Lancing College 13+ entry guide

Are you thinking about applying to Lancing College for 13+ entry? Find out everything you need to know about the admissions process and how to prepare for the entrance exam.

Key information for Lancing College

• School type: co-educational independent school (day and boarding)
• Location: Lancing, West Sussex
• Admissions contact: admissions@lancing.org.uk, +44 (0)1273 465 805 (Year 9 enquiries)
• 13+ exam: the ISEB Common Pre-Test, via Lancing's Advance Programme, followed by Common Entrance in Year 8
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries — check the school's website to confirm current provision
• Scholarships: Third Form (Year 9) scholarships — check the school's website for current award categories

Important dates for 2027 entry

Lancing structures its main 13+ route, the Advance Programme, around your child's school year:

• End of October, Year 6: registration deadline for the Advance Programme
• October/November, Year 6: ISEB Common Pre-Test taken
• January, Year 6: Experience and Familiarisation Day at Lancing, for successful Pre-Test candidates
• February/March, Year 6: conditional offers released
• June, Year 8: Common Entrance taken, with a minimum of 55% required on ISEB Level 2 papers to confirm the place
• Check the school's website to confirm exact dates for 2027 entry, and note there is also a later Year 7 Route for families who miss the Advance Programme window

How to apply to Lancing College

Lancing College is selective. This means your child will need to complete an entrance assessment to be eligible for a place.

Lancing's recommended route into Third Form (Year 9) is the Advance Programme, an early entry route for UK-based pupils. Registration closes at the end of October in Year 6, alongside the standard registration form and fee. Families who miss this window can apply through the later Year 7 Route instead. The school strongly recommends UK parents use the Advance Programme to gain a firm place at Lancing.

What will my child be tested on?

Lancing's Advance Programme is built around the ISEB Common Pre-Test, with a confirmed place secured through Common Entrance in Year 8.

ISEB Common Pre-Test

The ISEB Common Pre-Test is an online, adaptive assessment, meaning the questions get harder or easier depending on how your child is performing. It's taken in October or November of Year 6. It assesses:

• Maths
• English
• Verbal reasoning
• Non-verbal reasoning

Experience and Familiarisation Day

Candidates who do well in the Pre-Test are invited to an Experience and Familiarisation Day at the College in January of Year 6, giving them a chance to spend time on campus ahead of a conditional offer.

Common Entrance (Year 8)

The conditional offer made in Year 6 is confirmed by Common Entrance, taken at your child's own prep school in June of Year 8. A minimum of 55% is required across ISEB Level 2 papers, alongside a continued positive reference from your child's headteacher, to secure the place.

If your child isn't on the Common Entrance route, Lancing's admissions team can discuss alternative arrangements with you directly.

How are places decided?

Places at Lancing are based on:

• your child's performance in the ISEB Common Pre-Test
• their time at the Experience and Familiarisation Day
• their result in Common Entrance

Conditional offers are typically released in February or March of Year 6, nearly two years before entry — with the place confirmed once Common Entrance results come through in Year 8.

Financial information

Lancing College is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school's fees page for a full breakdown of fees for day and boarding pupils.

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 Lancing College's website to see the scholarships 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 Lancing College's website to find out what bursaries are available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Bursaries: a parents' guide.

Financial support for independent school fees is more available than most families realise.

This free guide is an honest look at how scholarships and bursaries work in practice: what they cover, how the timeline unfolds from Year 4 to Year 6 and how to approach admissions with confidence.

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

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.

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.