The South Hampstead 4+ Assessment Update 2026
/We prepared a lot of girls for the 4+ at South Hampstead this year.
Way more than ever before.
Some who didn’t pass, I’ll be honest - it was a surprise to us. We believe that some of our girls should have passed. At the end of the day it simply highlights this to us…
This is a competition.
And a fierce one at that with only 24 places on offer. And if you don’t like that, do not apply for this school. It really is very simple.
I spoke to many a heart broken parent after the first round at SH. Clients who worked and continue to work with CMT were upset but not heart broken. Why? Because they fully understood the assessment process at SH. They had worked with us. We have been preparing for SH historically for nearly 20 years now. The only difference is that now we are preparing a much larger number of girls and it will only become more and more as the years go on.
The girls who we prepared who did not pass SH have passed the likes of Westminster (Round 1). That’s just to highlight to you how high the competition was this year (and is every single year).
I say this to make you aware that people can sugarcoat these assessments as much as they want but the 4+ at SH will not be a walk in the park. Many of our girls have passed round 1 but this really doesn’t mean anything. They still need to pass the second round. We have been studying and taking massive action all through the December break. But it’s still a competition.
SH will take the best of the best and there will be a slight preference towards girls with siblings (they still need to perform exceptionally well) but this is what I’ve seen to be the case anyway.
What does ‘best of the best’ even mean? Work only with teachers who can support you with truly understanding what this means and how to support your daughter to have the highest possible chances of success in her SH 4+ assessment.
