Eleven Plus Academy

ISEB Common Pre-Test (11+): guide for 2028 entry

For children in Year 5 now, who would take the ISEB Common Pre-Tests in Year 6 for Year 7 entry in September 2028. Many independent schools use these tests, and each school sets its own dates. Format and session dates are taken from ISEB's own pages.

Try a free ISEB Pre-Test-style practice (3 days, no card)

At a glance

Test dates
Set by each senior school, so check with every school you apply to. ISEB has not yet published the 2027-28 session. This year's session started on Tuesday 1 September 2026 and ends in late May 2027
Registration
Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year ISEB's Guardian Portal opened on Tuesday 9 June 2026
Tests
English, Mathematics, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning
Format
Online, multiple choice and adaptive
Total time
2 hours 15 minutes at standard timing
Where
Usually at your child's current school, or at the senior school they are applying to
How often
Once. Results are shared with each senior school that is given your child's Applicant ID

Key dates

For 2028 entry (the 2027-28 testing session)

ISEB has not published the dates of the 2027-28 session yet. When we checked, its families page showed only the 2026-27 session. The date your child sits the tests, and any deadline, are set by each senior school.

Source: ISEB: ISEB Common Pre-Tests information for families

This year's dates (2026-27 session, 2027 entry), as a guide to the pattern

Tuesday 9 June 2026
Guardian Portal opened for registration for the 2026-27 session
Tuesday 1 September 2026
Live testing for the 2026-27 session started
Late May 2027
Testing for the 2026-27 session ends

Source: ISEB: ISEB Common Pre-Tests information for families

Get an email when ISEB Pre-Test publishes new 11+ dates

We check the official admissions pages every morning. When registration, test dates or results are announced, we'll send you a short email saying what changed and where to find it. We use your address for nothing else.

We email you first to confirm. Alerts come from Eleven Plus Academy, not the school. Privacy policy.

The four tests

English: 40 minutesQuestions on reading comprehension and grammar, including spelling.
Mathematics: 40 minutesQuestions based on the National Curriculum for Mathematics up to the end of Year 5.
Non-Verbal Reasoning: 30 minutesQuestions on non-verbal reasoning and spatial reasoning.
Verbal Reasoning: 25 minutesQuestions on a range of English language skills, including word meaning, comprehension, reasoning and logic.

The tests are adaptive

ISEB says the test algorithm chooses the most suitable questions for each pupil based on the questions they have already answered. Two children can therefore see different questions, and there is no fixed paper to learn.

One set of tests, many schools

ISEB says pupils only need to sit the tests once. The results are shared with each senior school that is given the child's Applicant ID. ISEB also says the results are age-standardised, so that younger and older applicants, and different test dates, can be compared fairly.

Dates and deadlines come from each school

ISEB publishes only the session as a whole. This year live testing started on Tuesday 1 September 2026 and ends in late May 2027. Within that, ISEB tells families to check with their chosen senior schools directly to confirm any test deadlines. Each school also decides what else it asks for, so read each school's own admissions page.

Get used to working on screen

Reading a passage and answering on a screen feels different from paper. ISEB provides a free test walkthrough, which is the best first step.

Five ISEB Pre-Test-style sample questions

These are our own questions, written in the style of the test so you can see the level. They are not taken from any real paper. Tap a question to see the answer and the method.

1. A charity walk is 138 km long. Priya has completed five sixths of it. How many kilometres has she walked?
  • A) 105
  • B) 110
  • C) 115
  • D) 120
Answer: C) 115. Find one sixth first: 138 ÷ 6 = 23. Five sixths is five times that: 23 × 5 = 115 km.
2. A rectangle is 14 cm long and 9 cm wide. What is its area in square centimetres?
  • A) 63
  • B) 126
  • C) 23
  • D) 46
Answer: B) 126. The area of a rectangle is length times width. 14 × 9 = 126 square centimetres. 46 is the perimeter, not the area.
3. Which word is the preposition in this sentence? The kite drifted beyond the tall chimneys.
  • A) drifted
  • B) tall
  • C) chimneys
  • D) beyond
Answer: D) beyond. A preposition shows where one thing is in relation to another. Beyond tells you where the kite drifted in relation to the chimneys. Drifted is a verb, tall is an adjective and chimneys is a noun.
4. Which word is most opposite in meaning to expand?
  • A) stretch
  • B) shrink
  • C) enlarge
  • D) explode
Answer: B) shrink. Expand means to get bigger. Shrink means to get smaller, so it is the opposite. Stretch and enlarge are close in meaning to expand.
5. Mia is taller than Tom. Tom is taller than Zara. Ali is shorter than Zara. Who is the shortest?
  • A) Ali
  • B) Mia
  • C) Tom
  • D) Zara
Answer: A) Ali. Put them in order of height. Mia is above Tom, and Tom is above Zara. Ali is below Zara, so the order is Mia, Tom, Zara, Ali. Ali is the shortest.

What a Year 5 parent can do now

  1. List the senior schools you are considering and check each one's admissions page for whether it uses the ISEB Common Pre-Tests and what its own deadlines are.
  2. Try ISEB's free test walkthrough together, and start short, regular practice in English, maths and both kinds of reasoning.
  3. Check ISEB's families page in the spring and summer of 2027 for the 2027-28 session. This year the Guardian Portal opened for registration on Tuesday 9 June 2026.

Free Year 5 baseline check: 20 questions in 15 minutes

How to prepare

Try a free ISEB Pre-Test-style mock

Set out like the papers the school or area describes, with your child's score at the end and, where the school sets a writing task, their writing marked from a photo. Where a timing is not published, ours is an estimate. Free 3-day trial, no card needed.

Start my ISEB Pre-Test-style mock

Or get a free ISEB Pre-Test-style practice paper (PDF)

Our mocks follow the published format where there is one. The timings we estimate and the questions are our own, not real past papers.

The other 32 school and area guides

Blackheath High 11+ guide · Eltham College 11+ guide · Dulwich College 11+ guide · Alleyn's 11+ guide · Kent Test guide · Bexley 11+ guide · Colfe's 11+ guide · St Olave's 11+ guide · Medway Test guide · Tiffin 11+ guide · Sutton SET guide · London 11+ Consortium guide · Latymer Upper 11+ guide · Henrietta Barnett 11+ guide · Dame Alice Owen's 11+ guide · QE Barnet 11+ guide · Redbridge 11+ guide · Buckinghamshire Transfer Test guide · Essex CSSE 11+ guide · Slough Consortium 11+ guide · Kendrick School 11+ guide · Bournemouth and Poole 11+ guide · South Wilts Grammar 11+ guide · Bishop Wordsworth's 11+ guide · Torbay grammar schools 11+ guide · Plymouth grammar schools 11+ guide · Lincolnshire 11+ guide · West Midlands grammar schools 11+ guide · Wirral 11+ guide · Ripon Grammar School 11+ guide · Lancaster Royal Grammar 11+ guide · Northern Ireland SEAG Transfer Test guide

More free practice: Free 11+ Maths practice questions → · Free 11+ Verbal Reasoning practice → · Free 11+ Fractions questions → · Free 11+ Vocabulary questions →

Quick answers

When is the ISEB Pre-Test?

Set by each senior school, so check with every school you apply to. ISEB has not yet published the 2027-28 session. This year's session started on Tuesday 1 September 2026 and ends in late May 2027.

What is in the ISEB Pre-Test?

English: 40 minutes. Questions on reading comprehension and grammar, including spelling. Mathematics: 40 minutes. Questions based on the National Curriculum for Mathematics up to the end of Year 5. Non-Verbal Reasoning: 30 minutes. Questions on non-verbal reasoning and spatial reasoning. Verbal Reasoning: 25 minutes. Questions on a range of English language skills, including word meaning, comprehension, reasoning and logic.

When do I need to register for the ISEB Pre-Test?

Not yet published for 2028 entry. This year ISEB's Guardian Portal opened on Tuesday 9 June 2026.

How can my child practise for the ISEB Pre-Test?

Try ISEB's free test walkthrough so the screen and question formats are familiar.

Sources

Checked 7 October 2026. Schools change their tests, so always confirm dates and details on the official pages below.

Eleven Plus Academy is independent. It is not affiliated with ISEB (the Independent Schools Examinations Board) or any school.