Entry at 7+
Joining Eltham College
All prospective candidates are encouraged to come and visit us before registering to sit an entrance examination. Please come and visit us at one of our upcoming Open Days.
To apply for a place at the College all prospective candidates must complete the relevant registration form and pay a non-refundable application fee of £195. Acceptance of registration does not constitute an offer of a place.
Once we have accepted your registration we will contact all prospective candidates with details about arrangements for the assessment day. If successful at the assessment day a candidate will be offered a place to study at Eltham College
On accepting a place, parents are required to pay a deposit and sign a contract which outlines the standard terms and conditions under which their child is accepted as a student at Eltham College. Offer of a place is also subject to satisfactory references from the candidate’s current school.
Key Dates for 7+ Entry 2025
| Whole School Open Day | Saturday 14 September 2024 |
| Junior School Open Morning | Saturday 9 November 2024 |
| 7+ Registration Deadline | Thursday 28 November 2024 |
| 7+ Taster Event | Saturday 11 January 2025 |
| 7+ Assessments | Monday 13 January – Friday 17 January 2025 |
| 7+ Offers | Thursday 23 January 2025 |
| 7+ Acceptance Deadline | Friday 7 February 2025 (midday) |
7+ Entry Assessments
Entry at 7+ is by assessment. All candidates are assessed in English, Mathematics and reading.
Prior to the assessment all registered candidates are invited to a Taster Event where they can take part in a range of activities including Art, Music, IT and Games, designed to familiarise them with the Junior School and meet the staff and students whom they might encounter on their assessment visit. Attendance at this Taster Event is voluntary but hugely beneficial.
In mid-December, invitations will be sent to the parents of registered candidates to bring in their child to the Junior School for assessment. The children are invited, in groups of ten to twelve, to either a morning or afternoon assessment during the course of a week. Children from the same school will not usually be assessed together as this can sometimes be distracting.
The assessment session takes place in the morning and lasts approximately two hours. It is designed to test numerical, language and reading skills which underpin a child’s ability to cope well with the pace and level of the curriculum and the organisational demands of the Junior School’s busy curricular and co-curricular programme. Children’s behaviour during the assessment process and what they tell us about their hobbies and interests are taken into account when making final decisions.
All prospective candidates are assessed by the Head of the Junior School, and other senior staff. By meeting all the children in small assessment groups, the Junior School team is better able to gain a fuller insight into their relative abilities, confidences and needs.
Generally those who are successful in being offered a place have a strong reading ability, with a reading age well in excess of their chronological age; are adept with using language in different forms; spelling, writing and verbal reasoning; and possess a good grasp of basic concepts appropriate to their age and schooling.
Some children are inevitably stronger in some areas than others, but chronological differences are taken into consideration as are reports from their current school.
Assessment Decisions
The Head of the Junior School’s decision is final in all matters relating to entry to the Junior School. Decisions will be sent to parents before the February half term.
If your child has been offered a place your offer letter will include how to accept the place and the acceptance deadline date.
