Know exactly where your child stands for Benenden School
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Benenden School 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Benenden School 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
Benenden School
Benenden School is an independent boarding and day school for girls in Kent. The 11+ admissions process consists of two stages, including the ISEB Pretest, independent school exams, and an interview stage. For the 2026/27 academic year, boarding fees are £21,300 per term and day fees are £15,400 per term.
If your daughter would relish boarding life rather than simply tolerate it, Benenden is worth a look. It is an independent girls' school in the Kent countryside outside Cranbrook, taking girls from eleven to eighteen, and almost all of them board. Most stay in on a Saturday night, which changes the feel of the place. Evenings and weekends belong to the school rather than sitting outside it. The approach is part of the first impression, a long drive through parkland and woodland, past a lake, up to a Victorian house on a rise.
It began in 1923, when three teachers left Wycombe Abbey with the plain aim of making a happy school, moving into Hemsted Park the year after. A good deal of what they started has simply carried on. There is still a school song written in 1928, and a Hobbies Display that has run since 1925, where girls set out whatever they have been making or collecting in their own time. Princess Anne arrived in the 1960s and came back in the school's centenary year to talk to pupils. None of it is worn heavily.
What parents talk about most is the looking-after. One mother told the Good Schools Guide, 'The matrons are there for your daughter in the middle of the night.' There are ten boarding houses, each with its own house staff and matrons, and a medical centre staffed through the night in term time. Sport, music, drama and art run alongside all of it. It suits a girl who wants her school to be her life for a while, and who, as the Guide puts it, sees the glass as half full.
Key facts
Annual fees
2026/27, including VAT: boarding £21,300 per term (£63,900 per year); day £15,400 per term (£46,200 per year); international boarding at Sixth Form entry £23,390 per term (£70,170 per year). 10% reduction for a third and subsequent daughter.
Admissions
Open day
Sep, Oct, Nov, Feb, Apr, May
Admissions contact
registry@benenden.school
Admissions phone
01580 240592
Registration form
Sibling policy
What this school tests
Creative Writing Assessment
English
- Creative Writing - Descriptive
- Creative Writing - Narrative
- Creative Writing - Personal
- Creative Writing - Persuasive
ISEB Common Pre-Test
English
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Reading Comprehension - Comparison
- Reading Comprehension - Evaluation
- Reading Comprehension - Grammar and punctuation
- Reading Comprehension - Inference and Deduction
- Reading Comprehension - Information Retrieval
- Reading Comprehension - Language Techniques and Imagery
- Reading Comprehension - Sentence-level Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension - Sequencing
- Reading Comprehension - Structure, Form, Voice and Tone
- Reading Comprehension - Summarising
- Reading Comprehension - Text Classification and Purpose
- Reading Comprehension - Types of Words and Phrases
- Reading Comprehension - Word Meaning / Choice
- Spelling
- Vocabulary
Maths
- Algebra
- Angles and Degrees
- BIDMAS
- Coordinate Grids
- Estimation and Rounding
- Factors and Multiples
- Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
- Measurement
- Money
- Number and Place Value
- Operations
- Perimeter, Area and Volume
- Position and Direction
- Properties of Shapes
- Ratio and Proportion
- Reflection, Rotation and Symmetry
- Sequences
- Special Numbers
- Speed, Distance and Time
- Statistics
- Time
Non-verbal Reasoning
- Figure Analogies
- Figure Series
- Grid Matrices
- Horizontal Codes
- Most Like Three Figures
- Most Like Two Figures
- Odd Figure Out
- Star Matrices
- Triangle Matrices
- Triangle Series
- Vertical Codes
Verbal Reasoning
- Compound Words
- Embedded Words
- Form a Word
- Insert a Letter
- Move 1 / 2 Letters
- Odd Word Out
- Shuffled Sentences
- Synonyms
- Verbal Classification
- Word Analogies
- Word Completion
- Word Match
- Word Opposites
- Word Pairs
Spatial Reasoning
- 2D Rotations
- 2D View of 3D Shape
- 3D Rotations
- Block Counting
- Building Blocks
- Combining Shapes
- Fold and Punch
- Folding Cubes
- Hidden Shapes
- Missing Face of Cube
- Nets - Opposite Face
- Shape Completion
- Vertical/Horizontal Reflections
Catchment area
Selection review and safety net
Previous exam results
GCSE results
79% of grades at 9-7 (2024: 84%; 2023: 82%)
A-level results
70% of grades at A*/A (2024: 71%; 2023: 57%)
Frequently asked questions
What exam board does Benenden School use for the 11+?
Benenden School uses the ISEB Pretest alongside its own independent school entrance examinations.
Does Benenden School interview candidates as part of the 11+?
Yes, Benenden School includes an interview stage as part of its two-stage 11+ admissions process.
Is Benenden School co-educational or single-sex?
Benenden School is a single-sex school for girls aged eleven to eighteen.
What are the annual fees for Benenden School?
For the 2026/27 academic year, boarding fees are £21,300 per term (£63,900 per year) and day fees are £15,400 per term (£46,200 per year).
What is the website for Benenden School admissions?
You can find more details on the school's official admissions page at https://www.benenden.school/admissions/.
Location
https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2506.7854450095183!2d0.5713305000000001!3d51.07551060000001!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x47df3cba3ca89d9f%3A0xa056101cc52ea86a!2sBenenden%20School!5e0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1787304283979!5m2!1sen!2suk
