Assessment for entry to Year 7

Girls are assessed by examination in mathematics, English and verbal reasoning. We also request a report from the candidate’s current school, although the candidate will not be penalised if this is not provided. Parents who wish an educational psychologist’s report for diagnosed dyslexia to be taken into account should submit a copy of the report by the end of the autumn term; additional time may be granted if the report so indicates.

11+ Examination details

The curriculum and standards of the school are those of an academic and lively school. The teaching takes advantage of the best of modern technology whilst retaining many formal aspects. The aim of the entrance examination is to detect, as far as possible, real intelligence, and to find out whether the candidate has the type of ability to enable her to cope happily and successfully with the sort of courses which the school offers. We do not expect the candidate to have received special preparation or coaching to take the examinations. We expect the candidate to be familiar with the material for the National Curriculum, but not necessarily to have followed it. We anticipate that most successful candidates will achieve level 5 in their Key Stage 2 SATs.

The entrance examination consists of written papers in English and Mathematics. There will also be a verbal reasoning test.

English

The ability to understand written passages is tested by means of comprehension questions, involving the reproduction of explanation of the writer’s meaning, the drawing of reasonable inferences, understanding and explaining the meanings if words etc.
The ability to write well is tested by means of a composition. Qualities looked for are the ability to convey meaning clearly, to write in an interesting manner, and to show evidence of liveliness, originality, imagination and thoughtfulness. The use of a wide vocabulary, a variety of sentence structure and a reasonable standard of spelling and punctuation will be expected.

This exam will be loosely based on the style of those set in Key Stage 2 SATs.

Mathematics

The questions are intended to test the candidates’ powers if reasoning and their ability to apply mathematical concepts. The requirements are:

A sound knowledge of multiplication tables.
The metric measurements of length (km, m, cm), area (m²,cm²), volume (cm³, litres) and weight (kg, g).
Fractions / decimals and whole numbers.
The four operations applied to the above including long multiplication and division of numbers.
Simple sequences.
The reading and construction of graphs.
Symmetry applied to solids and shapes.
Probability.
Angle measure and angles in a triangle.
Percentages.
Simple proportion.
Estimation.
Simple formulae in words.
Speed, distance and time.
Area of rectangles.
Basic Algebra.