The Perse School · Cambridge

Expert1:1PreparationforThePerse

Structured. Proven. Led by Perse Alumni.

0%of our students receive Perse offers (2026)

From £60/hr
Cambridge & online
Quest assessment Sat 16 Jan 2027
Free 20-min consultation

Get my free 20-minute call Perse 11+ Practice Papers

Taught by Perse alumni, not agency tutors

Richard and Freddie each spent seven years at The Perse, Year 7 to Year 13, and have prepared candidates at every entry level since.

71%: of 2026 candidates received offers
84: students prepared since 2024
: parent rating on Google

Read what parents say

Entrance Exam Tutors is an independent tutoring provider and is not affiliated with The Perse School.

Our Method

How We Prepare Students

We begin with an initial assessment to identify strengths, gaps, and priority areas. This allows us to tailor preparation from the very first session.
Each student receives a personalised plan aligned with the Perse entrance requirements. Tutors create bespoke lesson content and targeted homework.
Students work through licensed & hand-crafted exam papers, with unlimited online practice tests that replicate the real assessment format, all while tracking performance to ensure steady improvement.
Beyond academic preparation, we prepare students for interviews and group activities, building confidence, clarity of expression and readiness for assessment day.

We teach the method behind each mistake, not just the right answer, with written feedback after every session. We'll map these four steps to your child's timeline on a free 20-minute call.

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New: Perse Resources

Everything your child needs for The Perse exam, available now

Past papers, mock tests, mark schemes, study packs and more. School-specific resources written by Perse alumni, available on their own, no tutoring required.

Perse 11+ Practice Papers

Parent Guidance Pack

First paper to exam day · 12 chapters

Pricing

Tutoring prices

Two levels, both charged per tutoring hour. Your first lesson is no commitment, there are no contracts, and you can stop any time.

Most chosen

Everything your child needs for assessment day.

Core

£60/hr

Papers, marking and mocks included.

Full preparation for every part of the assessment, taught by a tutor who sat the same exam your child is preparing for.

In person in the city around the Perse, or online nationwide. You travel to your tutor, and locations are confirmed after the consultation.

Weekly 1:1 lessons
Every tutor is an alumnus of the Perse, with first-hand experience sitting your child's exam and typically 0–1 years of admissions experience
Lesson plans built around the Perse's own exam format
Unlimited practice papers, mocks and marking
Interview and group-activity practice

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Full refund if you're not satisfied.

7 spots left

Our most experienced tutors, handling everything.

Signature

£95/hr

Papers, marking and mocks included.

Led by one of the five most experienced tutors for the Perse. Each takes five students at a time, and runs the whole process from first lesson to offer day.

Five Signature tutors for each school, five students each — 25 places a school, and no more.

Online only. Our most experienced tutors teach remotely, wherever you are.

Everything in Core
One of our top five tutors for the Perse, with at least a year of admissions experience, taking five students at a time
Mock papers written for your child, not pulled from a bank
Unlimited mock interviews, not a set number of sessions
The application handled end to end: shortlisting, personal statement, forms and deadlines

The same lead tutor from first lesson to offer day
A revision timeline mapped to your child's exam date
Scholarship and bursary application support
Your tutor reachable between lessons for short questions

Capped at 5 students per tutor

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Full refund if you're not satisfied.

Still not sure which one?

Where would lessons happen?1 of 3

What parents say

Reviews from families we've worked with

Rated 5.0 from 12 reviews by parents on Google, and every review below links to its source

Richard worked with my son to prepare him for the 11+ entry exams for the Perse and the Leys and we have had a brilliant experience. Richard was very organised and knowledgeable about the requirements of the exams for the different schools and made sure we were aware of all of the steps in the application process and reminded us of approaching deadlines etc.

Parent of a Year 6 boyPerse & The Leys · 11+Verify on Google

We used Cambridge Tutors to prepare for my child 11+ exam, having started quite late with only four months to prepare and no prior support or preparation from her primary school. Richard, the lead, provided invaluable guidance, reassurance, advice, and resources from the outset, which really helped put us at ease.

Parent of a Year 6 girl11+ · four months' preparationVerify on Google

We've had a really excellent experience with Cambridge Private Tutors. Richard runs a highly professional and well-connected group of tutors, and it was clear from the start that he genuinely understands both the academic requirements and the pressures families face around entrance exams. He took the time to understand our child's needs and matched us with a tutor who was an excellent fit.

Parent, entrance exam preparationTutor matchingVerify on Google

Djia and Nathan are great tutors, they help my daughter get an offer for the Perse school 10+ entry. Thank you!

Parent of a Year 5 girlPerse · 10+ offerVerify on Google

Reviews are quoted in full as written by each parent on Google. Some name our Cambridge Private Tutors practice, the same team and tutors behind Entrance Exam Tutors.

Planning ahead

Suggested Timeline, 2027/28 for 11+/13+ Entry

Get my free 20-minute call Read the Perse admissions guide

Why us

Our background at The Perse

We both joined The Perse in Year 7 and left in Year 13. Seven years inside the school, then 2+ years each guiding families through the exact process your child is about to start.

Because we sat these assessments ourselves, we bring first-hand knowledge of both the exams and the culture of the school, what examiners look for, how the interview feels, and what it takes to thrive at Perse from day one. We teach every Perse entry level, and beyond exam technique we build the qualities the school values most: curiosity, confidence and independent thinking.

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Exam Format

The Perse Upper School

Co-educational Independent School in Cambridge

Entrance Exam Date:

Saturday 16th January 2027 (for entry in September 2027)

Years:

Year 3 (7+, sat in Year 2), Year 4 (8+, sat in Year 3), Year 5 (9+, sat in Year 4), Year 6 (10+, sat in Year 5), Year 7 (11+, sat in Year 6), Year 9 (13+, sat in Year 8), Year 12 (16+, sat in Year 11)

Sign-up Deadline:

1st December 2026, 12pm

Four online sections, a handwritten task, plus interview and group activity

Part 1: Online Assessment (70 minutes, delivered by Quest)

Mathematics (20 min, adaptive): Non-calculator, testing reasoning, problem solving and comprehension. Some questions include diagrams or charts to read from.
English (30 min, non-adaptive): Reading comprehension based on short extracts, including grammar and language questions.
Non-verbal Reasoning (10 min, adaptive): Multiple choice, testing spatial and visual reasoning.
Verbal Reasoning (10 min, adaptive): Multiple choice word-logic questions.

Part 2: English Writing (30 minutes, handwritten)

One task, handwritten: A short story inspired by either a written prompt or an image. Candidates choose the genre, style and narrative perspective. Assessed on creativity, vocabulary and accuracy.

Other Examined Assessments

Interview (about 10 min): A short, informal conversation with a teacher about your child's interests and enthusiasms. Staff are looking for curiosity and teachability rather than rehearsed answers.
Group Activity (about 25 min): An assessed collaborative task measuring curiosity, listening and teamwork.
Class Learning: A short lesson taught on something new, assessing how pupils engage with unfamiliar material and how they take part in the discussion around it.

Results published:

Early February 2027

From £60/hr

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Before you book

The practical questions

The Perse School 11+ assessment for entry in September 2027 is sat on Saturday 16th January 2027. Registration closes 1st December 2026, 12pm, and outcomes are communicated in early february 2027, with an acceptance deadline in early March. The same assessment date covers Year 7 (11+) and Year 9 (13+) entry.

Quest is the online platform The Perse uses to assess 11+ candidates. The test runs 70 minutes across four sections, Mathematics (20 minutes), English (30 minutes), Non-verbal Reasoning (10 minutes), Verbal Reasoning (10 minutes), and is sat on a computer. A separate 30-minute handwritten creative writing task follows, alongside a short informal interview and a group activity.

Partly. Mathematics, Non-verbal Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning adapt to your child's answers, so questions get harder or easier as they go and no two candidates see the same paper. English is the same for everyone. This is why practising only on printed papers leaves children meeting the format for the first time on assessment day.

Yes. The Perse previously set separate handwritten Maths and English papers of around 30 minutes each. It now uses the Quest online test plus a handwritten creative writing task. Many guides and past-paper listings still describe the older written format, so material sold as current Perse practice is often preparing children for an exam they will not sit.

Seven: 7+, 8+, 9+, 10+, 11+, 13+ and 16+. The number names the assessment rather than the year group your child joins, and the assessment is always sat the academic year before entry, a child sitting the 11+ is in Year 6 at the time and joins in Year 7. 11+ is the main intake and 10+ offers a further 24 places, while 8+ and 9+ are small Prep School rounds that only fill places left by leavers, typically around three a year, which makes them the most competitive routes in.

Most families we work with start between twelve and six months out, which leaves room to fix gaps before moving to timed practice. Shorter runs work, we have prepared children successfully in under four months, but they involve triage rather than a full pass through the material. The constraint is usually the child's stamina, not the calendar.

Usually within 3–7 days. We arrange a short consultation, match your child with the right tutor, and confirm the first session. Your first lesson is no commitment.

For 11+ and 10+ preparation, 45–60 minutes is usually the sweet spot. Older students often work well with 60–90. We agree the right format during your consultation.

Both. In-person sessions run in Cambridge and the surrounding area; online runs over Zoom or Google Meet with an interactive whiteboard. Many families prefer the flexibility of online.

Most weekday evenings after 5pm and throughout the weekend, subject to individual tutor availability. We match your preferred slot as closely as we can.

Every tutor is identity-checked, reference-checked and interviewed, and every tutor working with under-18s holds an Enhanced DBS check. We have a named Designated Safeguarding Lead. Read our safeguarding policy.

More questions are answered on our FAQ page.

Get in touch

Send us a booking enquiry

About two minutes. We reply within 24 hours on WhatsApp to arrange a free consultation and talk through how we can best support your child.

1You send thisThree short steps, about two minutes.
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3Free 20-minute callNo pitch. We say so if we are not the right fit, then match your child with a tutor.

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Reference

The Perse assessment in full

The dates, the format, every entry point, and how the Perse compares with the other Cambridge schools, checked against each school's own admissions pages.

The short version

The Perse 11+ at a glance

The Perse assesses 11+ candidates with a 70-minute online Quest test and a 30-minute handwritten writing task, sat on Saturday 16th January 2027, alongside an interview and a group activity. Everything below is taken from the school's own assessment page.

Key facts about The Perse School 11+ entrance assessment for September 2027 entry
Assessment date	Saturday 16th January 2027. For entry in September 2027. The same date covers Year 7 (11+) and Year 9 (13+) entry.
Registration closes	1st December 2026, 12pm, Registration for the 2026/27 admissions cycle closes at midday.
Part 1, online	A 70-minute computer-based test delivered by Quest: Mathematics (20 min), English (30 min), Non-verbal Reasoning (10 min), Verbal Reasoning (10 min).
Adaptive sections	Mathematics, Non-verbal Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning adapt to your child's answers. English does not.
Part 2, written	A 30-minute handwritten creative writing task, marked on creativity, vocabulary and accuracy.
Also assessed	A short informal interview and a group activity.
Results	Early February 2027, outcomes are communicated in early february, with an acceptance deadline in early march.
Entry points	7+ (joins Year 3), 8+ (joins Year 4), 9+ (joins Year 5), 10+ (joins Year 6), 11+ (joins Year 7), 13+ (joins Year 9), 16+ (joins Year 12).

Verified against the school's assessment page on 28 July 2026.perse.co.uk

Read this before you buy old papers

The Perse 11+ format has changed, much of what you'll read online is out of date

The Perse now assesses 11+ candidates through Quest, an online adaptive platform. A great many guides, past-paper listings and tutoring pages still describe the older handwritten papers. If a resource offers you a 30-minute written Perse Maths paper as current practice, it is describing an exam your child will not sit.

Previously

Separate handwritten Maths and English papers, each around 30 minutes, sat on paper at the school.

Now

A single 70-minute computer-based test delivered by Quest, covering Maths, English, non-verbal and verbal reasoning, followed by a 30-minute handwritten creative writing task.

Three of the four online sections are adaptive

Mathematics, Non-verbal Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning adjust their difficulty in response to your child's answers, so no two candidates see the same paper. English is fixed for everyone. Three of the four online sections adapt to your child's answers, so pacing and accuracy under time pressure matter more than they did on a fixed paper.

In practice this means an early run of wrong answers pulls the difficulty down and caps the score available, and that guessing quickly to save time costs more than it does on a fixed paper. Children who have only ever practised on printed papers are usually meeting this for the first time on the day, which is the single most avoidable disadvantage in the whole process.

The 70-minute online test and the 30-minute handwritten task are sat on the same day. Only the writing task is done on paper.

Every route in

The Perse has seven entry points, not one

Children can join the Perse at 7+, 8+, 9+, 10+, 11+, 13+ or 16+. The number names the assessment, not the year group your child joins, and the assessment is always sat the academic year before entry. 11+ is the main intake and 10+ adds a further 24 places, while 8+ and 9+ are small Prep School rounds that only fill places left by leavers.

The Perse School entry points, showing the year each assessment is sat and the year of entry
Assessment	Sat in	Joins in	What it is
7+	Year 2	Year 3	The main entry into the Prep School, with the assessment sat in Year 2.
8+	Year 3	Year 4	A Prep School round assessed alongside 9+ and 10+, filling places left by leavers.Typically around 3 places a year, the most competitive route in.
9+	Year 4	Year 5	A Prep School round assessed alongside 8+ and 10+, filling places left by leavers.Typically around 3 places a year, the most competitive route in.
10+	Year 5	Year 6	A larger Prep School round: the school has previously opened an additional Year 6 class for it.
11+	Year 6	Year 7	The main entry point, assessed by the Quest test sat in Year 6.
13+	Year 8	Year 9	Entry into the Upper School, with the assessment sat in Year 8.
16+	Year 11	Year 12	Sixth-form entry, with the assessment sat in Year 11.

A child sitting the 11+ is in Year 6 at the time. If your child is already in Year 6 and you are reading this in the autumn, the 11+ is the round you are preparing for.

The Perse does not publish the number of places at the 8+ and 9+ rounds. The figure above is our own count across recent cycles, treat it as a guide to how small these intakes are rather than a published number.

The rest of assessment day

The interview and group activity are assessed too

Alongside the online test and the writing task, Perse candidates sit a short informal interview, take part in an assessed group activity, and complete a classroom-style learning task. None of them can be revised for in the usual sense, which is why they worry parents more than the papers do, and why rehearsing the format, rather than the answers, is what actually helps.

Interview

typically 10 min

A short, informal conversation with a teacher about your child's interests and enthusiasms. Staff are looking for curiosity and teachability rather than rehearsed answers.

What it assesses

Curiosity and teachability, not knowledge. Staff want to hear a child think about something they care about, follow up on their own answer, and be comfortable saying they are not sure.

The shape of it

Tell us about a book you would recommend, and why.
What is something you have learned recently outside school?
What do you find difficult, and what do you do about it?

Group Activity

typically 25 min

An assessed collaborative task measuring curiosity, listening and teamwork.

What it assesses

Listening, contributing and collaborating. The task itself is usually trivial to solve; how a child behaves in a group of strangers is the point. Dominating the group scores no better than staying silent.

The shape of it

Plan a school event as a team, with a fixed budget and a time limit.
Build or design something together from limited materials.
Agree a group decision where the obvious answers conflict.

Class Learning

A short lesson taught on something new, assessing how pupils engage with unfamiliar material and how they take part in the discussion around it.

What it assesses

How a child behaves as a pupil. Something genuinely new is taught, and what is being watched is how they engage with it and how they discuss it, asking a question, building on someone else's point, saying what they have not understood.

The shape of it

A short lesson on a topic the group has not met before.
Discussion of the new material, with staff watching how pupils contribute.

The Perse publishes durations for the online and written parts but not for these. The timings shown are what we have seen with our own candidates, and the example prompts are written by us to illustrate the format, they are not reproductions of anything the school has set.

Applying to more than one

The Perse, The Leys and Stephen Perse, how the assessments differ

Most Cambridge families sit more than one of these. The three assessments fall within a fortnight of each other in January 2027, so all three are possible, but they are not the same test, and preparing for one does not prepare a child for the others.

All three schools now assess through Quest, but the tests behind it differ: the Perse sets four sections over 70 minutes, The Leys sets six over 105. Familiarity with the platform carries across; preparation for the papers does not.

Comparison of 11+ entrance assessments at The Perse School, The Leys School and Stephen Perse Cambridge for September 2027 entry
School	Assessment	Registration closes	Assessment day
The Perse Schoolsource	Quest online test, 70 minutes across four sections, plus a 30-minute handwritten creative writing task. Interview and group activity on assessment day.	1 December 2026, 12pm	Saturday 16 January 2027
The Leys Schoolsource	Quest online test, 105 minutes across six sections: English (30), Maths (20), verbal reasoning (10), non-verbal reasoning (10), puzzles and problem solving (15) and creative comprehension (20). Interviews and group activities on the day.	Not published on the school's admissions pages	January 2027
Stephen Perse Cambridgesource	An entrance assessment run in partnership with Quest Assessments. The school does not publish the component breakdown on its admissions pages; widely repeated descriptions of a CAT4 test with short English and Maths tasks, a group exercise and a 1:1 interview come from third parties, not the school.Not published by the school, treat any breakdown you find elsewhere with caution.	Friday 20 November 2026	Saturday 9 January 2027 (alternative session Thursday 7 January)

The Leys School: Year 7 entry at The Leys ends after 2027 entry. The Leys and St Faith's merge from September 2028, after which Year 7 pupils are based at the current St Faith's site, applicants for 2028 and beyond apply through St Faith's.
Stephen Perse Cambridge: A different school from The Perse, despite the shared name, the two are frequently confused. Its assessment falls a week before the Perse's, so both can be sat.

Every figure above is taken from the school's own admissions pages, checked on 28 July 2026. Where a school does not publish a detail, that is stated rather than filled in from elsewhere.