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InternationalSchools.org

Family guide

Assessments and entrance tests

Most international-school assessment is about placement rather than selection. This guide explains what schools actually look at by age, what the results are used for, and how much preparation is sensible.

Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished July 2026Last reviewed July 2026

In short

  • Schools assess for two different reasons: to decide whether to admit, and to decide where to place a child once admitted.
  • The younger the child, the less formal the assessment. Early years is normally observation, not testing.
  • Selective schools exist, but a great many international schools assess mainly to plan support and set groups.
  • Ask what is being assessed, how the result is used and what happens if the child does not meet the standard.

Words schools use for different things

Assessment

Any structured look at what a child can currently do. It may be a play session, a written task, an online adaptive test or a subject paper.

Entrance test

An assessment used to decide admission where places are limited or the programme is academically selective. Less common than families expect, and concentrated in senior years.

Baseline or diagnostic test

An assessment taken after or alongside admission, used to set groups, measure progress and identify support. A low score here changes provision, not the offer.

What the process usually looks like

Order and depth vary, but most schools work through some version of these stages.

  1. The school reviews the file first

    Reports from the current school, attendance, any support plans and, for older students, subject grades. For many applicants this is the whole assessment.

  2. An age-appropriate task or observation

    Early years is usually a play-based session. Primary is commonly reading, writing and number. Secondary is more often English, mathematics and reasoning, sometimes online and timed.

    Some schools use standardised tests such as CAT4 or MAP. These are designed as diagnostic tools rather than pass or fail exams.

  3. A conversation with the child and the family

    An interview or tour meeting, often informal. Schools are checking readiness, motivation and whether the family understands what the programme asks of a student.

  4. A language check where relevant

    If instruction is in a language the child has not studied in, the school assesses current level and whether it can support the gap within its own provision.

  5. A decision, and a plan if there is one

    Offer, offer with support or additional language tuition, deferred entry, or a decline. A good school explains which of these it has reached and why.

What an assessment result tells you

A result does

  • Show what a child could do on one day, in one language, in one setting
  • Help a school place a child in the right year group and support level
  • Flag a gap worth addressing before or shortly after the move
  • Give you something concrete to discuss with both the current and the new school

A result does not

  • Measure intelligence or predict how a child will settle
  • Carry across schools, since providers and cut-offs differ
  • Account for a recent move, a curriculum change or a disrupted year on its own
  • Mean much without the school's explanation of how it reads the score

If a child has an existing support plan, share it before the assessment rather than after. Schools plan provision from what they know, and the learning support guide explains how that conversation usually runs.

Preparing without over-preparing

Worked example

Two children sitting the same online assessment

One spends six weeks on practice papers and arrives tired and anxious. The other practises using a mouse and a timer twice, sleeps well, and eats before the session.

Adaptive tests are built to find a level, so heavy coaching mostly moves a child into questions they cannot yet access. Familiarity with the format helps. Drilling the content rarely does, and it can produce a placement that does not match the child.

Practical preparation: confirm the format and length, check whether the test is in the language of instruction, ask whether results are shared with you, and tell the school about anything unusual in the child's recent schooling. Then treat the day itself as low-stakes, because for most schools it is.

Assessment and admission decisions sit with the school. Our role is to put you in front of the admissions teams best placed to answer.

Find Schools

Continue reading

How admissions work

Where assessment sits in the wider sequence from enquiry to enrolment.

Entry year and age cut-offs

Why schools disagree about which year group a child should enter.

Learning support and additional needs

How to raise a support need early and what schools can realistically provide.

Questions to ask an international school

What to ask admissions at each stage, including about assessment.

Last reviewed: July 2026

Assessment practice is set by each school and, in some countries, by the host regulator. Confirm format, timing and how results are used with the school directly.

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