Highgate School — 11+ English Sample Paper 2020
Highgate School set this 11+ English paper in 2020. Hearthprep hosts it as an interactive past paper — 5 questions worth 30 marks in 45 minutes, each marked the moment the paper is submitted and backed by a step-by-step worked solution. Most 11+ entrance exams are sat between November and January of the year of entry.
Real 11+ English paper from Highgate School (2020). 5 questions, 30 marks. Answer interactively with worked solutions. Covers Creative Writing, Reading Comprehension.
This is the school's own past paper, reproduced here with worked solutions by Hearthprep. Most 11+ entrance exams are sat between November and January of the year of entry, so a timed attempt at this paper is worth doing early enough to leave room for the topics it exposes. Work through it on screen with instant marking, or print the PDF and sit it under exam conditions.
- School
- Highgate School
- Entry level
- 11+
- Subject
- English
- Year
- 2020
- Questions
- 5
- Marks
- 30
- Time
- 45 minutes
- Exam board
- ISEB
Topics in this paper
- Creative Writing
- Reading Comprehension
Questions in this paper (3 of 5)
- Question 1short answer · 2 marks
Passage (extract from Gerald Durrell, 'My Family and Other Animals'): 'The villa was small and square, standing in its tiny garden with an air of pink-faced determination. Its shutters had been faded by the sun to a delicate creamy-green, cracked and bubbled in places. The garden, surrounded by tall fuchsia hedges, had the flower-beds worked in complicated geometrical patterns, marked with smoo…
- Question 2short answer · 1 mark
Re-read the opening paragraph (lines 1 to 17). Give a quotation that suggests the villa has not been well looked after.
- Question 3written answer · 5 marks
Re-read the opening paragraph (lines 1 to 17). (a) Give a quotation that makes one of the types of flowers seem vivid to you. (b) Explain how your quotation does this. Consider the meaning of the words and their associations.
2 further questions in this paper open with any paid plan, along with marking and the worked solutions. See plans.
Frequently asked questions
What is in the Highgate School — 11+ English Sample Paper 2020?
5 questions worth 30 marks in total, written for 45 minutes. It covers Creative Writing, Reading Comprehension. Highgate School set it as a 11+ English paper.
How long is the Highgate School 11+ English paper?
This paper is timed at 45 minutes for 30 marks — roughly 90 seconds a mark. Hearthprep runs the same clock on screen, so your child sees how far through the time they are as they answer.
Can my child answer this paper online?
Yes. Every question on this page can be answered in the browser and is marked the moment the paper is submitted — multiple choice, short answers and written responses alike. Answers are matched leniently, so a correct value written a different way (units, fractions, word numbers) still scores.
Are worked solutions included?
Every question has a step-by-step worked solution and an AI tutor that will talk through it after the paper is submitted. The first 3 questions of this paper are free to try; the remaining 2 and the marking come with a paid plan.
Where does this Highgate School paper come from?
This is the school's own past paper, reproduced here with worked solutions by Hearthprep. Use it to time a full mock attempt, then drill whichever topics your child drops marks on.
Loading the interactive paper…