Real 16+ (Sixth Form / Year 12) entrance specimen papers from UK independent schools — organised by school and subject, linking straight to each school's own published PDF.
Every paper below is a free, direct link to the school's own PDF — no account, no payment. If you'd like a specialist tutor to mark your child's attempt and build a subject-specific 16+ preparation plan around it, book a free consultation.
Our specialist tutors prepare Year 11 students for 16+ / Sixth Form entrance assessments in the specific A-Level subjects each school tests, plus the critical-thinking and interview components most 16+ processes include. Book a free consultation to find out how we can help.
Book a Free Consultation16+ entry — also called Sixth Form entry or Year 12 entry — is how UK independent schools admit new students directly into Year 12, the first year of A-Levels (or the IB Diploma). It is the main "second wave" of entry into schools such as Dulwich College, Magdalen College School, Latymer Upper School and Forest School, sitting alongside the more familiar 11+ and 13+ entry points. Because candidates are joining straight into sixth-form study, the assessment is built around the specific subjects a student wants to take at A-Level rather than a single generic exam.
That single fact is what makes 16+ papers structurally different from 11+ or 13+ Common Entrance papers. An 11+ candidate sits Maths, English and often Verbal/Non-Verbal Reasoning; a 13+ candidate sits Common Entrance papers set by the ISEB across a fixed core curriculum. A 16+ candidate, by contrast, sits individual subject papers — Biology, Economics, History, French, Politics and so on — chosen to match the A-Level subjects on their application form, plus (at many schools) a general critical-thinking or cognitive-ability paper and a formal interview. There is no single "16+ syllabus": each school sets its own papers in its own subjects, on its own timetable, which is exactly why real, school-published specimen papers are so much harder to find online than 11+ or 13+ papers — and so much more valuable when you do find them.
We have verified 40 genuine 16+ / Year 12 entry specimen papers, published directly on the admissions pages of 4 UK independent schools, covering subjects across Maths, the Sciences, Humanities, Languages and English. Every link below goes straight to the school's own PDF — we do not host, edit or re-upload the papers themselves.
| School | Subjects Available | Entry Point |
|---|---|---|
| Dulwich College | 19 subjects — Maths, Sciences, Humanities, Languages, English Literature, Music | Year 12 (16+) entry |
| Magdalen College School, Oxford | 19 subjects — Maths, Sciences, Humanities, Languages, English, Music | Sixth Form (16+) entry |
| Latymer Upper School | Maths | 16+ entry |
| Forest School | Mini-essay / critical thinking | 16+ entry |
Sources: Dulwich College Year 12 entry, Magdalen College School sixth-form sample papers, Latymer Upper School sample papers and Forest School 16+ entry (all verified live, August 2026).
Two schools in particular are worth calling out. Magdalen College School in Oxford publishes 19 separate subject papers for its sixth-form entry assessment — and, unusually, also publishes its own free mark schemes for four of them (Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics). Where a school has already made its own answers public, we link straight to that official mark scheme — you'll see a green "Free Mark Scheme" button next to those four papers in the table below. Dulwich College publishes an even wider spread, with 19 separate Year 12 entrance specimen papers running from Mathematics and the three sciences through to Classical Civilisation, Philosophy, Religious Studies and five modern and classical languages.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppEvery school runs its own process, but most follow a similar three-part structure. First, a registration stage in the autumn or winter of Year 11, usually with a non-refundable administration fee and a reference request sent to the candidate's current school. Second, written assessments — typically one paper in each of the two or three A-Level subjects the candidate wants to study, sat over a single day in late October or November, sometimes alongside a separate general critical-thinking or cognitive-ability test (Whitgift School, for example, sets a dedicated Critical Thinking Skills paper alongside two subject papers; Forest School runs a computer-based reasoning test plus a written mini-essay). Third, a shortlisting interview, usually 15–30 minutes with a senior member of staff, focused on genuine subject interest and academic potential at A-Level rather than rehearsed answers.
GCSE performance also matters a great deal at 16+, because most schools set a minimum points threshold before a candidate is even invited to sit the written papers. City of London School, for instance, publishes detailed guidance on its expected grade profile; Whitgift School specifies a minimum of 54 GCSE points from eight subjects (broadly six grade 7s and two grade 6s). Because thresholds and exact processes vary by school and change year to year, always check the current cycle's published admissions page for the school you are applying to — the table above links directly to each school's official page.
Because 16+ papers are set in the specific subject a candidate wants to study, they are designed to test readiness for A-Level content rather than GCSE recall. A Maths paper will typically draw on GCSE Higher-tier topics used as a foundation for A-Level (algebraic manipulation, functions, trigonometric identities), stretching into problems that require the kind of multi-step reasoning A-Level Maths demands. A History or Politics paper will usually present unfamiliar source material or a stimulus essay question and ask the candidate to construct an argument, testing analytical writing rather than memorised content. Language papers commonly combine a comprehension passage with a short piece of free writing in the target language, gauging genuine fluency rather than rote vocabulary. Reading two or three real specimen papers in a candidate's chosen subjects — from the table above — is one of the fastest ways to understand exactly what "ready for A-Level" looks like at a specific school.
Most 16+ registration deadlines fall in September or early autumn of Year 11, with written assessments in late October or November and interviews following a few weeks later. That means meaningful preparation should ideally begin over the summer between Year 10 and Year 11 — well before GCSE mocks and coursework deadlines start competing for a student's time. A sensible timeline looks like this: summer before Year 11 for subject-specific groundwork in the two or three A-Level subjects a student is targeting; September to October for timed past-paper practice using genuine specimen papers like the ones on this page; late October to November for the written assessments themselves; and November into December for interview preparation once shortlisting decisions come through.
Because 16+ candidates are simultaneously revising for GCSEs, the biggest risk is leaving 16+-specific preparation until study leave, by which point there is very little runway left before assessment day. Starting early, and using genuine school-set papers rather than generic practice material, gives a much clearer picture of the standard each school actually expects.
Unlike 11+ and 13+, where a handful of exam boards (GL Assessment, CEM, the ISEB) set common papers sat by many schools, 16+ entry has no shared syllabus at all — every school writes its own papers, in its own subjects, and very few choose to publish them publicly. That is why this page lists 40 verified papers rather than the 30–40 you might expect from a comparable 13+ resource: we checked directly on the admissions pages of dozens of well-known 16+ schools (including Westminster, Eton, Harrow, St Paul's, Winchester, King's College School Wimbledon, Highgate, Sevenoaks and Wellington College) and most either publish no specimen papers at all, or describe the assessment format without releasing an actual paper. Where a school genuinely does publish specimen papers — as Dulwich College, Magdalen College School, Latymer Upper School and Forest School currently do — we have linked directly to every one we could verify as live.
Where a school has published its own mark scheme, we link to it for free — you'll see this for four Magdalen College School subjects (Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics) in the table below. Most schools do not publish a mark scheme alongside their specimen paper, so for the remaining papers there is no official answer key to link to — we say so plainly in the table rather than guessing at answers. If you'd like a specialist tutor to mark your child's attempt and talk through where marks were gained or lost, that's exactly what a free consultation is for.
13+ Common Entrance is a fixed set of papers, largely set by the ISEB, sat by candidates joining Year 9 across a common curriculum of Maths, English, Science and other core subjects. 16+ entry is different: candidates are joining directly into Year 12 (the first year of A-Levels), so each school sets its own papers in the specific A-Level subjects a candidate wants to study, alongside an interview and often a general critical-thinking or cognitive-ability test. There is no shared 16+ syllabus across schools, which is why specimen papers are much harder to find than for 13+.
We have verified 40 live, school-published 16+ / Year 12 entry specimen papers across 4 schools: Dulwich College (19 subjects), Magdalen College School, Oxford (19 subjects, including four with free published mark schemes), Latymer Upper School (Maths) and Forest School (mini-essay / critical thinking). Every link goes to the school's own admissions page or document library.
We checked the official admissions pages of all of these schools directly. As of August 2026, none of them publish downloadable 16+ specimen papers publicly — they describe the assessment format and subjects tested but do not release an actual paper for candidates to practise with. We only list papers we can verify are genuinely live on a school's own website; we do not invent or reproduce papers we have not seen. If that changes, we will add the school to this page.
Yes, at almost every school. Written subject papers are typically used to shortlist candidates, and a formal interview (usually 15–30 minutes with a senior teacher or head of department) follows for those invited forward. Interviews at 16+ focus heavily on genuine subject interest, wider reading and academic potential at A-Level, rather than rehearsed answers — schools can generally tell the difference. Some schools, including Forest School and Whitgift School, also include a separate critical-thinking or general-reasoning component alongside the subject papers.
Requirements vary by school and by how competitive that school's Sixth Form is, so always check the specific school's current published guidance rather than relying on a general rule of thumb. As one published example, Whitgift School specifies a minimum of 54 GCSE points across eight subjects (broadly equivalent to six grade 7s and two grade 6s or higher). Many academically selective schools expect a broadly similar profile, alongside strong grades specifically in the subjects a candidate wants to continue at A-Level.
Most registration deadlines fall in September of Year 11, with written assessments in late October or November. We recommend starting subject-specific preparation over the summer between Year 10 and Year 11, so it does not clash with GCSE mocks and coursework deadlines once Year 11 begins in earnest. Working through genuine specimen papers in a candidate's target A-Level subjects, under timed conditions, is one of the most effective ways to prepare in the final few months before assessment day.
Leading Tuition provides specialist one-to-one tutoring for 16+ / Sixth Form entrance candidates in the specific A-Level subjects each school tests, plus structured preparation for the critical-thinking papers and interviews most 16+ processes include. Our tutors work through genuine past papers — including the ones on this page — identify gaps against A-Level readiness, and run mock interviews modelled on each school's real process. We are rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot. Book a free consultation to discuss a personalised preparation plan.