2026. Round Two, for at least the highest-ranked 300 candidates from Round One, was scheduled for Tuesday 6 October 2026 and consists of a 60 minute English paper and a 50 minute Maths paper (admissions policy, admissions page).

That shortlist is the number worth carrying around. The policy says "the highest ranked (top 300) candidates will be invited back to sit the Round Two test". The policy adds that if there is a tie at the cut-off score, "all those with the tied score will be invited to sit the Round Two test". Against a Published Admission Number of 120, that is 300 divided by 120, or at least 2.5 candidates per place at the second stage, and more if candidates tie at the cut-off. That figure counts only the candidates invited to Round Two; it is not a ratio of all applicants to places. Candidates who are not invited to Round Two are told their overall standardised score and the cut-off score for the top 300.

The distance rule is the other thing to know. Henrietta Barnett's FAQs say "There is no catchment area", but its oversubscription criteria place a distance criterion above the open rank order. Criterion Three covers candidates who currently live within 3 miles of the school at the point they submit their application to the local authority in October, and a candidate in that category is "considered to have the necessary capability if they sit the Round Two test". Criterion Four is "All remaining candidates in rank score order". The school's FAQs say those living within 3 miles "will be offered places ahead of the rest of the applicants in rank order". In plain terms, a nearer child with a lower qualifying score can be offered a place ahead of a further child with a higher one. A candidate living beyond 3 miles is considered under Criterion Four.

Round One was held on 2, 3 and 4 September 2026, before any of the independent schools on this page closed its registrations. For Round One, the school's admissions FAQs point families to GL Assessment familiarisation booklets, which include "packs of free materials".

NLCS: paper English and Maths exams, with creative writing and no reasoning tests

North London Collegiate School is not a consortium member, and its exam differs from the consortium assessment in medium, content and structure. Its papers are sat on paper rather than on a computer. There are two of them, English and Maths, each lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes. The English paper includes comprehension and creative writing. And on reasoning the school says: "We do not use verbal or non verbal reasoning tests" as part of its assessment process.

Put the two side by side and the difference is clear. The consortium tests verbal and non-verbal reasoning and says "There is no extended writing required". NLCS asks for creative writing in its English paper and does not use reasoning tests. A family applying to both is preparing for one online assessment and two paper exams, and the NLCS exam on Thursday 3 December 2026 falls on one of the three consortium dates.

NLCS states that around 70 to 75 places are available for external applicants joining Year 7 each year, and that they join the 45 or so girls moving up from the school's own Junior School. So the external cohort is the larger part of that year group, which is not true everywhere on this list — at Highgate, around 105 pupils come up from the Junior School against approximately 80 external places.

Registration closes at 4.00pm on Friday 13 November 2026, one week after the consortium deadline. The entrance exam is on Thursday 3 December 2026, and a number of students are then invited back for a 30-minute interview, between Monday 11 and Friday 22 January 2027, which includes "further Maths and English testing, in the form of verbal questions". Parents are not interviewed at NLCS.

Highgate and City of London School for Girls: two more formats to plan around

Highgate is co-educational: its admissions policy provides for "approximately 80 (girls and boys)" new places. Your daughter would be applying to a mixed Year 7, not to a girls' school. The school hopes to welcome approximately 80 new children into Year 7 alongside around 105 pupils moving up from Year 6 of its own Junior School, so the external intake is the minority of the year group rather than the majority.

Applications close at noon on Wednesday 4 November 2026, two days before the consortium deadline. The first stage is English and Mathematics papers taken at the school in early December. The second stage, in January, is "a group interview and taster lessons" rather than a one-to-one interview, and a significant proportion of candidates are invited back for it. Highgate's policy says "The interview is not a second academic test": candidates are interviewed in groups, which test their listening skills, their ability to collaborate with other children and their problem-solving ability.

City of London School for Girls closes registration first of every independent school here, on Friday 30 October 2026, and it is not a consortium member. Its first assessment is a one-hour computer-based test called Cambridge Select Insight, assessing numerical, verbal and non-verbal skills, sat at the school between 13 and 18 November 2026. Pupils who are successful return on Wednesday 6 January 2027 for a 45-minute English paper, testing creative writing and analytical skills, and a 45-minute maths paper, testing problem-solving, with interviews between Monday 11 and Thursday 21 January 2027 (City of London School for Girls 11+ admissions).

On preparation, City of London School for Girls says the assessment is "designed not to be ‘tutorable’" and recommends that applicants look at its familiarisation material, maths sample paper and English sample paper. Despite closing first, City of London School for Girls still sends its offers on the shared date of Friday 12 February 2027, so an early deadline buys no early answer.

Who gets an interview, and when?

Interviews differ from school to school in who gets one, in what it consists of, and in when it happens.

The consortium names Godolphin and Latymer and South Hampstead High School as schools that select for interview from the assessment, and says "Some Consortium schools select for interview, and some do not". Queen's College London, by contrast, invites every applicant to interview, between 4 and 7 January 2027. If your daughter interviews well and tests indifferently, those are materially different propositions, and it is a reasonable thing to weigh when you build the list. South Hampstead, for context, welcomes approximately 55 new girls into the school each year alongside those moving up from its Junior School.

The dates are the second problem. Godolphin and Latymer runs a single interview date, Friday 15 January 2027, and states "We are unable to offer an alternative date". South Hampstead also uses one date, Wednesday 20 January 2027. NLCS interviews between 11 and 22 January, Highgate runs its group sessions in January, and City of London School for Girls holds its second assessment on Wednesday 6 January and its interviews between 11 and 21 January. January 2027 is not a month in which to book a family holiday.

On preparation for the interview, the consortium says "We actively discourage preparation for the interview", and that its interviewers are "experienced in putting nervous candidates at their ease". It says it is looking for "evidence of creative and independent thinking, and suitability for our schools".

How do you sequence preparation when the deadlines are months apart?

Once the calendar is right, the order of the work follows from it.

Henrietta Barnett came first: its entry form closed on 1 July 2026, Round One was held on 2, 3 and 4 September and Round Two was scheduled for 6 October (admissions page). After that, the first assessment on this page is the City of London School for Girls Cambridge Select Insight test, between 13 and 18 November 2026, ahead of the consortium sittings from 27 November.

Between October and mid-November the work is mostly administrative. Henrietta Barnett's FAQs date the local authority Common Application Form as 31 October 2026, and the other registration windows close in that stretch: City of London School for Girls on 30 October 2026, Highgate at noon on 4 November, the consortium on 6 November 2026 and North London Collegiate on 13 November 2026. Access-arrangement evidence has to be in by the consortium deadline.

The assessments differ in format. For the consortium, the assessment is online: timed sections, three of them adaptive, and no returning to a section once it is completed. For NLCS, both exams are on paper and the English paper includes creative writing. City of London School for Girls starts with a computer-based test and then sets English and maths papers in January. Running the online consortium assessment and the paper exams as two clearly labelled tracks — the online reasoning track and the paper writing track — is how we structure preparation for selective school entry for North London families.

The assessments and interviews then run from late November through January: the consortium assessment on 27 November, 1 December or 3 December, North London Collegiate on 3 December, Highgate in early December, and interviews through January. The consortium, City of London School for Girls and North London Collegiate send offers on 12 February 2027, Highgate in early February, and Henrietta Barnett's come through the local authority on 1 March 2027; the consortium wants an answer by 12 noon on 3 March 2027. Families also considering entry higher up the school can read about senior school pre-tests.

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