How to Prepare for 13+ Entry: Common Entrance Top Tips 

1.  Start by identifying your exact route: not every “13+” is the same

At 13+, many schools use ISEB Common Entrance (CE) sat in Year 8, with exam sessions typically offered in November, January, and May or June.  Most schools now use the ISEB Common Pre Tests (online) in Year 6 or Year 7 as part of the earlier filtering stage.

First Steps to Common Entrance: 

• Make a shortlist of target schools (even if it is only 3 to start).
• For each school, write down:
  • Registration window
  • Whether they require ISEB Pre Tests
  • Whether they use CE, school exams, or both
  • Interview requirements
  • Scholarship pathway (if relevant)

Real world examples (so you can see how varied it is)

• Westminster School asks parents to register for 13+ when a child is in Year 5, with the registration window running into Year 6. Westminster School uses the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB) Common Pre-Tests and offers places in Year 6. They place huge weight on the report provided by a student’s current school. 
• Wellington College (13+ entry): a clearly stated two stage process, with children sitting the ISEB Common Pre Test in either Year 6 or Year 7, then being invited for an assessment half day at Wellington based on results and reference. They are assessed based on a series of collaborative lessons and problem solving activities. 
• Eton College reviews ISEB Pre-test results and a Head Teacher’s report and select boys to go forward to Stage 2. Stage 2 is an assessment at Eton which includes an interview and online test. They are then offered a conditional place and confirm it by passing Common Entrance or Eton’s own examinations at 12/13 in Year 8. 

Where tuition can help at this stage

A good tutor does not just “teach content”. They map your child’s route school by school, then build the plan backwards from the actual assessment points, so nothing crucial arrives as a surprise.

2.  Understand what Common Entrance actually tests (and what top schools expect)

ISEB Common Entrance at 13+ includes three compulsory papers: English, Mathematics and Science.
Many senior schools also expect candidates to offer a broad range such as Geography, History, TPR (Theology, Philosophy and Religion) and a language.

Action steps

• Ask your child’s current school (prep or state) which CE level they typically prepare pupils for, and in which subjects.
• Confirm which optional subjects your target senior schools want most strongly.
• Decide early if you are pursuing scholarships

How we can help prepare your child 

We typically start with a diagnostic across English, Maths and Science, then add the optional subjects once the core is secure. 

3.  Enjoy Education’s Winner 13+ Top Tips (Year 5 to Year 8)

Year 5: Keep it light, but get organised early

• Build a shortlist and make a one page timeline for each school (registration, pre tests, interview, Common Entrance).
• Start a “reading habit with purpose” 4 times a week: read, then do one tiny follow up task (summarise in 3 sentences, learn 5 new words, or answer one inference question).

Year 6: Treat it as the gateway year

• Do not leave Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning to chance. Practise little and often so patterns become automatic.
• For test weeks: lock in sleep, keep mornings calm, and cut last minute cramming and late nights.

Year 7: Build the CE foundation properly

• Treat Year 7 as the real preparation year, not a warm up.
• Make timed writing non-negotiable. Strong writers still lose marks if they cannot plan, write, and edit under time pressure.

Year 8: Shift from learning to performance

• Move into “exam mode” early: timed papers, mark schemes, and an error log.
• Practise like it is the real thing: full papers, proper timing, and review that focuses on why marks were lost and how to stop it happening again.

4.  Interview preparation (the part that families often leave too late)

Even when a school’s route is exam heavy, interviews often decide how a borderline candidate is viewed.

High impact actions

• Build a “personal academic story”:
  • What do they love learning, and why?
  • What have they read recently that made them think?
  • What challenge have they overcome in learning?
• Practise speaking in complete answers:
  • Point first, then explanation, then example

Interview Coaches and Mock Interviews with Enjoy Education

We run practice interviews that include follow up questioning, not just rehearsed answers. The goal is confident thinking, not performance.

5.  The three biggest mistakes we see in 13+ preparation

1. Assuming Year 8 is “the year to start”
   By then, many schools have already filtered via pretests and earlier stages. 
2. Focusing on content and ignoring timed performance
   Top candidates can perform on demand, consistently.
3. Over tutoring without a plan
   More hours do not beat the right sequence: diagnose, build, practise, refine, repeat.

Make it feel managed, not overwhelming

13+ entry can feel like a maze, but it becomes far more straightforward once you know your route and work backwards from the real assessment points. The families who do best are rarely the ones who do “the most”.