ISEB Common Pre-Test study guide
ISEB Common Pre-Test · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The ISEB Common Pre-Tests (often called the Common Pre-Tests or CPT) are a set of four online, adaptive and shared entrance assessments used as part of the admissions process to many of the UK's leading independent senior schools. They are typically taken by pupils in Year 6 or Year 7, and senior schools may use them for entry into Year 7 or for deferred entry into Year 9. The ISEB Common Pre-Test study guide has 4 sections and about 1,750 words.
01Mathematics: adaptive number, shape and data questions
The Mathematics section of the ISEB Common Pre-Test is an on-screen, multiple-choice paper taken without a calculator. Its content follows the Key Stage 2 national curriculum - number and place value, the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages, ratio, early algebra, measurement, geometry and statistics - but the questions push towards the top of that range.
464 words, about 2 min02English: comprehension, grammar and punctuation
The English section of the ISEB Common Pre-Test is multiple choice and on screen. It contains a reading comprehension part, based on a passage that may be fiction, non-fiction or poetry, and a grammar, punctuation and spelling part in which you choose the sentence or word that is correct.
419 words, about 2 min03Verbal reasoning: words, codes and logic
Verbal reasoning in the ISEB Common Pre-Test is not a test of vocabulary size alone. It is a set of short, timed, multiple-choice puzzles that check how flexibly you manipulate words, letters and logical statements.
440 words, about 2 min04Non-verbal reasoning: shape rules, sequences and space
Non-verbal reasoning in the ISEB Common Pre-Test uses diagrams rather than words: shapes, grids, dots, shading, arrows and nets. Every question contains a rule that is consistent and visible, and the answer is the option that obeys it.
427 words, about 2 min