Chigwell School 11 plus guide

Are you thinking about applying to Chigwell School for 11+ entry? Find out everything you need to know about the admissions process and how to prepare for the entrance exam.

Key information for Chigwell School

• School type: co-educational independent day school
• Location: Chigwell, Essex
• Admissions contact: admissions@chigwell-school.org
• 11+ exam: Quest Admissions and creative writing
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries
• Scholarships: academic, music, and sport

Important dates for 2027 entry

• Saturday 14th November and Saturday 28th November 2026: interviews (meetings with the school)
• Wednesday 25th November 2026: application deadline
• Saturday 9th January 2027: entrance exam
• Thursday 18th February 2027: results are emailed to parents
• Friday 5th March 2027: deadline for accepting offers

How to apply to Chigwell School

Chigwell School is selective. This means that your child will need to take an entrance exam to be eligible for a place.

You must register your child for Year 7 entry via the school website. A non-refundable registration fee of £180 applies. The school advises registering as early as possible, as most interviews take place before the application closing date.

Before the entrance exam, the school invites all candidates to a meeting. This takes place in two parts: parents meet with a senior member of staff to discuss the school and their child's strengths and interests, while candidates are seen separately. The whole process takes around 30 minutes. A confidential report form is also sent to your child's current school.

Chigwell School uses an entrance exam that includes online tests provided by Quest Admissions, alongside a written creative writing task. The exam takes place in January when your child is in Year 6.

You will receive your child's results in February. If they are offered a place, you will have until early March to accept.

What will my child be tested on?

The Chigwell School 11+ entrance exam is divided into three parts: two online sections provided by Quest Admissions and a separate written creative writing task.

Part 1: Quest Admissions — core subjects

The first part is an online test lasting 70 minutes. It covers four subject areas:

• English — 30 minutes
• Verbal reasoning — 10 minutes
• Maths — 20 minutes
• Non-verbal reasoning — 10 minutes

These tests are based on the National Curriculum. You can try a familiarisation test to see what the questions look like.

English

The English section tests reading comprehension and understanding of written texts. Your child will be assessed on their ability to read carefully and respond to questions about meaning, vocabulary, and how language is used.

Verbal reasoning

Verbal reasoning tests your child's ability to understand and work with language. Questions may include word relationships, analogies, and sentence completion. This is not always explicitly taught at school, so it is worth practising in advance.

Maths

The maths section covers topics from the Key Stage 2 curriculum, including arithmetic, number, fractions, and problem-solving. Questions are designed to test both core knowledge and the ability to apply it.

Non-verbal reasoning

Non-verbal reasoning tests your child's ability to identify patterns and relationships in shapes and diagrams. Like verbal reasoning, it is not typically covered in school, so practice is important.

Part 2: Quest Admissions — puzzles and comprehension

The second part lasts 35 minutes and consists of two further components:

• Puzzles and problem-solving — 15 minutes
• Creative comprehension — 20 minutes

These sections are designed to assess how your child thinks and approaches unfamiliar challenges, rather than testing curriculum knowledge directly.

Written English: creative writing

Following both Quest Admissions sections, candidates complete a 30-minute creative writing task on paper. This is set by the school and gives your child the opportunity to demonstrate their writing skills in their own voice.

Financial information

Chigwell School is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school website for a full breakdown of fees per year group and for boarding students.

Financial assistance

When exploring independent schools for your child, scholarships and bursaries are worth considering. They can ease the pressure of school fees and open doors to opportunities that might otherwise feel out of reach.

Scholarships

Scholarships are awarded for a child’s talent or achievement. While many schools focus on academic excellence, some offer awards in music, sport, drama, art, or other specialist areas.

Scholarships often come with a small fee reduction and acknowledge your child’s talents, motivating them and boosting their confidence. Some schools automatically consider all applicants, while others may request an additional application, assessment or audition.

Visit your target school’s website to see what scholarships are available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Your guide to independent school scholarships.

Bursaries

Bursaries are means-tested awards (based on a family’s financial situation) designed to make independent education more accessible. Depending on your circumstances, a bursary could cover part or all of the school fees and sometimes extras like uniforms, lunches or school trips.

Families provide financial information to qualify, and awards are reassessed each year. For many families, bursaries make an excellent education possible that might otherwise seem out of reach.

Visit your target school’s website to find out what bursaries are available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Bursaries: a parents’ guide

How are places decided?

Before sitting the entrance exam, all candidates are invited to a meeting at the school in November. This is an opportunity for the school to get to know your child, and for you to ask questions about life at Chigwell. A reference is also requested from your child's current school.

The entrance exam then takes place in January. Results are sent to parents in February, and if your child is offered a place, you will have until early March to accept.

Scholarships

Chigwell School offers academic, music, and sport scholarships at 11+. You should indicate your interest in a scholarship on the registration form.

Candidates who perform especially well in the entrance exam may be invited to an academic scholarship interview and assessment in January. Sport scholarship candidates are assessed in two stages, with initial assessment in December and a final assessment for shortlisted candidates in late January. Music scholarship auditions take place in the week of the entrance exam, and candidates should have at least Associated Board Grade 4 in their first instrument and Grade 2 in their second instrument or singing.

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

Applying to senior school can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be overwhelming. Here's how you can help your child prepare for test day.

Stay on track with a clear plan

One of the hardest parts of exam preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way — little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build smart exam technique

As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom's mock tests are exact replicas of real entrance exams. They're also unlimited — your child can take the same test repeatedly and see new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

Atom's mock tests are automatically marked. You'll see your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in preparation for entrance exams.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading — not just see it as exam preparation.

Looking for inspiration? Explore Atom's free reading and writing starter kit for helpful suggestions of age-appropriate books your child can read!

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through exam preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction — not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.