“The school says my child needs to sit the ISEB. What actually is it?” I hear some version of that question every autumn, usually from a parent who has found one line on an admissions page and nothing to explain it.
So here it is, plainly. The ISEB Pre-Test is the nearest thing independent schools have to a shared entrance exam: four short online tests, sat once, with the results sent to every school on your list. It is also the test children most often misjudge, because it behaves differently from anything they do in class.
Passages of 300 to 500 words (fiction, non-fiction or poetry) with questions on finding information, reading between the lines, word meanings and the writer’s choices.
Then grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary. This half quietly catches out good readers: loving books does not automatically mean knowing where the apostrophe goes.
The National Curriculum up to the end of Year 5: number, the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages, measurement, geometry and statistics.
Quick arithmetic plus problems that mix two or three topics. No calculator. Pen and paper are given for working, and that paper is not marked.
Letter, word and logic puzzles. This is where I see the biggest progress, because most children have never met verbal reasoning before Year 5.
It looks like a test of cleverness. It is really a set of question types, and each one has a method that can be taught.
Patterns in shapes: what changes, what stays the same, which code matches which shape.
There are also spatial questions, where a child pictures a 3D shape turned round or seen from another side.
The computer picks each question based on the answer before. Get one right and the next is usually harder. Get one wrong and it eases off. No two children see the same questions, and they may not even see the same number of them.
“If it feels hard, you are probably doing well.”
The test is built to find the edge of what a child can do, so it keeps pushing. A child used to scoring 90% on worksheets can walk out convinced it went badly, when the opposite is true.
The second surprise is that there is no going back. Once an answer is in, it stays in. Normally I teach “mark it, move on, come back later”, but that does not work here. Each question gets one careful, honest try, then you let it go.
One reassurance for nervous children: ISEB explains that if answers do not match a child’s overall level, the test keeps asking questions until it is sure. One wobbly start does not sink the score.
The children who do best on this test are not always the cleverest. They are the ones who stay calm, read every question properly and trust their preparation.
A child sits the tests once in a school year. ISEB only allows a resit in exceptional cases, such as a fire alarm stopping the test, and not for things like a poor internet connection.
Schools get an age-standardised score for each test, with 100 as the average. An August-born child is compared fairly with a September-born one, and sitting in autumn or spring makes no difference.
This is the detail most parents miss. The scores are compared with children applying to independent schools, not with every child in the country. So 100 is the middle of a strong group. The Pre-Test is also only one part of each school’s decision, and each school decides for itself how it uses the scores.
If a practice website says your child scored 125, treat it as encouragement, not a forecast.
Different tests, different groups of children, different numbers.
These are the two mistakes I see most often:
The real test is on a screen, with a timer and no back button. It feels very different, so practise that way too.
A long run of full tests back to back. Children get tired, scores stall and confidence drops. Short sessions where every mistake is talked through do far more.
This is how I would prepare a child:
Start with the free ISEB Test Walkthrough on the ISEB website. It shows exactly what the test looks like.
Instant times tables. For a fraction of an amount, divide by the bottom and times by the top: 3/5 of 40 is 40 ÷ 5 = 8, then 8 × 3 = 24. Build percentages from 10%, 5% and 1%.
Write the alphabet out before starting. Mirror pairs add up to 27: D is letter 4, so its partner is letter 23, W. For analogies, say the link as a sentence: “a puppy is a baby dog”, so a kitten is a baby cat.
Check shape, then size, shading, sides, position, rotation and reflection, crossing out options as you go. In sequences, two things often change at once.
Ask why a character did something, or why the writer picked that word. Children who read widely go into comprehension far calmer.
Once an answer is chosen, it stays chosen. Reading carefully the first time is worth more than any trick, and always use the working paper.
Plenty of families combine ISEB schools with schools that set their own papers, or with the London 11+ Consortium. Check how entry works at each school in the school finder, and the free 11+ guide covers the skills behind all of these tests.
2 hours 15 minutes in total: English 40 minutes, maths 40 minutes, non-verbal reasoning 30 minutes and verbal reasoning 25 minutes. Children with approved extra time get 25% more. The tests can be sat on one day or split up.
Most children sit it in Year 6 for Year 7 entry. It is designed for Years 6 and 7, and some schools use it in that window for Year 9 (13+) entry, so check with each school.
No. ISEB says registration through the Guardian Portal is free for parents, and you register once however many schools you apply to.
Not normally. A child sits the tests once in a school year, and ISEB only allows a resit in exceptional cases, such as a fire alarm. If the tests were somehow sat twice, the first results stand.
No. Children are given pen and paper for rough working, which is not marked.
Yes. The tests can be taken at approved test centres around the world, as well as at schools in the UK.
I prepare children 1:1 online for 11+, 13+ and 16+ entry to the UK’s leading independent and grammar schools. Tell me about your child and the schools you are considering, and I will tell you honestly what the preparation should look like.
Enquire About LessonsSources: ISEB: the ISEB Pre-Tests · ISEB: information for families · ISEB: information for schools · ISEB Pre-Tests Framework 2026-27 (PDF) · ISEB: how long are the tests? · ISEB: can the candidate retake the tests? · ISEB Pre-Tests: information for parents and guardians (PDF). Details change from year to year, so always check the official websites before you apply.