What is the ISEB Pre Test? A Guide for Parents

One such unexpected change is the news that many popular London schools – such as JAGS, Kings College Wimbledon, and Trinity School – decided to switch to ISEB Pre Test digital exams for 2021 11 plus admissions, and brought these forward from January to November.

Mentor Education have a wealth of experience in advising on the ISEB Pre Test, which is the exam that will most commonly be used. In this blog we’ll provide a helpful overview of what the exam entails and how it works.

What is the ISEB Pre Test?

Pre-Covid, 11+ exams followed a fairly standard format. Year 6 pupils were generally expected to sit extensive maths, reasoning and English papers in January. Then, for obvious reasons – not least because 1,000 children commonly sat together in a hall to take these tests – things had to change. Instead, many schools required students to take something called the ISEB Pre Test, which is a digital exam.

An age-standardised measure of capability, the Pre Test is multiple choice and has been used by a number of schools previously as part of their assessment process; however, the idea of the test is not only to assess academic ability, but also potential. Read more about how the ISEB Pre Test is assessed and graded.

Historically, the Pre Test was often used to judge how likely a student would be to pass the Common Entrance exam for boarding schools, guiding expectations and providing insight into areas which required further improvement and study. But this is a new educational landscape: as such, greater weight is being placed on exams like the ISEB Pre Test, which (helpfully) are already delivered digitally and can be completed safely online (negating the need to bring large numbers of people together to sit a written exam).

The ISEB Pre Test: What it Involves

The exam normally takes 2.5 hours to complete, and covers the following topics:

• Verbal reasoning. This includes – but is not limited to – common words; antonyms; word combinations; and letter transfer.
• Non-verbal reasoning. This includes shape analogies and horizontal codes.
• English. This includes reading comprehension, spelling, punctuation and more.
• Mathematics. Students are tested on National Curriculum topics taught up to the end of Year 5.

Each element of the test is multiple-choice and this might seem easier in the first instance; but the format is actually rather challenging – a new hurdle for students to overcome. The ISEB website provides some familiarisation questions but no practice papers. This style of test requires different exam techniques for children to grasp. For example, in a written exam children are often advised to leave difficult questions and come back to them at the end, but in an ISEB exam, an answer must be given for every question, before the child can move on to the next question and it is not possible to go back at the end.

Preparing for this is crucial – as is learning how to manage the time effectively. During the test it is possible to see how many questions have been answered compared to the overall number of questions, but the system can – again – be challenging for first-timers and practice is helpful.

Is the ISEB Pre Test here to stay?

The short answer is yes. While many schools have gone back to written, in-person exams for the 2022 entrants, others are sticking with the ISEB. Some schools will make their offers purely based on the Pre-Test results forgoing any written paper. These include JAGS, Streatham and Clapham, and St Dunstan’s. However others, such as Alleyn’s and St Paul’s, will use it as a screening process to filter weaker candidates before moving onto a bespoke written exam.

How We Can Help

The ISEB Pre Test presents a new challenge for candidates who have not experienced an exam like this before. As mentioned above, the format can seem daunting; skills like time management become even more critical and just the idea of sitting an exam online as opposed to writing answers down can be off putting if the student has no experience of this.

It is key to remember though, that the core syllabus for the ISEB remains the same as any other 11 plus entrance exam, and if children have a good understanding of the core curriculum in each academic discipline and are well rehearsed in question practice, the new format of the test can be a relatively small snag to overcome. Exam technique is always important for 11 plus success and can be adjusted accordingly.

Fortunately, Mentor Education’s team are very knowledgeable when it comes to the ISEB Pre Test: we’ve worked with it for many years, and have a number of highly-qualified tutors who can provide intensive support and guidance prior to November. Whether your child requires academic support, exam coaching, or a reassuring mentor to help them combat their nerves (thus ensuring they perform to their best ability on the big day), we have a tutor to suit their needs. Get in touch today for a no-obligation discussion with our expert team.

Who are the ISEB?

ISEB stands for the Independent Schools Exam Board. This is the exam board that sets the Common Entrance exams for children to enter Boarding schools at 13+. The Common Entrance examination is normally sat when children are in Year 8 either in November or May/June.

The core Common Entrance exam syllabus consists of English, Mathematics and Science papers. Additionally, candidates can sit papers in a wide range of subjects chosen from French, Geography, German, Classical Greek, History, Latin and Spanish. A high score at Common Entrance exams can facilitate offers from some of the best Boarding schools in the UK.

What is the ISEB Common Pre-Test?

In recent years, ISEB also developed the 11 Plus Common Pre-Test.

This was used by schools to predict if a child will meet their academic standard one or two years in advance of a child potentially joining their school at 13. If a child passes the Pre-Test, they will usually be offered an unconditional place at a school, or a place contingent on them achieving a certain grade at their Common Entrance.

Many boarding schools enthusiastically adopted the Common Pre-Test because it allowed them to make offers to children in Year 6, when good candidates might also be receiving attractive senior school offers. Boarding schools now had the data to allow them to offer enticing non-conditional offers to families they wanted to attract.

Highly selective and oversubscribed Boarding schools also use the Pre-Test to de-select pupils who they know will not make the required academic standard in two years’ time. This is seen as a positive development, meaning families don’t invest time in an application doomed to failure, instead concentrating on positive choices for their children.

What happened with Covid 19?

When schools were only partially open and/or closed in the Autumn of 2020 and new year 2021, normal entrance exams were not allowed to go ahead, because they involved children gathering in large numbers in school halls. Schools needed a tried and tested digital option. So, for the most part they adopted the ISEB Common Pre test as an alternative to their normal written papers. There were many advantages for candidates and schools alike. Firstly, children only had to sit one exam and the results were distributed to all schools they had applied for. This was agreed by parents, children and schools alike to be a vast improvement on the multiples exams children normally sit for the 11+. Also, teachers did not have to mark 1,000 papers to assess candidates, instead given a pre-marked score.

It remains to be seen if schools believe that they identified the cohort of children they wanted using the ISEB Pre-Test, instead of their usual methods for September 2021 intake. We also do not know if schools will continue to use the ISEB Pre-test, revert to their previous tests or develop a blend of the two. 

What is on the ISEB Pre-Test?

ISEB tests are digital and usually sat in the candidate’s current prep school or the senior school for which they are applying. The exam consists of multiple-choice tests in Mathematics, English, Verbal and Non-Verbal reasoning.

The tests take about two-and-a-half hours to complete:

• English – 25 minutes
• Mathematics – 50 minutes
• Non-Verbal Reasoning – 32 minutes
• Verbal Reasoning – 36 minutes.

The tests can be taken together, at separate times or even different days.

• Verbal Reasoning question styles include common words, antonyms, word combinations, letter transfer, number codes
• Non-Verbal Reasoning question styles include shape analogies, classes like, horizontal codes
• English question styles include reading comprehension, sentence completion, spelling and punctuation
• Mathematics content is in line with the National Curriculum; candidates are assessed on National Curriculum topics taught up to the end of Year 5.

ISEB does not provide practice tests. Examples and practice questions, where relevant, are provided during the tests so that candidates understand what they have to do. All answers are multiple choice.

How can I prepare my child for the ISEB Pre-Test?

The ISEB Pre-test has a similar syllabus to other school entrance exams, covering Maths, English, Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning. To some extent therefore, parents can prepare as they would normally for traditional written exams. Please see our school entrance journey for full details and our tips on how to prepare over 12 months. For detailed exam syllabuses please see:

Maths syllabus

English syllabus

Verbal Reasoning syllabus

Non-verbal Reasoning syllabus

Exam technique

Exam technique is a critical part of preparing your child for their ISEB because digital tests require a different approach. Normal advice, such as leave hard questions and come back to them if you have time at the end, will actually be counterproductive.

In an ISEB test, each question must be answered, and candidates cannot go back to previous questions. Children need to practice this style of test because they will not necessarily have come across this before. You will need to practice digital tests with them many times until they are very familiar. Atom Learning and BOFA both have good digital practice options that correspond well with ISEB exams.

A familiarisation test is also available on the ISEB website which demonstrates the look and feel of the tests.

How can we help?

Here at Mentor Education, we specialise in school admissions. Our results speak for themselves, with 90% of our most recent cohort achieving their first-choice school in 2021 and 100% receiving an offer from their first or second choice school. This was the cohort that switched to ISEB exams, often at short notice. Mentor Education also specialises in 13+ exams, hence how our tutors knew the ISEB Pre Test and were able to prepare children thoroughly.

The key to this success is our annual 11+ programme that runs from January of Year 5 to the January of Year 6. This encompasses the whole syllabus, across all disciplines tested in the exams themselves, exam technique and question practice. This allows young children to develop at an appropriate pace, with no element of cramming. We see your journey in three distinct phases and have organised our work to support you at each of these.

Our School Entrance Co-ordinator

One of the main advantages of working with Mentor Education is that we can coordinate your whole journey. Our dedicated Co-ordinator works to get to know you, your child and your aspirations and can flex our services to reflect what you need at any point in your journey. 

Perhaps you don’t know where to start or if your child is a good candidate for school entrance exams. Our Coordinator can arrange an academic assessment brimming with data points to help you make decisions, target schools and focus tuition only on where your child needs it.

If your child’s needs change throughout the year, they can swap out a general 11 Plus tutor, bringing in Reasoning experts or Scholarship experts as needed.

Essentially, our school entrance co-ordinator’s job is to stay close to your journey and assist every step of the way.

Specialist ISEB Tuition

We have specialist school entrance tutors, who understand the requirements of the ISEB tests and how to practice for them. School admissions can change year by year and our exam tutors are always up to date with the latest knowledge. We do not know whether schools will return to written exams or remain with digital options, so pupils need to be prepared for all eventualities. Our experienced tutors can help.

2020 was a surprising year. The coronavirus has had (and continues to have) far-reaching consequences, and the educational sector is now struggling to predict (and therefore prepare for) what will happen in 2021. As such, online testing may become the new norm – a real change for many pupils and parents alike.

The news that a number of popular London schools had decided to switch to digital exams for the upcoming 11 plus admissions took many by surprise. Fortunately, Mentor Education’s skilled tutors are well-versed in advising and preparing students for the ISEB Pre Test, which is the exam that was most commonly used. While some schools are eager to go back to written exams for 2022 entrants, others are still others are sticking with the ISEB. Some schools will make their offers purely based on the Pre-Test results forgoing any written paper. These include JAGS, Streatham and Clapham, and St Dunstan’s. However others, such as Alleyn’s and St Paul’s, will have all applicants sit the ISEB, and then have only the most successful sit the written entrance exam.

Read on for a refresher about what the ISEB Pre Test involves – and how it’s graded.

What does the ISEB Pre Test Entail?

A digital exam, the ISEB Pre Test was designed not only to measure academic ability – but also to assess overall potential. This is why, previously, the ISEB Pre Test was often used by leading independent schools to predict how likely a student would be to pass the Common Entrance, and also as a supplementary test to give a more well-rounded impression of a pupil’s capability.

However, 2020 has brought with it many changes; and the need to examine students online has grown. The ISEB Pre Test has been delivered digitally for many years and can be taken securely – and safely – online. With this in mind, the ISEB Pre Test is now being used by many schools in place of their traditional entrance examination.

The Pre Test is a multiple choice examination that takes around two-and-a-half hours to complete. It encompasses the following areas:

• English (including reading comprehension, spelling, and punctuation).
• Mathematics (includes National Curriculum topics that are taught up to the end of Year 5).
• Verbal reasoning (including word combinations; letter transfer; common words; synonyms and antonyms).
• Non-verbal reasoning (including shape analogies and horizontal codes).

How is the ISEB Pre Test Graded?

As mentioned, the ISEB Pre Test is a multiple choice test; this is a departure from normal examination protocol that can be a little confusing (and even daunting) for pupils. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the way it’s scored also deviates from traditional letter ‘grades’.

Once the test has been completed, candidates are given what is known as an SAS (a Standardised Age Score). This takes into account the number of questions answered correctly, as well as the age the candidate was at the time of taking the ISEB Pre Test. In addition, schools can see how much time a student took to complete each element of the test.

Note that parents are not able to view their child’s scores: these are only made available to schools. Similarly, there is a lot of scope when it comes to interpreting the data. It’s expected that academically-competitive schools will look for higher average SAS scores, but the thresholds vary from school to school.

How we can help

So how can one prepare, if the targets are unknown and the format is unfamiliar? Fortunately, the core syllabus for the ISEB is the same as any other entrance exam. In addition, Mentor Education would look to coach students in question practice, general exam technique and time management skills. A thorough grounding in all elements will provide a solid foundation for ISEB Pre Test success.

Mentor Education’s team are very knowledgeable when it comes to the ISEB Pre Test: we’ve worked with it for many years, and have a number of highly-qualified tutors who can provide intensive support and guidance prior to November. Whether your child requires academic support, exam coaching, or a reassuring mentor to help them combat their nerves (thus ensuring they perform to their best ability on the big day), we have a tutor to suit their needs. Get in touch today for a no-obligation discussion with our expert team.

We’re sympathetic to the fact that the information around the ISEB Pre Test can seem vague and a bit daunting. If this is the case, please don’t panic. Mentor Education’s skilled team possess a wealth of knowledge when it comes to dealing with the ISEB Pre Test, and have a number of experienced, expert tutors (from ex-department heads to examiners and even former headteachers) on hand to provide insight into the specific requirements of each school. With our tailored support and guidance, your child will gain the confidence needed to excel at the ISEB Pre Test and the ability to perform to t