Boys' independent day school on Queen Victoria Street — not City of London School for Girls. The official £192 registration fee, £9,848.40 termly fees, bursaries to 100%, the 27 November 2026 assessment date and the November 2024 ISI outcome, all taken from the school's own admissions, fees and inspection pages.
Book a Free ConsultationChecked October 2026
City of London School's fees, 11+ entry and registration pages give tuition of £9,848.40 per term including VAT for 2026-27, a £192 registration fee (£64 for eligible bursary applicants), a registration deadline of Monday 2 November 2026 and entrance assessments on Friday 27 November 2026.
Interviews for shortlisted candidates follow in January 2027.
City of London School (CLS) is a boys' independent day school on Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 3AL. It is not the same institution as City of London School for Girls (CLSG), a selective independent day school for girls with its own admissions process. Both schools share the words "City of London" in their name and the two schools have a longstanding partnership — which is why it is easy for families researching 11+ entry for one school to land on information about the other by mistake.
The distinction matters beyond the name. For 2027 entry, City of London School holds its entrance assessments on Friday 27 November 2026, with interviews for shortlisted candidates in January 2027. City of London School for Girls, by contrast, runs its own two-stage assessment timetable for 2027 entry, with first assessments between 13 and 18 November 2026 and second assessments held on Wednesday 6 January 2027, and it publishes its own fee of £10,611.00 per term including VAT for 2026/27 (excluding school lunches). A family that mixes up the two schools' processes risks preparing for, or registering around, the wrong dates entirely. Everything on this page from this point on concerns City of London School, the boys' school — if you are researching the girls' school, its admissions process, dates and fees are published separately on its own site.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| School name | City of London School (boys, not City of London School for Girls) |
| Location | Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 3AL |
| Registration deadline (2027 entry) | Monday 2 November 2026 |
| Entrance assessment date | Friday 27 November 2026 |
| Registration fee | £192 (inc. VAT); reduced fee of £64 for eligible bursary applicants |
| Tuition fees | £9,848.40 per term (2026-27), inc. VAT |
| Bursaries | Transformational bursaries can cover up to 100% of fees plus extras |
| Most recent inspection | ISI, November 2024 — compliant with all regulations, all standards met |
Source: City of London School fees, 11+ entry, registration form and inspection reports pages, retrieved 3 October 2026.
Tuition fees are £9,848.40 (including VAT) per term for the 2026-27 academic year, published directly on the school's own admissions and fees page. Music lessons are listed separately by the school, at £429.60 (including VAT) per term. Over the three terms of the school year, tuition comes to £29,545.20 including VAT (three times £9,848.40: our own arithmetic, as the school publishes the fee per term). These are the school's published figures for 2026-27, and because independent school fees are reviewed and reset for each academic year, it is worth checking the school's own fees page directly rather than relying on a figure quoted elsewhere — including this page, a year from now.
Registration for the 11+ entry assessment itself is completed by payment of a non-refundable fee of £192 (including VAT). This is a separate, smaller cost from the tuition fees above and applies whether or not a place is eventually offered. Families who intend to apply for a transformational means-tested bursary, and who can demonstrate a net household income of £35,000 or less and are in receipt of Universal Credit, may be eligible to pay a reduced registration fee of £64 (including VAT) instead. The school asks these families to contact the Bursary Programme Manager for further details and to supply documents, rather than registering with the standard online form.
On bursaries, City of London School states plainly that transformational bursaries can cover up to 100% of fees, plus extras, so that a life-changing education at the school is accessible to talented young people of all backgrounds. The school also names a specific point of contact for this process — Menna El-Guindy, its Bursary Programme Manager — who the school says is available to provide personalised guidance throughout the process, which it recognises will be new to many families. For 2027 entry, the school's bursary page lists a registration deadline for bursary applications of Monday 2 November 2026, a stage 1 bursary assessment deadline of Tuesday 10 November 2026 and a stage 2 bursary assessment deadline of Monday 14 December 2026. The school adds that the Bursary Programme Manager cannot comment on eligibility for an award, which is decided by the Bursary Assessment Team. The school says the registration stage is the only point at which a family can indicate interest in a bursary.
Candidates who are offered a place at 11+ may also be awarded £35 prizes: academic prizes recognise outstanding achievement in entrance assessments and are presented at the annual Prize Day at Guildhall, while music prizes may be awarded on the basis of an audition and interview and sports prizes on the basis of a sports trial.
The £192 / £64 / £35,000 figures in this section come from City of London School's own registration and bursary pages.
For entry in September 2027 (for pupils born 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016), the registration deadline is Monday 2 November 2026, and the entrance assessments take place on Friday 27 November 2026. All pupils must be registered for the entrance assessments by the deadline. Registered candidates with SEND may, depending on their agreed access arrangements, be asked to sit them at the school on Thursday 26 November 2026. Candidates who perform well are invited back for an interview and group activity in January 2027; offers are sent out by email in mid February 2027, with an acceptance deadline in early March 2027.
The process has three parts: two assessments on the day, then an interview for shortlisted candidates. First, a 105-minute online assessment (Part 1) covering English, maths, non-verbal reasoning, verbal reasoning, puzzles and problem solving, and creative comprehension, mostly multiple-choice. Second, a separate 30-minute creative writing task, assessed on creativity, vocabulary and accuracy. Third, for candidates who are shortlisted after the assessment and writing task, an interview and group activity, with the interview lasting around 15-20 minutes. The school describes this interview specifically as an opportunity to get to know a child beyond their assessment results . The school adds that no specific preparation is required or expected for the interview.
The school advises candidates to prepare for the creative writing task by reading widely and practising creative writing, and notes that pre-prepared phrases, words and imagery are often apparent to those who mark the pieces and often are not helpful.
Full details for 2027 entry, including how to register, are published on the school's own 11+ entry admissions page, which we recommend checking directly alongside this page, since administrative details can be updated by the school at any time.
City of London School describes its admissions process as competitive, requiring registration, online and written assessments, and an interview. The school says the offer of a place is made on the evidence of the assessments (the 105-minute online assessment and the 30-minute creative writing task) and the interview, together with a confidential report from the candidate's current school.
On the online assessment, the school says maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning are adaptive, so questions get harder or easier according to a candidate's responses, while English, puzzles and problem solving and creative comprehension are non-adaptive; it recommends that all candidates look at the familiarisation materials it provides.
Parents are asked to declare the need for extra time or other access arrangements when they register their child, and where extra time is approved it is added automatically to the timer on each candidate's screen.
City of London School is part of the City of London Corporation's "Family of Schools", a group that the school describes as including four independent schools, one maintained primary school, eight sponsored academies within the City of London Academies Trust, and two co-sponsored academies in neighbouring boroughs. City of London School is not simply a school operating on its own: the school says it places enormous value on its connections with this wider group of schools, and gives its longstanding partnership with City of London School for Girls as a defining example.
Separately, the school says its transformational bursary programme, which can cover up to 100% of fees plus extras, is made possible by the generosity of its donor community of alumni, parents, staff, Livery Companies and friends of the School. The school's partnership page records over 6,000 hours of voluntary service by its pupils across 2023, and describes pupils volunteering in the IntoUniversity Centres the school supports and acting as online reading mentors for primary school children.
The school says its transformational bursary programme dates from the vision of John Carpenter, who in the fifteenth century wanted his legacy to provide access to an excellent education on the basis of potential rather than socioeconomic background. City of London School's own history dates from the 15th century, through the will of John Carpenter, through to the school's founding on Milk Street in 1837 and its relocation to its current home in 1987.
My son was low in confidence after COVID and the gaps in learning were building up. Using this service helped plug those gaps, rebuild confidence, and improve his ability to learn properly again.
We arranged maths and English tuition ahead of GCSEs and both tutors were brilliant. My daughter's grades improved, and by results day she achieved two grades higher than in her mock exams.
I attended an English bootcamp with Leading Tuition and the experience was excellent. The teacher gave focused attention to the small group while keeping the lessons interactive and engaging.
City of London School's most recent full inspection was conducted by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in November 2024. The school was judged compliant with all regulations, with the inspection confirming that all standards are met.
The November 2024 inspection result sits alongside the fee, bursary and admissions detail above as one more piece of information a family can check for themselves. The full report is published on the school's own inspection reports page, alongside its earlier ISI reports, for families who want to read the inspectors' findings in full rather than a summary.
Preparing for City of London School 11+ Entry?
Our specialist tutors prepare children for the City of London School entry process: the online assessment, the creative writing task, and talking confidently at the interview for shortlisted candidates. We build a programme timed around the 27 November 2026 assessment date, so your child arrives ready for every part the school actually weighs, not just the online test.
We support families applying to City of London School and City of London School for Girls alike — and we always confirm which school a family means before starting a preparation plan.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppLeading Tuition's specialist 11+ tuition programme works with families preparing for City of London School's 11+ entry, structured around the three components the school actually assesses: the 105-minute online assessment, the 30-minute creative writing task and the interview for shortlisted candidates. We prepare children for each of the three separate parts of the process the school describes.
We begin with a diagnostic assessment covering the academic areas tested in the online assessment, alongside a first look at extended, timed creative writing, since it is a separate part of the school's assessment, on content unrelated to the online assessment. As the 27 November 2026 assessment date approaches, we introduce full timed mock sessions replicating the format and length of the actual assessment day, and practice at talking about interests, reading and activities clearly and confidently for the interview — not rehearsed answers; the school itself says no specific preparation is required or expected for the interview.
We also help families navigate the wider process: registering ahead of the 2 November 2026 deadline, understanding the reduced £64 registration fee and £35,000 income threshold if they may be eligible, and preparing a bursary application with the school's own Bursary Programme Manager if a family wants to explore bursary support covering up to 100% of fees. If a family is also considering City of London School for Girls, or applying to both, we help them keep the two schools' separate timetables straight from the outset — including CLSG's own second assessment date of 6 January 2027, which falls well after City of London School's entrance assessments on 27 November 2026. For a wider view of independent school fees and bursaries, our guide on school bursaries after the VAT change covers the broader context families are navigating alongside a specific school's own figures.
If you are researching City of London School for Girls specifically, rather than the boys' school this page covers, our separate City of London School for Girls 11+ guide covers CLSG's own dates, fees and process in full. Families considering City of London School's sixth form at 16+ may also find our City of London School 16+ guide useful for planning beyond 11+ entry.
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 City of London School's fees, 11+ entry, registration form, transformational bursaries, partnership, history, inspection reports and home pages, and City of London School for Girls' 11+ admissions and fees pages.
For a family living abroad, our guide to City of London School from overseas gathers what the school publishes for applicants outside the UK, stage by stage.
No. City of London School is a boys' independent day school on Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 3AL. City of London School for Girls (CLSG) is a separate institution with its own site, its own admissions process and its own assessment timetable — for 2027 entry, CLSG runs a two-stage process, with second assessments on Wednesday 6 January 2027, a different structure from City of London School's own entrance assessments on 27 November 2026. Both schools share "City of London" in their name and have a longstanding partnership, which is why the confusion is common, but they are not interchangeable.
Tuition fees are £9,848.40 (including VAT) per term for the 2026-27 academic year, published directly on the school's own admissions and fees page. Music lessons are listed separately by the school, at £429.60 (including VAT) per term. Over the three terms of the school year, tuition comes to £29,545.20 including VAT (three times £9,848.40: our own arithmetic, as the school publishes the fee per term). These are the school's published figures for 2026-27 and should always be confirmed on cityoflondonschool.org.uk before budgeting, since fee schedules are set for each academic year.
Registration for 11+ entry is completed by payment of a non-refundable fee of £192 (including VAT). Families who intend to apply for a transformational means-tested bursary, and who can demonstrate a net household income of £35,000 or less and are in receipt of Universal Credit, may be eligible to pay a reduced registration fee of £64 (including VAT) instead. The school asks these families to contact the Bursary Programme Manager for further details and to supply documents, rather than registering with the standard online form.
The registration deadline for 2027 entry is Monday 2 November 2026, and the entrance assessments take place on Friday 27 November 2026. The assessment day itself is a 105-minute online assessment, plus a separate 30-minute creative writing task. Shortlisted candidates are then invited to an interview lasting around 15-20 minutes, which the school describes as an opportunity to get to know a child beyond their assessment results. Interviews take place in January 2027, and the school says no specific preparation is required or expected.
The school describes its admissions process as competitive. All registered candidates sit the entrance assessments on Friday 27 November 2026, and those who perform well are invited back for an interview and group activity in January 2027. The school says the offer of a place is made on the evidence of the assessments and interview, together with a confidential report from the candidate's current school. Offers are sent out by email in mid February 2027, with an acceptance deadline in early March 2027.
City of London School is part of the City of London Corporation's "Family of Schools", which the school describes as including four independent schools, one maintained primary school, eight sponsored academies within the City of London Academies Trust, and two co-sponsored academies in neighbouring boroughs. The school's partnership page records over 6,000 hours of voluntary service by CLS pupils across 2023.
A full inspection was conducted by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in November 2024. The school was judged compliant with all regulations, with the inspection confirming that all standards are met. This is the most recent independent verdict on the school and is published on the school's own inspection reports page, alongside its earlier reports from 2023, 2021, 2017 and 2011.
Our specialist tutors work one-to-one online with children preparing for City of London School's 2027 entry. We cover the 105-minute online assessment and the 30-minute creative writing task, with timed practice ahead of the entrance assessments on Friday 27 November 2026, and help children feel confident talking about their interests, reading and activities for the interview. We also help families keep City of London School's dates separate from those of City of London School for Girls. Book a free consultation to talk through where your child is now and what to focus on first.