ISEB Pre-Tests FAQ: Straight Answers for Parents

They are four online, adaptive, multiple-choice assessments — English, Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning — run by the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB) and used by many of the UK’s leading independent senior schools as their shared first-stage entrance test. Children sit them in Year 6 or Year 7, for entry into Year 7 (11+) or deferred entry into Year 9 (13+). Since September 2022 the tests have been built and delivered with CENTURY Tech, replacing the earlier GL Assessment-run version.

Once per academic year. One sitting is shared, via the child’s Applicant ID, with every senior school they apply to — there is no sitting the test separately for each school. A child applying again in a later year (for example a Year 6 sitting, then a Year 7 sitting for a different school’s 13+ timeline) sits it afresh that year.

There isn’t one. Results are Standardised Age Scores (mean 100, with a reported ceiling of around 142) plus stanines and percentiles, and each school sets its own benchmarks. Tutoring sources report that the most academically selective schools often look for an SAS of around 120 or above, but no school publishes an official cut-off.

It is consistently reported that parents are not sent the scores — results are available to the registered senior schools immediately after completion, and schools decide what (if anything) to share. That is why any score a practice platform shows you, including ours, is an estimate rather than an official figure.

No. The Pre-Tests are adaptive and on-screen, so traditional past papers don’t exist. ISEB provides a free official Test Walkthrough (at iseb.eva.tech) plus free preparation guides for parents, and endorses one commercial platform — Bond Online Premium Plus. Everything else on the market, Prep4All included, is independent “ISEB-style” practice.

No — and we say so prominently. Bond Online Premium Plus (built by Bond/Oxford University Press with CENTURY Tech) is the only practice platform endorsed by ISEB. Prep4All offers independent, original ISEB-style practice: we mirror the experience honestly — on-screen, forward-only, difficulty-ramping, variable-length — without claiming ISEB’s questions or algorithm.

No. The platform has no skip or back button — every answer is final, and the next question is chosen based on the answer just given. The good news: the algorithm is designed so that early, nerves-driven mistakes are gradually overwritten if later performance is strong. Practising forward-only sittings makes this feel normal well before test day.

English 40 minutes, Mathematics 40, Verbal Reasoning 25 and Non-Verbal Reasoning 30 — 2 hours 15 minutes in total (2 hours 49 with 25% extra time). The four sections can be taken together or over separate days, decided by the school or invigilation centre within each senior school’s deadline; each section, once started, must be completed in one go.

The content is anchored to the national curriculum up to the end of Year 5 — the test is typically sat early in Year 6. Because it is adaptive, strong candidates are reported to meet harder material as they answer well, so depth and fluency in Year 5 topics matter more than racing ahead to Year 6 content.

It varies — by design. ISEB publishes no fixed question counts: different children answer different numbers of questions, and scoring weights the difficulty answered and consistency of accuracy rather than volume. A high score is possible without reaching the maximum number of items, which is why fixed-length “ISEB papers” are a leftover of the pre-2022 format.

25% extra time (making the sections 50, 50, 31¼ and 37½ minutes), adjustable font sizes, coloured overlays and hidden timers are available, with supporting evidence uploaded via the Guardian Portal before the sitting — requirements are set by each senior school. Children with English as an additional language may use a standard bilingual paper dictionary, but receive no extra time.

ISEB’s own position is that the Pre-Tests are based on the national curriculum, so children are prepared through their schooling and additional preparation is not a requirement — it emphasises that pupil wellbeing should be at the heart of assessment. In practice, calm familiarisation helps most children: knowing the on-screen format, the forward-only rule and the question types removes the surprises. That familiarisation doesn’t require a tutor — free official materials plus structured practice cover it.