Independents, state grammars and the Buckinghamshire late-transfer test compared for 2026-27 entry.
Book a Free ConsultationThere is no single "13+ exam" in Reading the way there is an 11+ test. Reading's 13+ options split three ways, and each works completely differently. Four independent schools — Reading Blue Coat, Queen Anne's Caversham, The Abbey and Leighton Park — take Year 9 entrants through their own school-set assessments, not Common Entrance and not the ISEB Common Pre-Test. Reading's two state grammars, Reading School and Kendrick School, only admit at 13 when a vacancy happens to arise, not through any scheduled test. And the one genuine, scheduled county-run 12+/13+ grammar test anywhere nearby belongs to Buckinghamshire, next door — not to Reading. Below is what each route actually involves, with real dates, fees and sources, so you prepare for the right thing rather than a generic "13 Plus" package built around an exam Reading families don't actually sit.
Families who have been through — or researched — the Reading 11+ often expect something similar at 13: a single scheduled exam, run by the school or the local authority, with a published date and a pass mark. That expectation does not hold. Reading Borough Council does not run a 13+ test of any kind, and neither of Reading's two state grammar schools, Reading School and Kendrick School, sets a scheduled Year 9 entrance exam. Both instead describe 13+ entry using near-identical language: admission only when a vacancy is created by a pupil leaving, tested on an ad-hoc basis rather than a fixed annual round. That makes the 11+ the only scheduled route into either school, which is why families who want one usually plan from Year 4 — our guide to 11+ tuition in Reading sets out Reading School’s July and September sittings, Kendrick’s September test and the November independent papers as a single timetable.
This matters because it changes what "preparing for 13+ in Reading" should actually mean. A family assuming Reading School runs a Year 9 equivalent of its Year 7 test, and starting a year of grammar-style verbal and non-verbal reasoning practice on that assumption, is preparing for an exam that in most years simply will not be offered. The honest starting point is to work out which of the three real routes — independent own-assessment, state-grammar in-year vacancy, or the neighbouring Buckinghamshire test — actually applies, and prepare for that one.
This is where scheduled, genuinely bookable 13+ places exist in the Reading area. All four schools set their own assessment rather than sitting a shared exam — a distinction worth stating plainly, because none of the four uses Common Entrance or the ISEB Common Pre-Test, the formats most generic "13 Plus tutoring" packages are built around.
| School | Own 13+ Assessment | When Assessed | Registration / Fee | Year 9 Termly Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Blue Coat (Sonning-on-Thames) | Own online test: English, Maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning | Assessment Day, Autumn Term of Year 7 | Admissions deadline 30 October 2026 | £8,700 (all year groups, 2026-27) |
| Queen Anne's (Caversham) | "Queen Anne's assessments": English, Maths, Reasoning | Mid-January, or a Year 6/7 pre-test deferred to Year 9 | — | £10,733 (Year 9 day fee, 2025-26) |
| The Abbey (Reading) | Own formal assessment: Maths, English, Reasoning | Year 7 assessment day | £120 registration fee, non-refundable | £9,050 (Year 9 / Lower IV, VAT inclusive) |
| Leighton Park (Reading) | Own academic assessment, references and interview | January assessment day | £150 registration fee (UK/EEA) | £11,890 (Year 9 day student, 2026-27) |
Reading Blue Coat's own admissions process page describes its Year 9 route plainly: students are invited to an Assessment Day in the Autumn Term of Year 7 — more than a year ahead of entry — sitting an online test in English, Mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning, alongside an interview and team-building activities. Worth noting for geography: Reading Blue Coat's own site is at Holme Park, Sonning Lane, Sonning-on-Thames, not inside Reading itself, even though the school is universally searched as a Reading school.
Queen Anne's School in Caversham offers two 13+ routes. Girls can sit "Queen Anne's assessments" directly for Year 9 entry — English, Maths and Reasoning, held mid-January — or sit a Year 6/7 pre-test with the place deferred to Year 9 a year or two later. Termly day fees for Year 9 (U4s) and above stand at £10,733 for the 2025-26 year.
The Abbey assesses Year 7 entrants formally in Maths, English and Reasoning, backed by a non-refundable £120 registration fee before formal assessment can begin. Its published fees table is worth reading carefully: the Year 9 (Lower IV) band is £9,050 per term, VAT inclusive — a different, higher figure than the £8,775 charged for Years 7-8, so budgeting off the wrong row understates the real termly cost.
Leighton Park takes 25 new pupils into Year 9 each year, alongside those moving up internally from its Year 8 house. Its fees page lists a £150 registration fee for UK and EEA families and a Year 9 day-student fee of £11,890 per term for 2026-27 — noticeably higher than its Years 7-8 rate, another case where checking the specific year band matters.
Geography is worth being precise about here, because directory listings often are not. Reading Blue Coat sits in Sonning-on-Thames, a separate village to the east of Reading rather than inside the town itself. Queen Anne's is in Caversham — which, unlike Sonning, is a district of Reading on the north bank of the Thames, within the borough boundary rather than a neighbouring settlement. The Abbey and Leighton Park are both sited within Reading proper. None of this changes which assessment a family's child actually sits, but it does change which school genuinely counts as "in Reading" when a marketplace listing claims otherwise.
Preparing for 13+ entry to a Reading independent?
Because Reading Blue Coat, Queen Anne's, The Abbey and Leighton Park each set their own assessment rather than a shared exam, generic "13 Plus" resources built around Common Entrance or ISEB Pre-Test papers are the wrong material. Leading Tuition tailors preparation to the specific school's actual test format, subjects and timing.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppThis is the honest half of the answer, and it sells nothing: neither of Reading's state grammar schools runs a scheduled 13+ exam. Reading School's own in-year entry page states that "In-Year Admissions can occur when a student on roll leaves the school and creates a vacancy," in any of Years 7 to 11. Families are either invited to sit a planned test in the Summer term, or a test with two weeks' notice as and when a vacancy actually arises — and the school is explicit that "in-year enrolments are rare." Registrations for September 2026 entry were already closed at the time of writing. When a test is set, it "will comprise of a range of content relevant to the National Curriculum of the intended year group" — a general-curriculum test, not a grammar-style reasoning paper.
Kendrick School's admissions page uses almost identical language: the school "routinely admit[s] into Year 7 and Year 12" only, and non-routine admissions to Years 8, 9 and 10 happen solely "when the number of students on roll for a particular year group falls below the admission number." There is no annual Year 9 entrance round to register for. For families who want the fuller picture of how in-year and late-transfer admissions work at grammar schools generally — waiting lists, vacancy timing, what evidence schools ask for — the detail is covered in our guide to joining a grammar school after Year 7, which this page won't repeat.
The one genuine, scheduled county-run 12+/13+ grammar test in the wider area is not a Reading test at all — it belongs to Buckinghamshire, the neighbouring authority. Buckinghamshire Council's own late-transfer page is explicit about who can apply: a child "can only apply for a grammar school place in Year 8 or 9 under two circumstances" — if they have moved into Buckinghamshire from outside the county, or if they already sat the original transfer test. A Reading family who has not moved into Buckinghamshire, and whose child never sat a Bucks transfer test, cannot simply register.
For families who do qualify, the 2026-27 cycle runs to a fixed timetable: registration between 5 and 23 October 2026, the test itself on Saturday 6 February 2027, and results released on 27 March 2027. Nine Buckinghamshire grammar schools take late-transfer applicants — Aylesbury Grammar, Aylesbury High, Beaconsfield High, Burnham Grammar, Chesham Grammar, John Hampden Grammar, The Royal Latin School (Year 8 only), Sir Henry Floyd Grammar and Wycombe High. The council's own figures are a useful reality check on how competitive this route is: for September 2026 entry, "no places were offered for either Year 8 or Year 9 in the first round of allocations." For the general mechanics of how a late-transfer or in-year grammar application works once a family does qualify, see our grammar school in-year admissions guide rather than this page repeating it.
Because Reading's 13+ routes are three genuinely different things, "13 Plus tutoring" is not one product here. A child sitting Reading Blue Coat's Year 9 assessment needs English, Maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning practice in the school's own online format — not Common Entrance past papers, which that assessment does not use. A child whose family is hoping for a Reading School or Kendrick in-year vacancy needs, at most, general National Curriculum consolidation for their year group, since that is what the school's own page says the test covers when — rarely — one is set; heavy grammar-style reasoning drilling is effort spent on the wrong skill. A family who has genuinely moved into, or is moving into, Buckinghamshire and qualifies for the late-transfer test needs GL-Assessment-style verbal, maths and non-verbal reasoning preparation instead, on the council's published 2026-27 timetable above.
Where a family is also considering a school outside Reading that does use Common Entrance or the ISEB Common Pre-Test — because many boarding and London day schools do — that is genuinely different preparation again, and worth treating as a separate track rather than folding into "generic 13+ prep" alongside Reading's own-assessment schools. Leading Tuition builds a preparation plan around the actual school and route a family is targeting, rather than assuming every 13+ candidate needs the same syllabus.
In practice, the first step with any new Reading family is establishing exactly which of these three routes is actually live for their child, because the answer changes the entire plan. A family targeting Reading Blue Coat or The Abbey needs the best part of a year of dedicated, school-specific practice ahead of an Autumn Term Year 7 assessment day. A family hoping for a Reading School or Kendrick vacancy is better served checking directly with the school for live places before committing to any structured programme at all, given how rarely non-routine testing is actually set. A family who has genuinely moved into Buckinghamshire, by contrast, has a fixed timetable to work backwards from. Getting this diagnosis right before booking any tuition is, in our experience, worth more than any single hour of teaching that follows it.
No. None of Reading's four Year 9-entry independents — Reading Blue Coat, Queen Anne's Caversham, The Abbey or Leighton Park — uses the ISEB Common Pre-Test or traditional Common Entrance papers for 13+ entry. Each sets its own assessment. Reading Blue Coat's is an online test in English, Maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, sat in the Autumn Term of Year 7. Queen Anne's calls its version "Queen Anne's assessments" — English, Maths and Reasoning, sat mid-January. The Abbey and Leighton Park both run their own formal Maths, English and Reasoning-based assessments too. A child prepped only on Common Entrance past papers is practising for an exam none of these four schools actually sets.
Only if a vacancy happens to arise. Reading School's own admissions page states that in-year admissions "can occur when a student on roll leaves the school and creates a vacancy," in any of Years 7 to 11, and that families will either sit a planned test in the Summer term or a test with two weeks' notice once a place opens. The school is explicit that in-year enrolments "are rare," and registrations for September 2026 entry were already closed. When a test does run, it covers National Curriculum content for the relevant year group, not a grammar-style reasoning paper.
Yes. Kendrick School states plainly that it routinely admits into Year 7 and Year 12 only. Year 8, 9 and 10 places are non-routine: they open only when a vacancy is created because the number of students on roll for that year group falls below the admission number. There is no scheduled Year 9 entrance exam at Kendrick the way there is a Year 7 11+ test, so a family cannot register in advance for "13+ at Kendrick" the way they might for one of Reading's four independent schools.
Only in specific circumstances. Buckinghamshire's late grammar school testing — its 12+ and 13+ route — is open only to pupils who have moved into Buckinghamshire from outside the county, or who already sat the original transfer test. For the 2026-27 cycle, registration runs 5 to 23 October 2026, the test is sat on Saturday 6 February 2027, and results are released on 27 March 2027. Nine Buckinghamshire grammar schools take late-transfer applicants, though The Royal Latin School accepts Year 8 only. A Reading family not moving into Buckinghamshire cannot simply register for this test.
Termly fees vary by school. Reading Blue Coat charges £8,700 per term across all year groups for 2026-27. Queen Anne's Caversham lists its Year 9 (U4s) day fee at £10,733 per term for 2025-26. The Abbey's Year 9 (Lower IV) fee is £9,050 per term, VAT inclusive — higher than its Years 7-8 band of £8,775, a distinction worth checking carefully before budgeting. Leighton Park's Year 9 day-student fee for 2026-27 is £11,890 per term, plus a £150 registration fee for UK and EEA families.
Reading Blue Coat's own admissions page describes its Year 9 online assessment as covering English, Mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Students are invited to an Assessment Day in the Autumn Term of Year 7 — over a year before entry — which also includes an interview and team-building activities. The admissions deadline is Friday 30 October 2026. The school's main site is in Sonning-on-Thames, just outside Reading itself, though it is widely searched as a Reading school.
Not without checking which school your child is targeting first. A tutor preparing a child for Common Entrance or the ISEB Pre-Test is practising the wrong format for every one of Reading's four independents, none of which uses either. Reading School and Kendrick need no exam preparation at all unless an in-year vacancy actually opens, since both admit through rare, vacancy-triggered testing rather than a scheduled 13+ exam. Leading Tuition matches preparation to the specific school and route — independent own-assessment, state-grammar in-year test, or the Buckinghamshire late-transfer format — rather than a single generic package.
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