The Perse School
The Perse School is an independent co-educational day school in Cambridgeshire for pupils aged 3 to 18.
- School type: Independent day school
- Admits: Boys and girls aged 3 to 18, with a sixth form
- Location: Hills Road, Cambridge (CB2 8QF)
- Year 7 places: around 70
- Size: ~1,770 pupils
- Official website: perse.co.uk
How admission works
Entry at 11+ is by assessment in the academic year before entry. All candidates must attend in person, and The Perse says no remote or overseas testing is possible.
The two test parts take place on the same day:
- A 70-minute computer-based assessment, delivered by Quest, with four components: Maths (20 minutes), English (30 minutes), Non-verbal Reasoning (10 minutes) and Verbal Reasoning (10 minutes). Most questions are multiple choice. Maths and both reasoning components adapt in difficulty, and candidates cannot skip or revisit those questions. English is not adaptive, and candidates can move back and forth and change their answers.
- A 40-minute creative writing task, where candidates write a short story from a written prompt or an image. It is typically handwritten and is assessed on creativity, vocabulary and accuracy.
The school also describes a group activity and a short informal interview with a Perse teacher about the child's interests. It says that a child's ability to engage with its extra-curricular life and to support its values are important factors in selection.
Key dates and stats (September 2027 entry)
- Year 7 places: around 70
- Assessment day: Saturday 16 January 2027
- Results: early February 2027
- Acceptance deadline: early March 2027
These details change each year. Please confirm them directly with the school on its website. We are independent of the school and the admissions body.
Preparing with Meritfy
Our papers for The Perse School come with worked answers, so you can go through each question with your child and help them understand the method.
- The Perse School English: 3 practice papers, each with 22 mixed questions.
- The Perse School Mathematics: 3 practice papers, each with 25 standard questions.
- Worked answers for every question: the solutions show the method as well as the answer, so you can see where your child went wrong and help them understand how to reach it.
- Single papers or bundles: buy one paper at a time or choose a bundle. Every paper is an instant PDF download that you can print at home.
The Perse School 11+ Exam Resources
The Perse School past and sample papers, fully solved with step-by-step answers so you can review each question with your child and understand how it should be tackled.
Our Maths and English practice paper bundles, modelled on the The Perse School exam format, give you multiple practice papers for each subject in one purchase.
Each individual practice paper below is modelled on the The Perse School exam format and comes with full worked answers.