Tormead School 11+ guide

Are you thinking about applying to Tormead 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 Tormead School

• School type: girls' independent day school
• Location: Guildford, Surrey
• Admissions contact: admissions@tormeadschool.org.uk
• 11+ exam: ISEB Common Pre-Test
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries
• Scholarships: academic, art, drama, music and sport

Important dates for 2027 entry

• Saturday 31st October 2026: registration deadline
• Friday 27th November 2026: entrance exam
• Tuesday 5th January 2027: interviews
• Friday 22nd January 2027: offers made
• Monday 1st March 2027: deadline for accepting offers

How to apply to Tormead School

Tormead 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 applies, and the registration deadline falls in the autumn term of Year 6.

Ahead of the exam, registered candidates are invited to an optional Activity Morning and Sport Afternoon in November, giving them a taste of Senior School life at Tormead.

Tormead School uses the ISEB Common Pre-Test, taken online in late November. Children who do well are invited to an interview in January, alongside a confidential reference from their current school.

You will receive your child's results in January. If they are offered a place at Tormead School, you will have until March to accept.

What will my child be tested on?

The Tormead School entrance exam is the ISEB Common Pre-Test, taken online.

ISEB Common Pre-Test

The ISEB Common Pre-Test is an adaptive online assessment covering:

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

How are places decided?

Children who do well on the entrance exam are invited back to the school for an interview in January. This is an opportunity for them to discuss their academic strengths and co-curricular interests and activities.

Places are offered based on:

• their performance in the exam
• the interview
• a reference from their current school

All 11+ candidates are automatically considered for an Academic Scholarship, with no separate application needed. Candidates wishing to apply for Art, Drama, Music or Sport Scholarships receive further information on how to apply once registered.

Financial information

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

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 Tormead School'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 Tormead School's website to see the bursaries available and how to apply.

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

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? Atom's reading and writing starter kit has suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

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.