Catholic Benedictine boarding and day school in North Yorkshire. The entrance test is a computer-based assessment in Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning, held over 15 and 16 January 2027. Expert one-to-one preparation from Leading Tuition.
Book a Free ConsultationChecked October 2026
Ampleforth College's Year 7 & 8 Entry page gives 15 & 16 January 2027 for the entrance assessments; registration closes on 6 January 2027.
Its fees and Junior House pages list termly Junior Day at £9,249, Junior Boarding at £14,228, Weekly boarding at £12,601 and 3 Night Flexi at £11,411 for 2026-27, all including VAT.
The school states it in one sentence: "For most children joining Ampleforth at 11+, entry is through sitting our Ampleforth entrance test in January of Year 6." The test "takes place at Ampleforth over the course of two days" and "involves a computer-based CEM assessment in Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning for which no special preparation is required. Children also have an interview with our Registrar, and, after lunch, enjoy an afternoon of activities with potential future classmates."
Two details in that are worth separating. The academic element is delivered on a computer and covers three areas, which is a different proposition from a written paper — navigation, on-screen reading and pace all matter. And the interview and the afternoon activity sit alongside it, so a child is being met as well as measured. The school frames the whole thing that way: "Admission is through assessment and interview, and is subject to reports and a Head's reference from your child's current school."
On the name: the school calls it a CEM assessment. Cambridge's entrance assessments page lists Cambridge Select Insight, described as "Suitable for 11+, 13+, late transfer and fair banding", with two versions for independent schools looking for an 11+ or 13+ assessment. Cambridge also states that it does "not provide any commercially available practice materials (including practice or past papers) nor endorse any other commercially available resources or tuition services". The school says no special preparation is required, which fits with that. Its scholarships page also lists sample 11+ Academic papers in English and Maths. Our guide to CEM and GL Assessment explains which tests sit under each name.
Registration comes first and is not automatic. "Registration must take place before the formal assessment process commences", and parents "need to complete the registration form and pay a non-refundable registration fee of £100 to secure a place for their child on the list for their year of entry". The school recommends doing this "by the beginning of Year 6", and adds that "All applicants should be registered with us before sitting the assessments."
The school publishes a single table for Year 7 entry in 2027, and one date on it does more work than the rest: 6 January 2027 is the deadline for registration and for scholarship applications, nine days before the assessments.
| Date the school publishes | What happens |
|---|---|
| September 2026 | Registration |
| 19 September 2026 | Open Morning at Ampleforth College (date has passed) |
| 6 January 2027 | Deadline for registration and scholarship applications, and for bursary applications (the Randag Bursary deadline, 30 September 2026, has passed) |
| 15 & 16 January 2027 | Ampleforth Entrance Assessments and Scholarship Assessments |
| 23 January 2027 | Open Morning at Ampleforth College |
| February 2027 | Offers of a place, and scholarship application outcomes |
| March 2027 | Bursary Committee meets and decisions agreed |
| June 2027 | New Starters Day |
Source: Ampleforth College Year 7 & 8 Entry page, key dates for 2027 entry, retrieved 3 October 2026.
The scholarship timetable published separately puts the 11+ Development Award and Entrance Assessment Day on "Friday 15 January 2027", with applications closing "Wednesday 6 January 2027". For queries about the assessment days, the school's Admissions Office is on 01439 766000.
What happens after the assessment is short. "After our assessment day in January, we will issue offers to those children who have performed well in this process." Accepting involves a confirmation form and "a confirmation deposit", which "is refunded at the end of your child's time at Ampleforth College". The school then seeks a reference from the current Head, and notes that "In the unlikely event that a Head raises a concern, we reserve the right to reassess our offer."
Preparation for a computer-based assessment is its own skill
The school says no special preparation is required, and we take that at face value. What we build instead is comfort with reading and answering on screen at pace, and the Maths and English foundations the three sections rest on. 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.
Book a Free ConsultationAt this stage they are called Development Awards, and the school is precise about what they are worth. "In Years 7 and 8, to encourage junior pupils to further their interests, Academic and Sports Development Awards carry a 10% fee remission, whilst Music, Dance, and Drama Development Awards cover tuition in an instrument, LAMDA, or dance." Awards at this stage "are held for two years".
It is worth knowing what changes at Year 9. "From Year 9 onwards, scholarships are honorary and bring no fee remission (although in the case of Music Scholarships, music tuition is covered)." The school adds that they "can be extremely helpful in supporting a bursary application as a strong indication of a child likely to flourish at Ampleforth", which is a different kind of benefit and worth planning around.
The mechanics: "Applications can be made for more than one scholarship, but due to the commitment required of our scholars, it is not possible for a pupil to hold more than two awards." There is "a fee of £50 per scholarship", non-refundable and payable to the St Laurence Education Trust. All awards "are won in open competition and are awarded solely on merit", and "The number of awards and bursaries made in any year is at the discretion of the Head." Every award is also "subject to annual review".
Ampleforth publishes its 2026-27 fees in full, including the VAT split, and the Junior House figures for Years 7 and 8 are lower than the College figures a family will meet from Year 9. From September 2026 Junior House also offers Weekly boarding (Monday to Friday nights) at £12,601 a term and 3 Night Flexi (any three nights a week) at £11,411 a term, both including VAT; an ad hoc night is listed at £69.
| Fee band | Termly fee | VAT | Termly total | Annual total inc. VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Boarding (Y7-8) | £11,857 | £2,371 | £14,228 | £42,684 |
| Junior Day (Y7-8) | £7,708 | £1,541 | £9,249 | £27,747 |
| College Boarding (Y9-13) | £16,612 | £3,323 | £19,935 | £59,805 |
| College Day (Y9-13) | £11,569 | £2,314 | £13,883 | £41,649 |
Source: Ampleforth College fees page and Junior House flexible boarding page, 2026-2027, retrieved 3 October 2026.
Two reductions are published. "A sibling discount of 10% will be applied to younger siblings when multiple siblings are at the College. This applies to new families joining after September 2026." And for service families: "For the children of HM Armed Forces and HM Diplomatic Service personnel who are in receipt of the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA), families will pay only the mandatory 10% of our boarding fees. No further discounts, such as sibling, will be applied." Read that second one carefully — it is a far larger reduction than a ten per cent discount, and it excludes the sibling discount rather than stacking with it.
Bursary decisions run on their own clock. The school's Randag Bursary application deadline, 30 September 2026, has passed; general bursary applications for Year 7 and 8 entry close on Wednesday 6 January 2027 alongside registration, and the Bursary Committee "meets and decisions agreed" in March 2027 — after offers have gone out in February. A family who needs the bursary answer before accepting should plan for that sequence rather than against it.
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We start from what the school says rather than around it. Ampleforth states that the assessment is one "for which no special preparation is required", and Cambridge says it does not provide any commercially available practice materials, so we do not build preparation around past papers. What we do instead is build the two things the format quietly demands.
The first is the subject foundation across all three areas: Maths beyond routine calculation into multi-step problems, English comprehension and accuracy, and pattern and spatial work for the Non-Verbal Reasoning section. The second is screen fluency. A computer-based assessment changes how a child reads a question, whether they can annotate, and how they pace themselves without a paper in front of them. A child who has only ever worked on paper meets all of that for the first time on the day.
The interview and the afternoon activity are part of the assessment too, and we help a child practise talking about what interests them. We work on that in the same way we do for other interviewing schools — not rehearsed answers, but the habit of giving a reason and an example. For families weighing entry points, our Ampleforth 13+ guide covers the Year 9 route, and the wider 11+ school guides cover comparable boarding schools. Book a free consultation and we will map the January 2027 dates against where your child stands.
The dates, fees and admissions details above come from Ampleforth College's own Year 7 & 8 Entry, scholarships, fees and Junior House flexible boarding pages; the assessment-provider wording comes from Cambridge's entrance assessments page. Dates and fees do change: confirm current details with the school's Year 7 & 8 Entry page before you register.
Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read on 3 October 2026, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.
Reviewed October 2026: dates, figures and rules checked against Ampleforth College's Year 7 & 8 Entry, scholarships, fees and Junior House flexible boarding pages, Cambridge's entrance assessments page and Get Information about Schools.
Ampleforth's Year 7 & 8 Entry page says the entrance test "involves a computer-based CEM assessment in Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning for which no special preparation is required". Cambridge's entrance assessments page lists Cambridge Select Insight, described as "Suitable for 11+, 13+, late transfer and fair banding", with two versions for independent schools looking for an 11+ or 13+ assessment. Cambridge also says it does "not provide any commercially available practice materials (including practice or past papers)".
The school's key dates table gives "15 & 16 January 2027" for Ampleforth Entrance Assessments and Scholarship Assessments, and its Year 7 & 8 Entry page says the test "takes place at Ampleforth over the course of two days". The separate scholarship timetable puts the 11+ Development Award and Entrance Assessment Day on Friday 15 January 2027. Registration and scholarship applications both close on 6 January 2027, and offers are made in February 2027. For queries about the day, the school's Admissions Office is on 01439 766000.
Three areas, delivered by computer: Maths, English and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Alongside the academic assessment, children "have an interview with our Registrar, and, after lunch, enjoy an afternoon of activities with potential future classmates". The school describes admission as being "through assessment and interview", subject to school reports and a Head's reference, so the written element is one input among several rather than the whole decision.
Registration comes before anything else: "Registration must take place before the formal assessment process commences." Parents complete the registration form and pay "a non-refundable registration fee of £100 to secure a place for their child on the list for their year of entry", and send copies of school reports at the same time. The school recommends registering "by the beginning of Year 6" and states that "All applicants should be registered with us before sitting the assessments." Later applicants are welcome but should contact Admissions about availability.
Development Awards, in Academic, Dance, Drama, Music and Sport. The school states that "Academic and Sports Development Awards carry a 10% fee remission, whilst Music, Dance, and Drama Development Awards cover tuition in an instrument, LAMDA, or dance", and that awards at this stage "are held for two years". There is "a fee of £50 per scholarship", non-refundable. A pupil may apply for more than one but may not hold more than two. From Year 9 onwards scholarships become honorary and carry no fee remission, so the financial benefit is specific to Years 7 and 8.
For 2026-27 the school publishes Junior Boarding at £11,857 a term plus £2,371 VAT, a termly total of £14,228 and an annual total including VAT of £42,684; Junior Day is £7,708 plus £1,541 VAT, £9,249 a term and £27,747 a year including VAT. From September 2026 Junior House also offers Weekly boarding (Monday to Friday nights) at £12,601 a term and 3 Night Flexi at £11,411 a term, both including VAT. From Year 9 the College fees apply, with boarding at £19,935 a term including VAT. A 10% sibling discount applies to younger siblings for new families joining after September 2026.
Admission is run by the school itself: parents register with Ampleforth, the entrance test takes place at Ampleforth, and the school describes admission as being "through assessment and interview", subject to reports and a Head's reference. Get Information about Schools lists Ampleforth College as an Other independent school. It welcomes "children from a broad range of educational backgrounds into our Year 7 & 8 Junior House including independent, state and international schools".
By preparing the things the format actually demands, given that the school says no special preparation is required and Cambridge says it does not provide any commercially available practice materials. That means the subject foundations across the three assessed areas — Maths beyond routine calculation, English comprehension and accuracy, and pattern work for Non-Verbal Reasoning — plus fluency at reading and answering on a screen under time, which is a distinct skill from working on paper. We also prepare children for the Registrar interview in the way that helps rather than hinders: giving reasons and examples for their own interests, not rehearsed answers. Book a free consultation to plan against the January 2027 dates.