The Ultimate Guide To Kendrick School Entry
Founded in 1877, Kendrick School is a well-loved selective girls' grammar school with a very strong academic record. An Academy since 2011, and recently named the second best secondary school in the southeast (and fifteenth nationally) in the Sunday Times Parent Power Guide 2024, Kendrick is rated as 'outstanding' in all areas by Ofsted. As a hub school in the Science Leadership Partnership, Kendrick also provides invaluable science teaching support to other schools in the local Reading area. Kendrick offers a diverse extracurricular program, including clubs and societies spanning the creative arts, sport, business, dance, music, and STEM.
The School
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The Open Event for September 2027 entry was held on Wednesday 22nd April 2026.
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Registration for the Kendrick School Admission Test for September 2027 entry opened on 1st May 2026 and closed at midnight on 1st July 2026. Applications are now closed.
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Applicants will be sent their Test Day Registration Card and final test-day arrangements by email before the Admission Test.
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Brainbox Learning mock entrance exams for 2027 and 2028 entry candidates are available as follows:
Sun 17 Jan 2027
Sun 18 Apr 2027
Sat 8 May 2027
Sat 12 Jun 2027
Sun 27 Jun 2027
Sun 22 Aug 2027
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The admission test date for 2027 entry is Friday 18th September 2026
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Admission Test results for September 2027 entry will be made available to parents and carers before the Common Application Form deadline of 31st October 2026.
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Click here for the full Admissions Policies document provided by Kendrick School
Key Dates
The Entrance Exams
The date for the 2026 entrance exam, for Kendrick School admission in 2027, is Friday 18th September 2026.
There will be two separate tests on exam day, focusing on verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, maths and English. These exams are set by GL Assessment and differ from the standard 11+ exam sat in other parts of the country. Unlike other entrance and 11+ exams, creative writing does not play a part in the Kendrick School entrance exams. There are generally only 128 places available in Year 7, so unfortunately doing well in the exams does not guarantee a place. After results are released in mid-October, other factors are taken into consideration, such as your distance from the school.
Paper 1:
This is a one hour multiple choice exam paper, based on the English syllabus up to the end of Year 5, and verbal reasoning. This paper is worth 50% of the available marks, and these marks are split evenly between the English and verbal reasoning components.
Spelling
Punctuation
Grammar
Reading comprehension
Vocabulary
Verbal reasoning
Paper 2:
This is a one hour multiple choice exam paper, based on the maths syllabus up to the end of Year 5, and non-verbal reasoning. This paper is also worth 50% of the available marks, and these marks are split evenly between the maths and non-verbal reasoning components.
Measurements
Numbers
Statistics
Geometry
Non-verbal reasoning
Designated Areas
There are 2 ‘priority areas’ for Kendrick School, which make up the ‘designated area’. To apply for and sit the entrance exams, students do not need to live in the designated area, however these priority areas do strongly affect how available school places are allocated to students who are successful in the exams.
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RG1
RG2 0, RG2 6, RG2 7, RG2 8
RG30 1, RG30 2, RG30 3, RG30 4, RG30 6
RG31 4, RG31 5, RG31 6, RG31 7
RG4 5, RG4 6, RG4 7, RG4 8
RG5 3
RG6 1, RG6 5, RG6 6, RG6 7
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RG2 9, RG4 9, RG5 4, RG6 3, RG6 4, RG7, RG8, RG9, RG10, RG12, RG27 0, RG40, RG41, RG42, RG45
GU17 0, GU46, GU47
SL6 3, SL6 4, SL6 5, SL6 6
Current Kendrick School Year 8 Student
“For me, the most challenging aspect of the entry exam was the verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. These were very different to anything I’d done before. My friends mostly felt the same.”
How we can help at Brainbox Learning Reading
Starting at just £34 per hour, the one-to-one, face-to-face tuition we offer is completely tailored towards the requirements of the Kendrick School entrance exam, and is guaranteed to stand your child in the best stead when exam time comes around. In all cases, our sessions provide the ideal mix between developing the English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning skills required for the Kendrick School entrance exam, and giving students plenty of experience with bespoke questions and mock papers written specifically in the style of the GL Assessment entrance test. This helps girls become familiar with the question styles, timings and techniques involved so that the real exam feels much more familiar when the day arrives. Click here for more information, price lists or to book a free consultation.
Our Kendrick School mock exam days give girls:
• experience of sitting an entrance exam under carefully timed conditions and managing their nerves in an exam hall alongside unfamiliar students;
• a realistic opportunity to track their progress, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and build confidence before the real exam;
• experience of two bespoke GL-style papers covering English and Verbal Reasoning, followed by Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning.
We replicate the key stages of the real exam experience as closely as possible, from registration and recorded instructions through to two timed papers, a supervised break and collection. Our papers are carefully created from scratch by the experienced 11+ team at Brainbox Learning, with six completely different paper sets available from K1–K6.
Every mock exam booking includes a teacher-marked Results PDF showing paper-by-paper and subject-by-subject scores, comparisons with Year 4 and Year 5 averages, and a mock exam progress table.
Parents who choose the Full Examiner Report also receive personalised examiner comments and individual walkthroughs for every incorrectly answered and unanswered question. An optional one-to-one feedback session provides the opportunity to discuss results, difficulties and next steps with an experienced tutor.
Kendrick School 11+ Mock Exam Days
