Tiffin School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Information
Table of Contents
Introduction
Founded in 1880, Tiffin School is a selective boys’ grammar located in Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. Previously voluntary aided, Tiffin School became an academy in 2011 and has specialist status in both performing arts and languages.
With a traditional heritage, Tiffin prides itself on being a forward-thinking, progressive school that prepares its pupils for modern life. Boys are able to participate in a range of extracurricular activities including sport, musicals and art.
For an insight into life at Tiffin School, take a look at this short video, showcasing a day in the life of new pupils:
11 Plus Exam Information for Tiffin School
Address: Tiffin School, Queen Elizabeth Road, Kingston upon Thames KT2 6RL
County: London
Admissions Info: office@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk, 020 8546 4638
School Type: Boys’ Grammar
Number of pupils: 1,059 (approx.)
Number of Places in Year 7: 180
Open Day Date: July
Exam Date: October and November
Exam Board Type: Stage 1: (Multiple-choice Maths and English), Stage 2: (Open answer Maths and English)
Tiffin School 11 Plus Admissions
With 180 places available in Year 7, the Tiffin School encourages prospective students and their parents to attend its open evening, which usually takes place in July. At the open evenings, you can learn more about the admissions process and have an opportunity to tour the school and speak to staff. Admission is determined by pupil performance in a two-stage entrance exam process, which is administered by Kingston Local Education Authority (LEA).
Competition for places in Year 7 at Tiffin School is high, so in the likely event of oversubscription, the school applies the following criteria, giving priority to:
- Boys with an education, health and care (EHC) plan or a Statement of Special Educational Needs
- Boys whose permanent place of residence is within the school’s Priority Area
- Boys whose permanent place of residence is outside the Priority Area
For details about the school’s Priority Area and further information about its admissions criteria, visit the school’s website directly.
How to Apply for 11 Plus Entry to Tiffin School
Parents who wish to register their son to sit Stage One of the entrance exam must complete an online registration form. This can be done via the school’s website when the registration window is open. Boys who pass this stage will be invited to sit Stage Two of the test, set by the school in November. At this stage, parents must complete their Local Authority’s Common Application Form (CAF) for their child to be eligible for consideration for a place at Tiffin School.
Parents will receive notification of places in March the following year via post.
Tiffin School Catchment Area
Does Tiffin School have a catchment area?
Yes, they do. For Tiffin School, the catchment area has two sections: Inner Priority Area (pupils who live less than 10 km from Tiffin School) and Outer Priority Area (pupils who live 10 km or more, and less than 14 km from the school).
Tiffin School 11 Plus Exam Format
Parents are advised to refer to Tiffin School’s FAQ document for more detailed information about the 11 Plus exam format. In previous years, the tests have been split into two stages:
Stage One: English and Maths, both multiple choice
A number of pupils will then be invited back to sit the Stage Two test.
Stage Two: English and Maths, set by the school. Although no details are given ahead of the test by the school, previous tests have included comprehension, a writing task and standard format maths questions.
How to Prepare for the Tiffin School 11 Plus Exam?
Tiffin School chooses not to reveal details of its exam provider for Year 7 testing. Understandably, this can cause concern among parents and students who are keen to prepare for the exam. At Exam Papers Plus, we have resources that can help students prepare for the Tiffin School 11 Plus tests. Our practice papers can help you identify any weaknesses or gaps in your child’s preparation. This will enable you to adjust your child’s study schedule accordingly.
Practice Exam Papers for the Tiffin School 11 Plus Exam
Tiffin School is a hugely competitive grammar school, with over ten applicants for every Year 7 place, so students need to be properly prepared before the exam. To give students the best possible chance of gaining a place in Year 7 at Tiffin School, we would recommend using the following practice papers:
STAGE 1
Our top recommendation is to use our Stage 1 specific practice tests for Tiffin School:
Full Practice Tests
- 11 Plus Kingston Practice Test 1
- 11 Plus Kingston Practice Test 2
- 11 Plus Kingston Practice Test 3
- 11 Plus Kingston Practice Test 4
- 11 Plus Kingston Practice Test 5
Most of the feedback we’ve received in the past years suggests that the first round test at Tiffin School is very similar to the first round test used by the grammar schools in Sutton, known as the Selective Eligibility Test. Both exams consist of multiple-choice maths and English papers with similar timings and question types. Differences come down to how answers need to be marked on the answer sheet and the number of questions in the English section.
As such, our full-length Sutton practice tests will provide great further practice for the Tiffin first round test:
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 1
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 2
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 3
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 4
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 5
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 6
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 7
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 8
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 9
- 11 Plus Selective Eligibility Test Sutton Practice Test 10
These packs will prove useful for targeted practice of specific question types that have come up in previous years in the Tiffin first round exam:
- 11 Plus Kingston: Paragraph Ordering
- 11 Plus Sutton + Kingston: Prefixes and Suffixes
- 11 Plus Sutton + Kingston: Synonyms and Antonyms
- 11 Plus Sutton + Kingston: Spelling
- 11 Plus Sutton + Kingston: Odd One Out
If you would like further practice, we have plenty of subject and skill-specific resources that will help:
English
- 11+ English Pack 1
- 11+ English Pack 2
- 11+ English Pack 3
- 11+ English Pack 4
- 11+ Spelling Pack 1
- 11+ Spelling Pack 2
- 11+ Spelling Pack 3
- 11+ Comprehension Pack 1 (fiction)
- 11+ Comprehension Pack 2 (non-fiction)
- 11+ Comprehension Pack 3 (poetry)
- 11+ Cloze
- 11+ Verbal Reasoning (Language based)
In previous years, there has been a strong emphasis on synonyms and antonyms in the first round English test. These packs should prove especially useful:
Mathematics
Skill specific practice
- 11+ Maths Pack 1
- 11+ Maths Pack 2
- 11+ Maths Pack 3
- 11+ Maths Pack 4
- 11+ Maths: Problem Solving Pack 1
- 11+ Maths: Problem Solving Pack 2
- 11+ Short Numerical Reasoning
- 11+ M.C. Numerical Reasoning
- 11+ Long Numerical Reasoning (This pack requires answers to be written in a similar format to that required in the Tiffin first round Maths exam)
The maths and English sections in the packs below cover many exam styles that are very similar to the question types used in the first round Tiffin tests. The answer sheets included also show how some of the maths questions need to be answered. (You should ignore the Non-Verbal Reasoning sections as they are not relevant for Tiffin.)
Full Practice Tests CEM
- 11 Plus CEM Practice Test 1
- 11 Plus CEM Practice Test 2
- 11 Plus CEM Practice Test 3
- 11 Plus CEM Practice Test 4
STAGE 2
The Stage 2 English exam covers open-answer reading comprehension and a writing test. In last year’s exam, the comprehension passages included a story of a woman who was hiking in the Rockies, a passage from Tom Brown’s School Days and a poem called ‘The Moment’. Question formats included rewriting sections in the first person, explaining the meaning of words and plenty of long-form responses that required evidence to back them up. Our English papers are in a strikingly similar format.
The Writing task has included provided story endings or specific requirements of how the story needs to be structured. Our Writing Guide covers all known formats of Tiffin’s past writing assessments.
English (open answer)
Comprehension
- 11+ English – Standard Format – (Pack 1)
- 11+ English – Standard Format – (Pack 2)
- 11+ English – Standard Format – (Pack 3)
- 11+ English – Standard Format – (Pack 4)
- 11+ English – Complete Comprehension Guide
- 11+ English – Reading Workbook
Writing
- 11+ English – Writing Prompts
- 11+ English – Spelling – (Pack 1)
- 11+ English – Spelling – (Pack 2)
- 11+ English – Complete Writing Guide (Covers all known writing categories that could come up in the Stage 2 test)
The maths exam covers arithmetic questions followed by plenty of challenging word problems, covering topics such as time zones, speed/distance/time, simultaneous equations and algebra. The test is in standard format, consisted of open-answer questions. In terms of format, timing, question types and difficulty level, the exam is likely to be quite similar to our independent school practice papers listed below.
Mathematics (open answer)
Full Practice Tests
- 11+ Mathematics – Standard Format – (Pack 1)
- 11+ Mathematics – Standard Format – (Pack 2)
- 11+ Mathematics – Standard Format – (Pack 3)
- 11+ Mathematics – Standard Format – (Pack 4)
Skill specific practice
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Why do some of the recommendations above show me independent school papers?
The main difference between independent and grammar school papers is the question format. Independent schools usually assess with standard format questions, which means students need to write out full answers. Grammar schools usually use multiple-choice format questions.
Whilst Tiffin School is a grammar school, they actually use the independent school (standard) format for some of their exams, which is why they are included in the recommendations above.
Our practice tests aim to show what sort of questions were included in Tiffin School 11+ past papers. The information provided about Tiffin School was believed to be correct at the time of publishing. However, please be aware of future changes. We advise you to contact the school directly if you are unsure of anything. School contact details are provided within the post.
