The Reading grammar schools
Reading School
Boys' grammar school, founded 1125 — one of the oldest schools in the country. Consistently among the top-performing UK state schools at GCSE and A-level. Admits a small number of pupils each year; heavily oversubscribed.
Kendrick School
Girls' grammar school, founded 1877. Consistently among the top-performing girls' schools in the country. Admits a small year-group each year; equally heavily oversubscribed.
Both schools use the same GL-format test administered through the Reading Consortium. Each then operates its own oversubscription criteria — typically distance from school, sibling priority, and looked-after-children priority.
The Reading 11+
GL Assessment-format. Four sections covering:
- English — comprehension and language use
- Maths — KS2-level problem-solving under time pressure
- Verbal Reasoning — language-based pattern recognition
- Non-Verbal Reasoning — visual / spatial pattern recognition
Sat in September of Year 6. Registration falls in the summer term of Year 5; deadlines are published annually.
How tutoring usually focuses
Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning fluency
Both Reasoning sections aren't covered in school curriculum. Tutors drill the standard GL question types until pattern recognition is fast and accurate. Reading's high pass threshold means students need top-quartile reasoning fluency, not just adequacy.
Maths under time pressure
Reading's Maths section rewards both correctness and speed on KS2-level material. Tutors drill arithmetic fluency, fraction operations, percentage problems, and multi-step reasoning. The differentiator at the top of the cohort is consistent speed-and-accuracy.
English comprehension and writing
Reading-comprehension passages with varied question types. Wider reading helps consistently. Strong tutors supplement reading with explicit comprehension-skill drilling and broaden students' vocabulary range.
Past-paper density
Commercial publishers (Bond, CGP, Letts) provide GL-style practice papers. Past-paper density should be high in the final 2-3 months before the September test — multiple full-paper mocks per week is typical for ambitious Reading-target students.
Choosing a Reading 11+ tutor
- Reading School / Kendrick track record — given how competitive these schools are, look for tutors with specific previous-student success at these schools.
- GL Assessment fluency — strong tutors know the GL question patterns intimately.
- Honest about likelihood — given Reading's oversubscription, qualified candidates often miss out due to distance criteria. Strong tutors give realistic appraisals of whether a child's home location supports a Reading School / Kendrick application.
- Comfortable across all four sections — Reading's pass-mark expectations are high enough that weakness in any single section can sink an otherwise strong candidate.