Henrietta Barnett Round 2: English, maths and past papers
HBS Round 2 for September 2027 entry is on 6 October 2026: 60 minutes of English and 50 of maths. The school releases no Round 2 past papers.
Two rounds, two sets of skills
Round 1 is English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Round 2 is English and maths, so switch focus to written answers and maths once she is invited.
An English explanation
Worked example Support an inference
Read: “Nadia folded the invitation twice. When the bell rang, she slipped it under her exercise book and told her brother she had nothing to show him.” What suggests Nadia wants to keep the invitation private? Write two sentences using details from the passage.
Answer: She hides the invitation under her book and tells her brother she has nothing to show him. Both actions show she is keeping it secret.
The trap: “She is ashamed of failing an exam” invents an event.
Next, write the following paragraph from Nadia's view without revealing the secret.
Keep the reasoning visible
Worked example Work backwards
A club spends three eighths of its money on equipment, then £18 on tickets. It has £57 left. How much did it start with?
Answer: Before tickets it had £75, which is five eighths. One eighth is £15, so it started with £120.
The trap: Taking three eighths of £57 uses the wrong whole.
- Name the whole before taking a fraction.
- Review one wrong decision before adding a clock.
A preparation plan
- Year 4: read together and explain number methods.
- Year 5: target the hardest English or maths skill, and add reasoning for Round 1.
- After a Round 2 invitation: practise working alone and keep the last evening light.
Round Two English practice, with a 60 minute clock
A short passage, three written questions and a composition.
Round Two English task
Round Two English practice: 60 minutes
Spend about 20 minutes on the three reading questions and about 35 on the composition, leaving a few minutes to check. That split is our suggestion; the school does not publish one.
The station clock
[1]The station clock had been four minutes fast for as long as anyone could remember. Passengers who knew the town simply took the four minutes off in their heads, the way you step over a loose paving stone without looking down.
[2]Ada had worked in the ticket office for a month when the engineers came to fix it. They arrived with a ladder, a toolbox and a printed instruction sheet, and by lunchtime the clock agreed exactly with the radio.
[3]That evening the 6.40 left without Mr Lyle. He stood on the platform with his newspaper folded under his arm, watching the red lights shrink. "Eleven years," he said, to nobody in particular, "and I have never once needed to run."
[4]Ada wrote a notice in her neatest capitals: THE CLOCK IS NOW CORRECT. Then she paused, crossed out the full stop and added: PLEASE STOP TAKING FOUR MINUTES OFF. She pinned it beside the timetable, where Mr Lyle would see it in the morning.
In paragraph 1, what does the comparison with stepping over "a loose paving stone" suggest about how passengers treated the clock?
Why does Mr Lyle miss the 6.40? Support your answer with evidence.
Explain why Ada changes her notice, and what the change shows about her.
Write a story in which something that has always been slightly wrong is suddenly put right, and not everyone is pleased.
Plan for a few minutes first.
0 words
Round Two Maths practice, with a 50 minute clock
Five multi-step Year 6 problems.
Round Two maths problems
Round Two Maths practice: five written problems
Work without a calculator. Write each final answer with units where the question uses them, then check your working against the worked steps.
A shop has 240 badges. On Monday it sells one quarter of them. On Tuesday it sells two fifths of the remaining badges. The rest are packed equally into nine bags. How many badges are in each bag?
An empty jar and its lid weigh 180 g. Filled with honey to half its capacity, with the lid on, it weighs 540 g. Filled to five sixths of its capacity, with the lid on, how much does it weigh?
A club has 34 members. Each member chooses exactly one activity: chess, drama or music. Twice as many choose drama as chess. Six more choose music than chess. How many choose music?
A hall has 15 rows of 18 seats. For a concert, the front two rows are removed. One third of the remaining seats are reserved. Of the unreserved seats, 85 are occupied. How many unreserved seats are empty?
A fruit drink contains one part syrup to four parts water. Maya makes 1.5 litres of the drink. How many millilitres of syrup does she use?
Questions parents ask
Are there Henrietta Barnett Round 2 past papers?
No. The school releases none for Round Two.
How long is HBS Round 2?
For 2027 entry the school publishes a 60 minute English paper and a 50 minute Maths paper, on Tuesday 6 October 2026, for the top 300 girls invited after Round One.
What level is HBS Round 2?
Literacy and numeracy at Key Stage 2 level.
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