Academic Awards at 11+

Academic Scholarships and Exhibitions are available for able pupils and are decided on the basis of open competition. As a guide we recommend that candidates should be working at level 5 or above in at least two of the 'core' National Curriculum subjects. Candidates should be under 11 years of age on 1st September in the year of the Scholarship Examinations. This year the examinations will be held on Saturday, 18th November 2006.

In addition to the written examinations attention is paid to a candidate's school report as well as to the interview, as motivation, enthusiasm and potential are considered to be at least as important as current academic performance.

Number and Value of the Awards

The Scholarship Examination is competitive and the number of awards made each year is dependent on the quality of the applicants and the availability of Scholarship funds. Scholarships are worth up to 25% of tuition fees. Some Exhibitions are also available.

Specific Awards

Occasionally a specially endowed scholarship becomes available, such as the Lysons Charity, the Wolfson, Monk, Long and Harley Butt Scholarships. Sometimes a candidate may qualify for a scholarship awarded from outside the school on the recommendation of the Headmaster.

The Examination

We do not expect children to have been specially coached for the Scholarship Examination. All papers will reflect the appropriate levels of the National Curriculum.

A paper will be set in each of English and Mathematics; specimen questions are available on request. There will also be a verbal reasoning test.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for a series of formal interviews on Friday, 1st December 2006.

Our experience is that most children positively enjoy the examination day. Not only do they appear to make friends very quickly with other children during the breaks and at lunchtime, but the majority of them admit to enjoying the challenge of what may be the first formal examination they have taken in their lives.

English

Dictionaries are not allowed in the Examination.

A printed passage will be set with questions which are designed to test the candidate's comprehension. No specific questions on grammar will be asked, although knowledge and accurate use of English grammar will be expected.

A story or composition from a wide range of subjects which are within a child's writing experience is designed to test the candidate's creative writing.

Mathematics

Calculators are not allowed in the Examination.

A series of short questions will be set, based on level 5 of the National Curriculum, primarily in a problem solving context.

Questions may include but are not restricted to the following topics:

The four rules of arithmetic including decimals, fractions and negative numbers
Simple percentages
Estimation
Units of measure
Constructing 2-dimensional shapes
Symmetry and angle facts
Simple probability
Drawing and interpreting statistical diagrams

Interviews

All candidates will have a short interview on the examination day. For this they should bring along one or two pieces of their recent school work about which they would be confident to talk. Shortlisted candidates will be required to bring to their formal interview on Friday, 1st December 2006 project work they may have done in the year preceding the examination.

How to Apply

Registration forms and scholarship application forms may be obtained from the Registrar. Preliminary visits to the school may be arranged when the Headmaster will be pleased to meet parents and children.

In addition the Head of First Form (Y7) is available to visit local primary and prep schools to explain arrangements to those who teach children interested in making an application.

A timetable for the examination with other instructions will be sent to all candidates before the examination. Lunch will be provided at the school on the day of the examination. There will be tea for all candidates and their parents at the end of the afternoon.