How to pass the City of London School for Girls 11+

Are you looking into City of London School for Girls for the next step in your daughter’s education? Discover all about the City of London School for Girls 11+ admissions process, and find out how to help your daughter succeed.

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• The 11+ admissions process
• Exam content
• The interview
• Scholarships
• Find a tutor for CLSG
• Contact us

Introduction to City of London School for Girls

City of London School for Girls, or CLSG, is a private day school for girls in the Barbican in the heart of the City of London. Opened in 1894, City of London School for Girls provides an outstanding education to a high academic standard for girls from all backgrounds, cultures and faiths.

City aims to empower its students, champion future thinkers and celebrate the power of difference. It aspires to foster a life-long love of learning in a supportive, yet ambitious and stimulating environment, while providing an inventive co-curricular programme, taking full advantage of its location in the heart of London. City of London School for Girls has a strong pastoral focus, aiming to nurture an inclusive and kind community, which embraces the cultural and social mix in the school and the world around it. CLSG is highly competitive, considering its outstanding results when it comes to higher education and university admissions. In 2024, 95% of GCSEs were achieved at Grade 7-9 (A*-A), while 55% were achieved at the top grade of a 9. In the same year, 79% of A Levels were achieved at A* or A. Of the 2024 leavers, 19% went on to study at Oxbridge.

Fees

£10,082.40 per term for Year 7-13, exclusive of school lunches. Upon accepting a place, you need to pay a deposit that is detailed in the offer email.

CLSG 11 Plus Open Days

CLSG usually hold multiple open days from Summer into Autumn. Open Mornings are scheduled for September 26th, and October 2nd 2025, and are available to book on the school website.

Before registering your daughter for admission, we recommend that you and your daughter attend a City of London School for Girls 11+ Open Event. This will give your daughter a sense of what life is like attending City, the facilities it offers, and a chance to meet members of staff, the Headmistress and current pupils. We find girls who attend Open Events are better prepared in interviews and more confident upon entering in September.

View the planned Open Events on the CLSG website.

City of London School for Girls 11 Plus Admissions Process

Applications for City of London School for Girls 11+ generally opens in mid May the year before you intend to join. The deadline to submit your application for 11 plus is usually at the end of October the same year. 2026 applications must be submitted by October 31st 2025. Complete the registration online here. Candidates must pay a non-refundable registration fee of £192, £300 for overseas applicants.

At 11 plus, City accepts around 80 girls into the Senior School. Around 20 additional places will go to girls coming up from the Prep School. Around 800 to girls apply at 11 plus. While City welcomes applications from sisters or family of existing or previous students, it does not offer any preferential treatment.. City releases offers for 2026 places on February 13th, and you must accept them by March 2026

City of London 11 Plus Exam Content

All applicants will be invited to sit the initial CLSG 11+ entrance exam in late November, the year before they are scheduled to join. This is an online, one-hour exam, testing numerical, verbal, and non-verbal skills set by CEM. While City has not provided practice material, familiarisation content is available on the school website. We recommend reviewing this so your daughter isn’t thrown by the question format. The 2025 exam is scheduled for 14th–19th November for 2026 entry.

CEM Select Assessments test:

• Verbal Ability: vocabulary, grammar and comprehension
• Numerical Ability: arithmetic and problem solving
• Non-verbal Ability

The assessment has timed sections, each testing a specific skill. Before each section begins, your daughter will be told how many questions there are and how much time is allowed. Timing is crucial in a CEM assessment. Disciplined timekeeping under pressure is difficult for any 10-year-old and requires lots of practice. The test is designed so that all time must be used. If a section is completed early, it will return to the first question. In some parts, your child cannot move on until all questions are answered or time runs out.

Girls who perform well will be invited back in early January for a second assessment: one English paper and one Maths paper. For 2026 entry, this takes place on 6th January.

The English paper (45 minutes) tests creative writing and comprehension. The Maths paper (45 minutes) tests arithmetic and problem-solving. Specimen papers for both are on the CLSG website.

If you’d like an experienced third party to help you stay on track, our specialist 11+ tutors have significant CLSG entrance experience.

11 plus interviews at CLSG

City invites those who succeed in the first entrance examination and submit a strong school reference to an enhanced 11+ interview session. CLSG invites around 250 girls back for an interview. The interview will take place in late January and lasts around 20 minutes. Applicants for Year 7 in 2026 will be interviewed between the 12th–22nd of January 2026.

Subject specialists interview girls individually, assessing their aptitude and potential in Maths and English in more detail. The interview is an important part of the admissions process and success here is key to get into CLSG. It explores a candidate’s interests, academic character, personal qualities, and aptitudes. Interviewers ask girls to demonstrate their academic ability to evaluate how they think. Previously, girls have been given a passage or piece of art to discuss, or maths problems to solve.

After the interview, girls are often given a taste of lessons at City and a tour of the school. The session helps applicants get a sense of life at CLSG and ask questions.

Teachers are looking for enthusiastic, confident girls who will make the most of what the school offers. It is important that your daughter engages and responds during a discussion. However, if her answers come across as rehearsed or overly planned, she may be less likely to receive an offer.

The thought of an interview can be quite daunting for some girls who find it harder to express their views. So, every year Mentor runs individual and group sessions to build confidence. Focusing on interview prep and what to expect, we encourage children to develop answers and present their best self.

11 plus scholarships at City of London School for Girls

Many of our tutors have great success securing scholarships and are experienced with pushing the boundaries of learning for exceptional students. City offers scholarships in Music at 11 plus. The school awards scholarships to applicants who demonstrate outstanding merit and promise in their chosen instrument, and who do well in the entrance exam and interview. There are around 8 scholarships on offer for 11 plus applicants worth up to £1,500 per year for 5 years. To apply for a scholarship, once your registration form has been submitted, you will be sent a form that asks you to indicate whether you would like to apply for a scholarship.

Potential scholars must submit evidence in their application. City then selects applicants to invite for an in-person audition and interview These will take place in late January at around the same time as the general interviews.

Find a Tutor for City of London School for Girls

Guarantee your daughter the best chance of admission to City of London School for Girls at 11 plus with additional support from one of our tutors. Many of our over 200 tutors are experts in the City 11 plus and with bespoke one-to-one tuition, they can help children to achieve success at exams and interviews. 

With more than 40 years of experience in tutoring children to gain admission to some of London’s most competitive independent schools, we at Mentor have a wealth of knowledge on how best to prepare your daughter for entry to CLSG.

Over 80% of our tutors are qualified teachers, so they have an in-depth knowledge of their subject, the syllabus and the most effective teaching methods. Many have been heads of department, head teachers or examiners and all come with a wealth of experience and a great track record of success. All have up-to-date DBS certificates and references. Wherever possible we will match your daughter with a tutor who has a track record at City.

For some information on our tutors’ unique approach to testing children in preparation for exams, contact our team.

More Information on City of London School for Girls

City of London School for Girls is known for its high academic status and exceptional exam results. Despite this, CLSG has avoided the typical “hothouse” reputation often linked with academic rigor. Instead, the school fosters an unpretentious, accepting, and down-to-earth environment. It embraces diversity, standing out as one of the most culturally, socially, and economically varied private schools in London. Currently, around 25% of girls in the Senior School receive some form of financial assistance. City takes pride in its unique location, which offers girls the convenience of an easy commute and the vibrant energy of the modern city. CLSG is not the right school for those who are looking to be surrounded by green pasture and sprawling facilities.

Students are expected to think and advocate for themselves, creating a community with an infectious sense of enthusiasm and purpose, although this ethos does not lend itself easily to helicopter parents. Jenny Brown joined as the Headmistress at City of London School for Girls in 2019, previously serving as Head of St Albans High School for Girls for 5 years.

The main entry points at City of London School for Girls are 7+, 11+, and 16+. The school has over 700 girls aged 10-18. CLSG belongs to a family of schools associated with the City of London Corporation and the Girls’ Schools Association. It also enjoys strong links with its all-boys partner school, City of London School and the City of London Freemen’s School in Surrey.

Life at CLSG

In addition to its high achieving academics, City offers a broad range of co-curricular opportunities for girls. Great effort is made to exploit its extraordinary location; museums, galleries, theatres, lectures and academic institutions are visited regularly and with ease to support and enhance the girls’ learning. During lunch and after school, girls attend a wide variety of clubs that cater to every interest including Photography and Film Club, Detective Society, Psychology and Medical Ethics Club, Dino Club, Robotics Club and Chocolate Biscuit Club. There is a thriving hub of Music at City, where girls can join any of the 23 different music groups including several orchestras, jazz bands, choirs and ensembles. Around a third of girls at school learn an instrument or have singing lessons delivered.

Outside the classroom, girls participate in drama, whether that be through acting, costume design, lighting and sound design or devising. Each year the drama department is responsible for dozens of consistently outstanding productions, many of which are in association with the boys at City of London School, including a joint musical every year. CLSG prides itself on the diverse range of Sport on offer, competing on the competitive level in Swimming, Gymnastics, Netball, Football, Cross country, Athletics, Fencing and Cricket. Sports facilities include an all-weather pitch, tennis and netball courts, dance studio, swimming pool, gym, climbing wall and fitness suite. Being in the heart of the City of London, City can use the local facilities such as Mile End Athletics Stadium, Hampstead Heath, Boom Cycle, Frame and the Golden Lane sports facility. 

Address: City of London School for Girls, St Giles Terrace, Barbican, London EC2Y 8BB

Telephone: 020 7847 5500

Email: reception@clsg.org.uk

Website: www.clsg.org.uk

Local Authority: City of London

School’s Unique Reference Number (URN): 100001

Gender: Girls

Age Range: 7-18

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