Latymer Upper School

Latymer Upper School admissions guide

Latymer Upper sets its own English and maths papers — there is no ISEB pre-test. The three papers, the January interview session, and the dates that matter.

By Richard and Freddie, who joined The Perse in 2019 and left in 2026 after Year 13 to become expert admission tutors.
Last checked 11 September 2026

Latymer Upper sets its own entrance papers. If you have bought an ISEB Common Pre-Test course for this school, you have bought preparation for a different exam.

That is the single most useful thing to know about admissions here, and it is the thing most easily got wrong — several of the schools a Hammersmith family looks at alongside Latymer do use the pre-test, and at least one company sells ISEB practice under Latymer Upper's name.

What the School actually sets

Three papers, sat in one sitting in early December of Year 6.

There is a 20-minute break after the English papers. That is 140 minutes of writing in total.

The descriptive writing paper is the one worth planning around. Forty-five minutes of sustained writing is longer than most 11+ papers ask for, and it is not a skill that can be built in the last term. A child who reads widely and writes often arrives with an advantage here that no amount of December cramming replaces.

The interview session

Candidates who do well in the papers are invited back in January for a half day at the School: immersive learning activities in classroom settings, and a 1:2:1 interview.

The School's own framing is worth quoting, because it tells you what not to prepare: the session contains elements the academic team uses to learn about character, curiosity and teachability. It is not a knowledge test and it is not a second written paper. What it does reward is a child who is comfortable working with children they have never met, in front of a teacher they have never met, and who will say when they find something interesting or hard.

Dates for September 2027 entry

A child must be in Year 6 when they sit the paper. The registration fee is £220 including VAT, waived for families applying for a full bursary.

One number that catches people at the end: accepting a place requires a non-refundable confirmation deposit of £2,400 including VAT.

Two ways in, and no 13+

Latymer Upper takes pupils at 11+ and again at 16+, and nowhere else. There is no prep department and no 13+ round.

This is the assumption families moving from a prep school most often arrive with, and it matters because it changes when preparation has to happen. If your child is at a prep school that runs to 13, the Latymer Upper route means leaving at the end of Year 6 rather than staying on — a decision about the prep school as much as about Latymer.

Sixth Form entry

Around 40 new students join in Year 12. Three papers in early November: mathematical ability, written communication — which the School describes as the ability to structure ideas, thoughts and arguments — and general problem-solving and critical thinking. Assessments relevant to a candidate's A Level choices carry greater weight.

Candidates should be taking nine GCSEs including maths and English. Where an A Level subject has a GCSE equivalent, grades 8 to 9 are expected: at least a grade 8 in GCSE mathematics to take A Level Mathematics, and a grade 9 for Further Mathematics.

Registration closes 21 September 2026, the examination is on 3 November 2026, interviews are on 21 November, and offers go out on 1 December.

Fees

From September 2026 the Upper School fee is £10,675 a term including VAT — £8,895.83 plus VAT — which is £32,025 a year. The Prep School is £9,723 a term.

Registration is £220 including VAT at 11+ and £300 at 16+, non-refundable. The acceptance deposit is £2,400 including VAT, held until your child leaves and any liabilities are settled.

Bursaries

This is where Latymer Upper is genuinely exceptional, and it is the section of this guide most worth reading twice.

The School describes its programme as one of the most extensive in the UK, and the numbers behind that are unusually specific:

Two things about the process are worth knowing before you start.

The academic bar is the same. Bursary applicants must meet the same entry requirements as every other candidate. The bursary decides whether a place is affordable, not whether it is offered.

The award arrives with the offer. Assessment is run by an external company appointed by the School, and awards are made in February at the same time as the offer of a place, with the full details in the offer letter. You are not accepting a place and hoping the money follows.

To apply, register first; the Registration Confirmation brings a link to the bursary application and a deadline for financial documents. Applicants for a partial bursary still pay the registration fee, though the School asks families for whom that is difficult to get in touch.

We sell tutoring, so it is worth saying plainly: at a school where a quarter of pupils hold an award averaging over 80%, the bursary application is the highest-value thing a qualifying family will do. Do that first.

How to prepare

Write, by hand, to time. Latymer Upper sets its own English papers, and 45 minutes of sustained descriptive writing is the part of the assessment that cannot be crammed in the last month.

Do not buy ISEB material. The School writes and marks its own papers. Practice built for the pre-test is practice for a different exam, and it is the commonest way preparation for this school is wasted.

Use the School's own practice material. Because the papers are Latymer Upper's own rather than a shared platform's, its published material is a far better guide than anything generic.

Prepare for the interview session as a session. It is classroom activities alongside the interview itself, so it rewards a child who can work with others as well as answer questions.

The shorter version of all this, with the assessment laid out beside our preparation for it, is on our Latymer Upper School page.

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