Redbridge Grammar Schools

London grammar schools are divided into seven distinct areas, and one of them is Redbridge. London Borough of Redbridge has two grammar schools.

Contents

Ilford County High School

Address – Ilford County High School Fremantle Road, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex, IG6 2JB

Tel: 020 8551 6496

email: enquiries@ichs.org.uk

Web: www.ichs.org.uk

Woodford County High School

Address – Woodford county high school, High Road, Woodford Green essex, IG8 9LA

Tel: 020 8504 0611

email: enquiries@woodford.redbridge.sch.uk

Web: www.woodford.redbridge.sch.uk

Please visit the pages above for more detailed information about each school and their 11 plus exam.

General Information of 11 Plus Exam for Redbridge Grammar Schools

Registration opens at: End of April 2022

Registration Closes: June

Common Application Form (CAF) Closing Date: October

Exam Board Type: CEM (Cambridge Assessment)

Exam Date: September

Results Date: October

Pass Mark: Varies

National School Allocations Date: March

Appeals Hearings: April, May

Admissions Info: London Borough of Redbridge, 0208 554 5000

How to register for the 11 Plus London Borough of Redbridge

To register for the 11 plus exam for Ilford County High School for Boys and Woodford County High School for Girls, parents need to fill out the online application form available on the Redbridge Borough website before the deadline, which is generally at the end of June as both schools participate in the Pan-London Coordinated Admissions Scheme and the coordinated admissions process run by the London Borough of Redbridge.

The 11 plus test is conducted in September of Year 6, assessing children’s academic potential and suitability for grammar schools. To get a place in Redbridge grammar schools, your child must pass the 11 plus test, although passing the test does not ensure the child’s place in the school. The 11 plus entrance exams for a Redbridge will be taken at one of the Redbridge grammar schools.

The 11 plus tests for two Redbridge Grammar schools were previously conducted with schools-

Gloucestershire Grammars (7 schools)
Slough Consortium (4 schools)
Reading School (leaving this year)
Kendrick School
Chelmsford County High School
Heckmondwike Grammar School
Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Penrith
Trafford CEM Consortium

But from now on, the 11 plus tests for these Redbridge grammar schools are conducted separately, and as pupils will sit for these tests separately from the listed school, the test score will not be compared to their result. This means that if you are applying for a place at both Redbridge grammar schools and any other school, your child will have to sit the entrance tests applicable to all the other grammar schools you are registering to.

In case the dates of 11 plus tests of two or more school overlaps, parents have to make a choice and act according to their priority as Redbridge Grammar Schools do not agree to any requests to postpone the Redbridge 11 plus test due to the child sitting the test at any other school on the same day.

Registrations for 11 plus tests and other statistics

Registrations received for the 11 plus entries in September 2022 for Ilford County High School were 1106, and for Woodford County High School was 1157. For more details about the registration statistics, you can check here.

Registrations received for the 11 plus entries in September 2021 for Ilford County High School were 1257, and for Woodford County High School was 1341. For more details about the registration statistics, you can check here.

Exam format of 11 Plus Redbridge Grammar Schools Test

The Redbridge 11 plus test is set by the CEM exam board and is split into two papers. These two papers assess pupils’ reading comprehension, maths, non-verbal reasoning, and verbal reasoning skills. Each test is approximately 30 minutes long, and most of the questions are multiple-choice except for a small number of questions in the numerical reasoning section. The test results are age-weighted and fully standardized.

For more information about what is covered on the 11 plus and how to prepare, check out the what is 11 plus – a complete guide for parents.

The pass mark for the 11 plus Redbridge Grammar Schools

Pupils’ raw scores attained in the 11 plus exam are converted to a standardized score to ensure fairness to all applicants, irrespective of their age. The pass mark for both Ilford County High School for Boys and Woodford County High School for Girls is 104.

For entry in September 2022, the highest score attained by students in the 11 plus exam for ICHS was 127.8, and for WCHS was 133.06. Check here for more information.

For entry in September 2021, the highest score attained by students in the 11 plus exam for ICHS was 129.32 and for WCHS was 130.07. Check here for more information.

Read more about standardized scores and how they are calculated.

The Catchment Area of Redbridge Grammar Schools

We advise that you familiarise yourself with your target school’s priority criteria. The catchment area is an important factor for admissions to both Redbridge grammar schools. The London Borough of Redbridge council advises parents who live outside the common catchment area of the Redbridge Grammar Schools not to register their child to sit for the 11 plus entrance exam.

No child, irrespective of what score they attain, will be offered a place at either of the Redbridge Grammar Schools if they live outside of the common catchment area. For a fact, no children have been admitted to the Redbridge Grammar Schools from outside of the catchment area in the past five years.

You can check whether you reside within the common catchment area or not from Redbridge maps. Click on the education tab on the left and then select the 11+ common catchment area tab.

Familiarisation paper for Redbridge grammar schools

The 11 plus entrance exam for Redbridge Grammar School is conducted and administered by CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring), which is part of the University of Cambridge.

To inform parents and pupils about the 11 plus entrance assessment test, CEM provides a familiarisation booklet. This booklet includes a range of questions that will test different skills needed to complete the assessment and the way questions are answered. However, the familiarisation booklet is not standard and does not guarantee that type of questions included in the booklet will be in the final assessment as well.

Familiarisation Booklet for 2021 Entry (PDF 1.37MB)

The information provided in the familiarisation booklet provided by the CEM is standard and is applicable to all the school that uses CEM supplied entrance tests.

How to prepare for the Redbridge Grammar Schools 11 plus

You can start preparing for the Redbridge grammar school 11 plus exam at the end of year 4 or the beginning of year five by creating an 11-plus study schedule targeting all the 11 plus exam sections such as reading comprehension, maths, non-verbal reasoning, and verbal reasoning skills. You can also check at the beginning of your preparation the strength and weaknesses of your child and then prepare their study schedule accordingly.

You can ask them to try practice papers and past papers from time to time to check their progress and areas they need to work on. You can further read the blogs on particular topics below to learn more about them.

Verbal Reasoning

The verbal reasoning section is commonly assessed as a part of the 11 plus English test. A few topics covered in the verbal reasoning section are jumbled sentences, cloze passages, cloze sentences, synonyms/antonyms, etc. To know more about the verbal reasoning section in the 11 plus exam, visit Verbal Reasoning: How to prepare for the 11 plus exam.

Non-verbal Reasoning

Non-verbal reasoning is one of the other important sections in the 11 plus exams. The questions in this section are based on logic and patterns. Most of the pupils face this section for the first time in their life, which is why it is important for the child to be well versed with the type of question asked in this section. To know more about the non-verbal reasoning section in the 11 plus exam, read Non-Verbal Reasoning: Tips for preparation and success.

Mathematics

The math section in the 11 plus exam tests pupils’ skills in numbers and other mathematical concepts within the Key Stage 2 Maths curriculum. For more details about the math section, read What You Need to Know about the 11 Plus Maths Exam.

11+ Past Papers Bundle