Reading School · Boys' grammar · Reading
Reading School 11-plus: dates, the FSCE format and no past papers
Reading School offers 138 day places plus 12 weekly boarding places for 2027 entry, assessed by FSCE Ltd. Registration runs 27 March to 17 May 2026, and the main test is on 16 July 2026. One detail catches many families out: Reading School publishes no past papers and changes its content every year. Preparation has to build skill, not memorise question types.
Places and how they are allocated
Reading School admits 138 day pupils and 12 weekly boarders into Year 7. Ten per cent of places are reserved for boys with sporting aptitude, assessed separately. The remaining places are allocated on the entrance assessment within the school's oversubscription criteria, which include catchment categories and named feeder primaries.
The FSCE assessment, and why there are no past papers
Reading School uses an assessment run by FSCE Ltd. The school states plainly that the content changes each year and that its own Familiarisation Guide is not definitive. No commercial past papers exist. The paper a child sits will not match any paper that has gone before. This is deliberate. It rewards a boy who can reason, and it disadvantages one who has only been drilled on a fixed bank of questions.
Key dates for 2027 entry
- Registration: 27 March to 17 May 2026, midnight close
- Sporting aptitude assessment: 12 July 2026
- Main test: 16 July 2026
- Results: mid-October 2026
- National offer date: 1 March 2027
How we prepare boys for Reading School
We prepare the skills the assessment is built to find: careful reading, mathematical reasoning and clear thinking under time. The format shifts every year. Memorising question types will not work. We use the school's own Familiarisation Guide for orientation, while being honest that it is a guide and not a script. Small groups and one-to-one, with the same concept-first approach we take across the centre.