How to get into Brighton College at 11 Plus

Introduction

Brighton College has a significant intake at 11 Plus, with about 80 students joining at this point.

Please note that the school also has a significant entrance point at 13 Plus. They do not have boarding places available before this point, with only day school places available at 11 Plus and below. Parents wanting their child to board at this age can contact Handcross Park, a local Prep school with boarding that is connected to Brighton College.

Places are awarded on the basis of performance in a series of examinations in English, Maths, Non-Verbal and Verbal Reasoning. Examinations take place on one day in early January of Year 6 (the school year before admission), when students will be 10 or 11 years old.

Registration

Parents must register their children well before the entrance exams in January of Year 6. Contact the school for further information.

For 2024/2025, application fees to Brighton College were £180 for students living in the UK, and £390 for students outside the UK.

Pre-testing

No pre-assessment or pre-testing used by Brighton College at 11+. This means that all places are awarded via one set of entrance exams (see below for more information).

Examinations

Brighton College set entrance exams in Maths, English, VR and NVR at 11+. Contact the school for further information.

Up until the time of writing, the examinations took place in early January. 

Although they aren’t exactly the same, parents wishing to give their child extra exam practice papers have two main routes: the practice papers written by the ISEB (purchasable from Galore Park’s website), and the free papers that we provide on our website.

Interviews

At the time of writing, Brighton College’s website didn’t state whether they required students to sit an interview. Contact the school for further information.

If they do, at 11+ the interview process is usually quite short. There is often a lot of fear around the interview process, but essentially, the school wants to know if your child is going to be happy and do well there. In the words of one of our top school entrance tutors:

“The interview is a conversation with a purpose, designed to establish whether the school will suit you and you will suit the school. Ask your child to think about why they want to go there, what the school can offer them and what they can offer the school. Can they play an instrument, act, contribute to term sports, play chess, instigate a new club? Tell them!”

Scholarships and Bursaries

Brighton College offers both Scholarships at 11 Plus.

Scholarships

Academic scholarships are offered on the basis of performance on the school’s entrance test. Contact the school to find out the value of these. All students sitting the entrance exams are considered on the basis of performance in these exams.

The school offers All-Rounder scholarships based on performance in a combination of art, drama, dance, sport and music. They also offer a Chess Scholarship. Contact the school for further information.

Fees

Parents accepting a place at 11 Plus were required to pay a deposit of £2,000 in 2024/2025. Parents of students based overseas were required to pay an extra £10,000 deposit.

There was a non-refundable charge of £90 in 2024/2025, payable on entry.

In the Senior School, fees (payable termly) were £7,720 for Year 7 in the year 2024-2025 for Day students. This came to £23,160 a year. Fees increase as the students progress through the school. Currently, Upper Sixth (Year 13) Day students pay £10,590 termly. 

Boarding is an option for students from year 9 upwards and are charged at a higher rate. Current Year 9 students pay £17,510 per term for full boarding with weekly boarders paying £14,770.  Full boarding is the only option open to international students.

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