Your school guide
Downside School
Downside offers Year 7 entry through a taster, online CAT4 assessment, Head meeting and school reference.
Independent school · Radstock, Somerset
Build skills and confidence.
Support your child’s everyday learning with Plusling’s original questions and clear explanations. Follow Downside School’s own admissions guidance.
Try five free questions. See the feedback for yourself.
Meet the school
At a glance
Facts checked
Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Radstock, Somerset, BA3 4RJ
Plan your approach
Entry information
Downside’s main entry points include Year 7. Applicants visit for a taster and complete an online CAT4 assessment in Year 6, meet the Head and provide a school reference. No specific September 2027 entrance date is published on the current general process page.
Entry stage: Year 7 entry
Assessment provider: CAT4
The admissions process
- Register and arrange a taster visit
- Online CAT4 assessment in Year 6
- Meeting with the Head and current-school reference
- Scholarship assessment is a separate process
Read the official details: Admissions information from Downside School
Go to the source
Official links for your shortlist
Use the school’s current admissions information to check which sample papers or familiarisation materials apply to your child’s entry year.
Know what to expect
Follow the school’s assessment guidance.
Downside uses CAT4 for ordinary Year 7 assessment, with a Head meeting and reference. Scholarship assessments are separate; GL Assessment advises against CAT4 practice.
Read the official guidance: Downside School · GL Assessment
Keep the practical steps clear
Your application starting points
Use the official links on this page to answer these questions for your child’s entry year.
Check the entry point and eligibility
Confirm the year group, age requirements and any conditions that apply to your child.
Put the right dates in your diary
Note any published registration, assessment, application and offer-response dates that apply to your child’s route. They may be separate steps.
Follow the assessment guidance
Check what the school asks your child to do and whether it recommends any preparation. Use its own instructions and the assessment provider’s advice.
Check fees and financial support
Look at fees, bursaries and scholarships, including any separate forms, evidence and deadlines.
Picture your child’s everyday life here.
An open day is a chance to look beyond the exam. Useful questions to take with you:
- How do you help new pupils settle in and make friends?
- Who can a child turn to when they feel worried or stuck?
- How do you help pupils recover from a setback and discover their strengths?
Know where to focus
See what your child is learning.
See the topics your child has practised, revisit questions that need another look and choose a focus for the next session. Plusling helps you put your time where it can be useful.
- Topic summaries and practice history
- Choose topics in Focus Practice
- Progress to discuss with the adults helping them
A little learning, often
Build confidence one question at a time.
Explore Plusling together for everyday learning. Try five free questions and talk through the feedback.
Planning your application
- The current general process page does not give a 2027 Year 7 assessment date; confirm timing and available places with admissions.
Plusling’s guide to Downside School is independently written. The school and its admissions authority publish the official arrangements.
Contains government school-register data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Primary sources
- Downside School: school details Department for Education
- Visits, open mornings and taster days | Downside School Downside School
- Admissions | Downside School Downside School
- Admissions process Downside School
- Registration Downside School
- Taster days Downside School
- CAT4 information for parents GL Assessment