Haberdashers' Boys' School in Elstree is consistently ranked among the top three or four boys' schools in the UK, and its 11+ is one of the most competitive entry processes in the country. For families in North London, Barnet, Hertfordshire and the surrounding Home Counties, Haberdashers' represents the gold standard in selective boys' education — and gaining a place requires sustained, intelligent preparation over two to three years.
About Haberdashers' Boys' School
Habs Boys (as the school is widely known) is located at Butterfly Lane, Elstree, WD6 — a large campus accessible by car from Barnet, Mill Hill, Finchley, Edgware and the Hertfordshire commuter towns. The school educates around 1,200 boys from Year 3 to the Sixth Form, including its own junior school. Year 7 external intake is the most competitive entry point for boys coming from other schools.
Academically, Haberdashers' is exceptional — Oxford and Cambridge entry rates among the highest nationally, with particular strength in Medicine, Law and the Sciences. It also has very strong sport, music and drama. The culture is competitive, supportive and genuinely intellectually demanding.
The 11+ process
Registration opens in September of Year 5 and closes in October. The process is:
- First stage: school's own papers in November of Year 6 — candidates sit English, Mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning papers. All four are set by the school rather than by GL Assessment or CEM, and all are harder than standard 11+ materials. The English paper includes comprehension and writing; the Maths paper is multi-step and problem-solving orientated.
- Shortlist and interview — boys who perform well across all four papers are invited for interview. The Haberdashers' interview is academic and engaging: boys are asked to discuss a topic they find interesting, respond to novel questions, and demonstrate intellectual energy and breadth.
- Offers in January of Year 6. The school is significantly oversubscribed and the conversion rate from assessment to offer is low.
What the papers test
- Mathematics — multi-step problems, algebraic thinking, fractions, percentages, ratio, geometry and number reasoning. Boys should be working significantly beyond the Year 6 curriculum, with comfort in problems that require lateral thinking and persistence.
- English comprehension — unseen passages with analytical questions. Haberdashers' expects boys to write in complete, well-structured sentences, to make inferences from the text, and to demonstrate a broad vocabulary.
- Writing — creative or discursive, with a premium on originality, clarity of thought and engagement. Boys who write mechanically, even if accurately, tend to score less well than those who write with genuine ideas.
- Verbal reasoning — at a level harder than most standard 11+ VR materials. Depth of verbal and logical reasoning is required.
- Non-verbal reasoning — pattern recognition, spatial reasoning and abstract problem-solving. Less familiar to most children from school, so specific practice is valuable.
How selective is it?
Haberdashers' Boys' is among the very most competitive 11+ entries in the country. Hundreds of candidates from London and Hertfordshire sit the papers for around 80 Year 7 places (the rest going to junior school boys progressing internally). Boys who receive external offers are typically in the top one or two per cent academically of their year group.
When to start preparation
For external candidates, preparation should begin no later than September of Year 4 — two full years before the November Year 6 papers. Boys starting in Year 5 can succeed if they have strong natural ability, but Year 4 starts are significantly less stressful and give more time to build genuine depth.
Year 4 builds mathematical and English foundations. Year 5 introduces past papers, school-specific materials and all four paper formats. Year 6 is for intensive practice, gap-filling and interview preparation.
Preparation strategy
- Mathematics at scholarship level. UKMT Junior Mathematical Challenge preparation, algebra, ratio and advanced problem-solving should all feature from Year 4. Boys should be regularly encountering problems they cannot solve immediately and developing the resilience to work through them.
- English depth, not just practice. Wide reading, analytical discussion of texts, and regular writing with quality feedback are far more effective than comprehension drilling alone.
- VR and NVR consistently. Both reasoning papers require sustained practice across Years 5 and 6. Speed and accuracy under timed conditions take time to develop.
- Interview preparation. Boys should have genuine interests they can speak about enthusiastically — books, science, history, sport, current affairs. The Haberdashers' interview rewards boys who have lived an intellectually engaged life, not those who have been coached to recite prepared answers.
Finding a specialist tutor
Haberdashers' demands one of the most intensive 11+ preparation programmes in London. The best tutors for this school have depth in all four paper areas, direct experience of the Haberdashers' process, and the ability to genuinely stretch a boy across two years rather than just completing past papers.
Browse tutors experienced with Haberdashers' preparation in North London, or search the parent portal for tutors matched to the school and your child's year group.