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ISEB Common Pre-Tests: The Complete Parent Guide
Everything parents need to know about the ISEB Common Pre-Tests — the four adaptive sections, how scoring works, which senior schools use them, and how to prepare your child calmly and effectively.
Prep4All offers ISEB-style practice, independent of ISEB — not affiliated with or endorsed by ISEB.1. What Are the ISEB Common Pre-Tests?
The ISEB Common Pre-Tests are a set of four online, adaptive entrance assessments run by the Independent Schools Examinations Board (ISEB) — the exam board founded in 1903 that also runs Common Entrance. They are the shared first-stage screening test used by many selective independent senior schools, for entry into Year 7 (11+) or deferred entry into Year 9 (13+).
Most children sit the Pre-Tests in Year 6 (some in Year 7 for certain 13+ timelines). The defining feature is that a child sits the tests once per academic year, and that single sitting is shared with every senior school they apply to — so a child applying to four schools takes one set of tests, not four.
The Pre-Tests were introduced in 2010 and were originally delivered by GL Assessment. In autumn 2022 they moved to a new platform developed with the AI education company CENTURY Tech — a change that reshaped the timings, is reported to have brought new question types (including 3D spatial items and cloze sentences), and made the whole experience item-adaptive. If you have older siblings who sat the “old” Pre-Tests, expect the current tests to feel quite different.
2. The Four Sections: Format & Timings
The Pre-Tests cover English, Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning — 2 hours 15 minutes of testing in total, all multiple-choice and all on screen. The four tests can be taken together or split across separate days, and because the platform is adaptive, there is no fixed number of questions: different children answer different numbers of items by design. Children with approved access arrangements receive 25% extra time.
| Section | Time | With 25% extra time | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 40 min | 50 min | Reading comprehension on short passages of 300–500 words (fiction and non-fiction, and reportedly poetry), plus spelling, punctuation and grammar items |
| Mathematics | 40 min | 50 min | National curriculum maths up to the end of Year 5 — number, four operations, fractions/decimals/percentages, measurement, geometry and statistics. No calculator |
| Verbal Reasoning | 25 min | 31¼ min | Letter, word and language-based items: vocabulary, analogies, compound words, hidden words, letter sequences and codes |
| Non-Verbal Reasoning | 30 min | 37.5 min | 2D pattern items (sequences, codes, odd-one-out, analogies) plus 3D and spatial items such as cube counting and rotation |
English
Comprehension passages of 300–500 words — fiction and non-fiction, and reportedly poetry — testing retrieval, inference, word meaning in context, literary devices and summarising. The SPaG side is reported to include cloze (missing-word) sentences, jumbled sentences, and spelling and punctuation error-spotting.
Mathematics
Anchored to the national curriculum up to the end of Year 5, since the tests are sat early in Year 6. Number and place value, the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages, measurement, geometry and statistics — a mix of quick arithmetic fluency and multi-step problem solving. No calculator; rough paper is provided.
Verbal Reasoning
The fastest section at 25 minutes, and heavily vocabulary-driven: synonyms and antonyms, analogies, compound words, hidden words, letter sequences and codes, and word completion. Number-based VR types are reported to have been removed in 2022, and some items reportedly ask for two answers from six options.
Non-Verbal Reasoning
Classic 2D reasoning — pattern sequences, codes, odd-one-out, analogies and matrix-style items — plus a 3D and spatial strand that is reported to have been expanded on the current platform: cube counting, rotating and visualising 3D shapes, and silhouettes.
3. How Adaptive Testing Works
The Pre-Tests are item-adaptive: after each answer, the platform chooses the next question to best match your child’s ability. Answer well and the questions get harder; struggle and they ease off. ISEB notes it is highly unlikely that two pupils will ever see the same series of questions — which is also why no past papers exist.
Three consequences of this design matter enormously for preparation:
No skipping, no going back
There is no skip button and no back button. Every answer is final the moment it is submitted. Children used to paper tests — where you can leave a hard question and return to it — need to practise committing to an answer and moving on without dwelling.
Early mistakes are recoverable
ISEB is explicit that nerves-driven early errors are gradually overwritten by the algorithm if later performance is strong. This is worth telling an anxious child before the test: a wobbly first few questions does not sink the result.
It is not a race
Different children answer different numbers of questions, and scoring weighs difficulty and consistency of accuracy — not volume. A high score is possible without racing through the maximum number of items, so steady accuracy beats rushed guessing.
4. Scoring: SAS, Percentiles & Benchmarks
Each section produces a Standardised Age Score (SAS), age-adjusted against a standardisation sample from the independent-schools sector, with an average of 100. The maximum is reported to be around 142, and roughly two-thirds of pupils are reported to fall between 85 and 115. Schools also see a percentile rank, a stanine, and reportedly the time taken per section.
Results are available to the senior schools immediately after completion — but it is widely reported that parents do not receive the scores. Only the schools your child applies to can see them.
There is no universal pass mark. Each school sets its own benchmarks and combines the Pre-Test result with the reference from your child’s current school, then invites long-listed candidates to interviews, assessment days or its own second-stage tests. For the most academically selective schools, an average SAS of around 120 or above is often reported as the informal expectation — but no school publishes an official cut-off, so treat any specific number with caution.
5. Which Schools Use the Pre-Tests?
No one publishes an exact figure: current third-party lists name between roughly 60 and 90 senior schools, and specialist admissions consultancies put the working total at around 75. What is clear is that the list includes many of the best-known names in the sector: Eton College and Wellington College both confirm on their own admissions pages that applicants sit the ISEB Pre-Tests in October or November of Year 6, and schools such as Westminster, St Paul’s, Harrow, Winchester, Charterhouse, Radley, Marlborough and Brighton College are widely reported users at 11+ and/or 13+.
ISEB no longer publishes a public list of participating schools, so the definitive answer for any school is always its own admissions page. Entry points vary too — some schools use the Pre-Tests for 11+ entry, some for 13+ (with the tests sat in Year 6 or 7), and some for both.
6. Registration, Sittings & Key Dates
- 1
Registration is free, and parents do it themselves
You register once on ISEB's Guardian Portal (there is no charge to parents — the senior schools pay per result they access), receive an Applicant ID, and give that ID to every senior school you apply to.
- 2
The testing window runs from September to late May
For 2026-27, registration opened in June 2026 and live testing runs from 1 September 2026 to late May 2027. But the deadline that actually matters is each school's own — the most selective schools typically require the sitting in October or November of Year 6, so check every target school's admissions page early in Year 5.
- 3
The tests are sat at an approved, invigilated venue
Your child sits the Pre-Tests at their own junior or prep school, at a senior school they are applying to, or at an approved invigilation centre — a network that extends worldwide. The four tests can be taken in one session or split over separate days, but each test must be completed in one go once started.
- 4
One sitting per academic year
The Pre-Tests can only be sat once in an academic year, and every school applied to sees the same result. There are no resits within the year, which is why a calm, familiar-feeling first attempt matters.
7. How to Prepare Your Child
A note on perspective first: ISEB’s own position is that the Pre-Tests are based on the national curriculum, that children are prepared through their normal schooling, and that additional preparation is not a requirement. ISEB’s only endorsed practice platform is Bond Online Premium Plus. That said, sensible familiarisation — with the on-screen format, the no-going-back rule, and the question types — makes an enormous difference to how calm a child feels on the day. Here is what actually helps:
Start with ISEB's free Test Walkthrough
ISEB provides a free official walkthrough that lets children explore the test player, its accessibility options and example questions. It is a familiarisation tool rather than a scored mock, and it is the single best first step because it comes from the source.
Build vocabulary relentlessly
The 25-minute Verbal Reasoning section is vocabulary-driven, and word-meaning questions run through the English comprehension too. Daily reading plus deliberate word-learning is the highest-value preparation. Our free 565-word vocabulary list with games is a good backbone.
Practise on screen, in the real format
A child whose only practice is on paper meets three surprises at once on test day: the screen, the timer, and the inability to go back. Practice tests that ramp in difficulty, forbid back-navigation and run to the real section timings — like Prep4All's ISEB-style tests — remove those surprises. (Independent of ISEB; scores shown are Prep4All estimates.)
Secure the Year 5 maths curriculum, then stretch
The maths anchor is the national curriculum to the end of Year 5, but the adaptive ladder extends harder for strong candidates. Fluency first — times tables, mental arithmetic, fractions — then multi-step word problems under gentle time pressure.
Don't neglect the 3D spatial strand
Cube counting, rotation and silhouettes are reported additions on the current platform, and they are the least familiar territory for most children. Little-and-often exposure to spatial puzzles pays off disproportionately.
Rehearse the mindset, not just the material
Teach the two adaptive-test rules explicitly: commit and move on (there is no back button), and don't panic if it feels hard — the test getting harder means it is going well. A child who knows early mistakes are recoverable walks in far calmer.
8. Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions parents ask about the ISEB Common Pre-Tests.
ISEB stands for the Independent Schools Examinations Board, founded in 1903 as the Common Entrance Committee. As well as the Common Pre-Tests, ISEB runs Common Entrance at 11+ and 13+ and the CASE scholarship exams. The Pre-Tests were introduced in 2010 as a shared first-stage screening test for selective independent senior schools. Since autumn 2022 they have been delivered on a new online platform developed with the education technology company CENTURY Tech; before that, GL Assessment ran them on ISEB's behalf.
Not within the same academic year. The Pre-Tests can only be sat once per academic year, and the single sitting is shared with every senior school your child applies to. A child applying again in a later admissions cycle — for example a Year 6 sitting for one school and a fresh Year 7 sitting for another school's 13+ timeline — sits the tests afresh that year.
It is widely reported that parents do not receive the scores. Results go directly to the senior schools your child has applied to, and are available to those schools immediately after the tests are completed. Each school then interprets the scores against its own benchmarks as part of its admissions process.
The Pre-Tests report a Standardised Age Score (SAS) with an average of 100, along with a percentile rank and stanine, and the maximum is reported to be around 142. There is no universal pass mark — each school sets its own expectations per subject. For the most academically selective schools, an average SAS of around 120 or above is often reported as the informal benchmark, but no school publishes an official cut-off.
No. Because the tests are adaptive and every child sees an effectively unique sequence of questions, ISEB does not publish past papers. The official familiarisation route is ISEB's free Test Walkthrough, which lets children explore the test player and try example questions. Bond Online Premium Plus is the only practice platform endorsed by ISEB; other providers, including Prep4All, offer independent, unofficial practice in the style of the tests.
No. All four sections are multiple-choice and taken on screen — there is no essay or creative writing component. Some senior schools set their own written papers or assessment days at a later stage of their admissions process, so it is worth checking each target school's own requirements.
Practise the Way the Pre-Tests Work
Prep4All’s ISEB-style practice tests are difficulty-ramping, on-screen and forward-only — so the real test feels familiar, not frightening. ISEB-style practice, independent of ISEB: not affiliated with or endorsed by ISEB, and all scores shown are Prep4All estimates.