Year 7 2026 holdover entrance exam information

ASSESSMENT DAY 

We are really looking forward to welcoming you to our academic assessment in the afternoon of Wednesday 3 December. We understand this can be an overwhelming and nerve-wracking day for many children, but please rest assured that we work hard to put them at ease during the day.   

ASSESSMENT DAY DETAILS  

We will email parents on 21 November with confirmation of the full arrival details for the academic assessment, including: 

• Date of assessment
• Assessment timings
• How to find us  
• Where to park  

Please do check your spam folders on your email if you don’t believe you have received this.   

WHAT TO BRING 

Please bring:  

• A warm coat 
• A named water bottle  
• A pencil, eraser, ruler (optional as cannot be used for maths) and handwriting pen.  No calculators are permitted.   
• Any medication (epipen, inhaler etc)  

Please do ensure that all clothing and other items are named, so that we can help to reunite any items that may go astray.   

WHAT TO WEAR

We want students to feel comfortable with us during the day, whether that be school uniform or home clothes. Please do bring a warm coat in case it is cold when arriving.   

SNACKS 

You do not need to send snacks in with your child as we will provide a substantial snack for them during the break. If you have any concerns, particularly in relation to allergies, do get in contact with us to discuss and we will be very happy to talk through the options with you.  However, should you wish to send your child in with a snack, please note that we are a nut free school and therefore no snacks containing any nuts may be brought onto site in any circumstances.   

MEDICAL/SICKNESS  

If your child has a medical condition that we need to be aware of, that hasn’t been advised within the application, please contact the admissions department to ensure that we have all relevant information.  Likewise, if you have already made us aware of a medical condition but have any concerns regarding the assessment day, please do get in contact.   

We have notified our invigilators and catering team of all allergies and medical conditions advised to us. If your child uses an EPI pen or inhaler please ensure that your child brings it with them, and that it is clearly labelled with their name.  They will be permitted to keep these with them during the exam.   

If on the day your child is unwell and unable to attend on the day, please email  admissions@claremont.surrey.sch.uk to advise or call on 07538 234460 to leave a message for the admissions team.  

THE ASSESSMENTS 

Children will be guided to their assessment room by our staff. Once comfortably seated in the room, the assessment schedule will run as follows:-  

• English (30 minutes)  
• English descriptive writing (30 minutes)  
• Break (15 minutes)  
• Maths test (35 minutes)  
• Non-verbal reasoning (30 minutes total – two 10 minute sections with practice questions before each section)  

All tests are paper-based, except where specific access arrangements have been agreed and notified in advance (please see ‘access arrangements’ section.) 

The non-verbal reasoning paper is entirely multiple choice and consists of two shorter sections, the English and maths have some multiple choice elements to them.   

Invigilators will be giving time prompts throughout the exam, and clocks will be visible for every student at all times.

Please do remind the children to read the back page of each test booklet.  Invigilators do remind students at the start of the session, but each year we do find some students do not turn over to the end!   

ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS  

For those students who are eligible for access arrangements for the assessments, we will contact you separately by email to confirm the arrangements being put in place.   

For those students we have contacted to confirm additional time is being provided, a further 25% additional time will be added to all tests except the non-verbal reasoning.  Once comfortably seated in the room, the assessment schedule will run as follows:-  

• English (38 minutes)  
• English descriptive writing (38 minutes)  
• Break (15 minutes)  
• Maths test (44 minutes)  
• Non-verbal reasoning (30 minutes total – two 10 minute sections with practice questions before each section)  

For those students who are using a laptop for their creative writing assessment, the school will provide this during the assessment.   

Those students who have been confirmed as using a reading pen for the assessments are required to bring the pen with them, fully charged and with headphones as appropriate, on the day.   

ARRIVAL – from 1:30pm for a 1:45pm start

Claremont Fan Court School, Mansion steps area, please use postcode KT10 9LY for Google maps or Sat nav.   

Please note that arrival will be strictly via the Claremont Drive entrance only, please do not enter via the Portsmouth Road.  

Directions for arrival will be sent out in your invitation email. 

The approach to the school will take you through a residential estate and golf course, leading to the school gates. On arrival you will be guided to a drop-off zone and there will be staff on hand to assist your child to exit the car, please ensure that your child is ready to exit. Parents are requested to remain in their cars and parking is not permitted.  

Here is a map of the location you will be dropping off:  

We will be providing children with a fun activity booklet they can take in with them. Please do not worry, the activity booklet does not form part of the assessment, they are to keep the children relaxed and help them to not worry about the tests!   

COLLECTION – please see body of email for collection time

At the end of the assessment session, please return to school via the Claremont Drive entrance (nearest sat nav KT10 9LY). Our facilities team will assist with parking either side of the Mansion.

Please do not collect via the Portsmouth Road entrance as this will clash with the school bus departures.