ISEB Pre-Tests Format: Adaptive, On-Screen, No Going Back

After each answer, the next question is chosen to best match the child’s ability — question sequences are effectively unique to each pupil.

There is no skip button and no back button: every answer is final, and previous answers cannot be changed.

Early wobbles are recoverable — nerves-driven mistakes are gradually overwritten by the algorithm if later performance is strong.

It is not a race: different children answer different numbers of questions, and scoring weights difficulty and consistency of accuracy, not volume.

A high score is possible without reaching the maximum number of items — steady accuracy beats rushing.

Everything is on screen and multiple-choice (typically five options; some VR items reportedly ask for two answers from six).

The four sections can be taken together or split over separate days — the school or invigilation centre decides, within each senior school’s deadline.

Each individual section must be finished in one go once started: if the browser closes, the timer keeps running.

Venues: the child’s own junior/prep school, a senior school being applied to, or an approved invigilation centre anywhere in the world.

The 2026–27 testing window runs from 1 September 2026 to late May 2027 — but the most selective schools’ deadlines cluster in October–November of Year 6.

Registration is free for parents on ISEB’s Guardian Portal (schools pay ISEB); schools charge their own separate registration fees.

Rough paper and pencil are provided; calculators are not allowed. The test runs in the Chrome browser only.