Henrietta Barnett School 11 Plus Guide
It might be difficult to find your way around the 11 Plus the first time as a parent. How do you aid your kid in getting ready for the Henrietta Barnett 11 Plus Exam? What kind of exam structure is it? What stores sell test papers? We’ve provided parents with an 11 Plus guide for Henrietta Barnett School in this article that seeks to address all of your concerns.
The Henrietta Barnett School
The Henrietta Barnett School, located in London, is a highly selective all-girls grammar school. With an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating and consistently high GCSE and A-LEVEL results, admission into Year 7 is very competitive. Receiving around 3,000 applications every year, each hoping to secure one of the limited places available, it is essential to fully understand the admissions procedure for this school to be in with a chance of successfully securing a spot for your daughter. This page has everything parents need to learn more about the school’s performance and admissions procedure; and information related to its 11+ entrance examination.
School details:
Address: The Henrietta Barnett School, Central Square, London, NW11 7BN
County: London
Type of School: Girls’ Grammar School Academy Converter
Age range: 11-18
Ofsted rating: Outstanding (View full report)
Number of pupils: 783
Admissions to Year 7 (PAN): 104
Open day (2024 entry): 11 July 2023
11+ exam date (2024 entry): Round 1: 4th and 5th September 2023 | Round 2: Early Oct (exact date TBC).
Exam board: GL Assessment, plus the school’s test.
Admissions phone number: 020 8458 8999
Admissions email address: office@hbschool.org.uk
Brief Overview of The Henrietta Barnett and 11 plus Performance
Located in the scenic Hampstead Garden Suburb, the school was founded in 1911 and is named after its founder Dame Henrietta Barnett. She aimed to create a school that would serve as an educational institution for secondary school-age girls from various backgrounds. 110 years on, her vision remains central to the modern-day school’s ethos, which converted to academy status in 2012.
The Henrietta Barnett School (HBS) is considered one of the best performing grammar schools in the country thanks to its pupils exceptional academic success. HBS considerably outperforms state-funded counterparts both in its local authority and nationally, as seen in the data below:
Progress 8 score: 0.9: this means that, on average, pupils are likely to achieve almost an entire grade higher than expected than predictions made based on their primary school attainment. For instance, if based on your child’s KS2 SATs results, they were predicted a ‘B’ in GCSE maths, they are more likely to achieve an ‘A’ at this school.
Attainment 8 score: 85.2: Schools get a score based on how well pupils have performed in up to 8 qualifications.
The majority of the school’s Sixth Form pupils are girls from Year 11 who automatically transfer to Year 12 after completing their GCSEs. Additionally, HBS also admits external applications each year. The School’s A-LEVEL results are as equally impressive as its GCSE results, with grade ‘A’ as the average score for all pupils, compared with an average of ‘B’ for other schools in the local authority and ‘C’ for schools nationally. In 2019, HBS was rated the best performing girls state school in the country.
The Henrietta Barnett School’s Admissions Process: 2024 Entry
As highlighted above, securing a Year 7 place at HBS is incredibly competitive, and therefore, a complete understanding of the admissions procedure is essential. Please be aware that candidates are required to sit two entrance exams for admission to HBS. Full details, in addition to key dates in the calendar, are outlined below.
| 28 April 2023 – 11+ test registration | This is when the school will begin receiving applications for the 2023 11+ exam regarding the 2024 entry. Applications can be made both online or in paper form. |
| 11 July 2023 – HBS Open Day | Further details regarding this will be on HBS’s website in May 2023. |
| 21st July 2023 – 11+ test registration deadline | This is the closing date for all HBS 11 plus exam registrations. |
| 25th – 27th August 2023 – Details emailed to parents | Towards the end of August, parents and guardians of all 11 plus exam candidates will receive information regarding the venue and time of the first round of the 11 plus exam. |
| 4th and 5th Sept 2023 – 11+ exam Round 1 | HBS intends to conduct several sessions for round 1 to keep the number of students sitting the exam at a given time to a minimum. The school will inform parents/guardians about whether their child is sitting the exam in the morning or afternoon. This exam is based on the GL Assessment. |
| Early Oct 2023 – 11+ exam Round 2 | The top 300 candidates (10%) are invited to sit a second exam. |
| End Oct 2023 – Round 2 outcome emailed to parents. | Ahead of the CAF deadline, parents/guardians are informed of the exam results and whether a candidate is likely to receive an offer. If the news is positive, they are advised to select the school on the CAF. |
| 31st Oct 2023 – Common Application Form (CAF) deadline | Please submit the Common Application Form to your local authority; you must list HBS as one of the preferences to be offered a place. |
| 1st March 2023 – National Offer Day | Also known as National Allocation Day, your local authority will inform you of your application’s outcome. |
| 31th March 2023 – Decision deadline | By this date, you must inform your local authority of your decision to accept or reject the allocated secondary school. Parents who reject will have to begin the appeals process (please refer to the FAQs at the bottom of this page). |
For more information, please refer to HBS’s 2024 Admissions Policy.
The Henrietta Barnett and 11 Plus Exam
The entrance exam procedure for HBS is somewhat unique in that candidates will have to pass two exams before they are eligible for a place in Year 7. Test papers for the first round are provided by GL Assessment, whereas the second round is set independently by HBS. All applicants are invited to sit the 11 plus exam in the first round, testing candidates’ verbal, non-verbal and English ability. After, scores are standardised, combined and ranked. The top 300 candidates are invited to the second round to test their English and maths ability. Questions in this exam are similar to those that candidates are already familiar with from Key Stage 2. The first and second rounds are roughly one month apart.
Does The Henrietta Barnett School have a catchment area?
There is no catchment area for the school; anybody may apply and take the first-round test. After the second exam round, they do take into account distance from the institution when deciding whether to make a seat offer. Applicants who live within three miles of the school will be given priority placement.
How to prepare for Henrietta Barnett School’s 11 Plus Exam: A Guide to Parents
Every parent in Barnet and elsewhere ensures that their child is using a variety of resources and practise materials that are available on the market. These tools are excellent for practice. However, this is insufficient and does not adequately convey the amount of difficulty that the HBS Second Round is anticipating.
Henrietta Barnett School’s 11 plus exam is based on GL assessment. English, maths, verbal reasoning, and non-verbal reasoning are all assessed on GL examinations. Not all schools and regions opt to use all four courses, and they are free to mix and match any of the papers with the questions from their particular exams.
In the exam round one the parts are English, non-verbal reasoning, and verbal reasoning (typically multiple choice). Math and English in round two (usually includes comprehension or creative writing).
As essential as how much you study for the 11+ test at Henrietta Barnett School is how you study. We created tips on how to study for the 11 plus exam. Here are the Top 10 Tips To Prepare for the 11+ Exam for Henrietta Barnett School.
Tip 1: Start the preparation early!
Tip 2: Plan and map the knowledge of your child
Tip 3: Test your own expertise in 11 plus
Tip 4: Start working with an 11 plus tuition expert
Tip 5: Make sure your child is familiar with 11 plus GL based mock exams (link)
Tip 6: Reading is a must! Mostly classics
Tip 7: Start doing creative writing
Tip 8: Don’t study for too long or to too late
Tip 9: Make studying fun and interactive
Tip 10: Check Henrietta Barnet School’s Website for Information
The Henrietta Barnett’s 11 Plus Exam Sample Test Papers and Resources
Nowadays, the 11 plus exam test paper questions are designed to be similar to those candidates who are familiar with the new national curriculum. This means that with candidates regularly challenging themselves with reading comprehension and mathematics, no additional practice is required to pass the exam. However, it is common for parents to support their children with extra preparation. Some parents choose to invest in 11+ tuition; others prefer to encourage their children to practise using mock test papers regularly. If you are looking for new ideas to help support your child, read this 11 Plus Guide: Sixth Month Countdown for advice on what to do over the next few months. You can also find additional resources for the GL Assessment here.
Sample test papers can be helpful as they train children to answer exam questions quickly. Time limitations are one of the most challenging components of the 11 plus exam. Below we’ve included some familiarisation papers and other practice resources that you may find helpful. Some of the resources below are also available from the GL Assessment website.
Free GL assessment English papers:
Free GL assessment maths papers:
Free GL assessment, verbal reasoning papers:
Free GL assessment non-verbal reasoning papers:
Free GL assessment general practice papers:
Please note that the school does not release past papers for the second round test, but regular practice of KS2 style English and mathematics questions will help to prepare your child.
Additional Information about The Henrietta Barnett School
The school offers a broad curriculum, and in addition to the many subjects that parents will naturally expect their child to learn, such as English, maths, history and geography, pupils are also taught Latin, engineering, and several Modern Foreign Languages. HBS aims to keep parents up to date with their child’s progress and with an annual consultation evening and several interim reports throughout the year.
Additionally, the school has many state-of-the-art facilities thanks to a recent multi-million-pound project that saw a complete refurbishment of all departments. HBS has new science labs, music facilities, a vast library, and high quality landscaped sports courts for various outdoor sports.
The Henrietta Barentt School’s Parent FAQs
What is the School’s Ofsted rating?
The school’s current Ofsted rating is ‘Outstanding’. You can access the full report here.
Henrietta Barnett School fees:
This school is a selective grammar school and is non-fee paying.
Where is the catchment area for HBS?
The school does have a catchment area. This is 3 miles, “measured in a straight line between the address point for the child’s home, supplied by Ordnance Survey, to the school’s main entrance on Central Square using the Council’s computerised geographical information system. Where a child normally lives during the school week with more than one parent at different addresses, the permanent home address for the purposes of school admissions will be the one where the child spends the majority of school nights Monday – Friday”.
What score do 11+ candidates need to achieve to receive an offer for admission?
There is no pre-determined pass mark. The score will be standardised once candidates have taken the second round of examination. The school will then shortlist successful candidates and communicate this to the local authority.
What if too many candidates apply?
In this instance, the oversubscription criteria will apply. Please refer to the 2024 Admissions Policy.
What is the HBS appeals process?
The school’s website highlights that “if you have not been offered a place at The Henrietta Barnet School, the law entitles you to appeal against that decision to an Independent Appeal Panel. This panel is completely independent of the school and the Local Authority. The appeals are held at the school.”
For Year 7-Year 11 please use the following online appeal form http://www.rebrand.ly/myschoolappeal
HBS Uniform
The school’s website does not have a dedicated page explaining the uniform code, but you can find more information here.
Where can I view GCSE and A-LEVEL results in further detail?
The school’s website has not published exam results, but information about school exams is available here.
You can also access further 11 plus exam resources below:
Best Private Schools in the UK: Top 100 List
Best Grammar Schools in the UK: Top 100 List
A Guide to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning Tests
11+ Maths Exam: Helping Your Child to Prepare and Pass in 2022
Meet the 11+ Online Tutors Delivering Results
When Should you Start to Prepare Your Child for the 11 Plus Exam