St. Paul’s Girls School (11+) Admissions: Overview2

Website - https://spgs.org/admissions/entry-at-11/

St. Paul’s Girls School has an Academic Selective 11 Plus admissions process, where candidates are assessed through Competitive Examination and Interview with the aim of gauging candidate suitability for entry.

The school says:

‘At St Paul’s we are looking for intellectually curious students who will enjoy learning in an academically stimulating environment. Our entrance process is designed to identify natural ability and potential. We want students to be happy once they arrive here, able to balance their academic studies with a rich and enjoyable co-curricular life.’

 

St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus (11+) Entrance Exam Guide

 

The St. Paul’s Girl School 11 Plus entrance exam is split into three sections – English, Mathematics, and Comprehension.

English:

The English paper involves reading and analysis of a literary prose passage. The 11 Plus candidates will then answer up to ten questions concerning the passage. These questions will involve the extracting information from the passage and commenting on the meaning/effect of specific words and phrases from the passage.

The St. Paul’s 11 Plus candidate is also assessed on their spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary (please note that although a wide vocabulary is desired in the ideal St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus candidate, there is no need to use unusual or complicated words or phrases).

There is no creative writing section

Mathematics:

The Mathematics paper is split into three 25 minute sections.

Section 1 aims to assess the St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate’s fundamental arithmetic concepts, such as sums. This is to assess the 11 Plus Candidate’s fundamental arithmetic concepts.

Section 2 aims to assess the St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate’s problem-solving abilities within a mathematical context. The 11 Plus candidate should be familiar with this style of questioning from their previous education.

Section 3 contains multi-part questions. These questions combine the knowledge which is required from Section 1 and Section 2 to assess the St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate’s analytical skills.

Note:

  • All questions are based on a range of topics which are contained in the UK National Curriculump to KS2.
  • The ideal St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate should have not both solid mathematical techniques and insight. This will be reflected in the 11 Plus candidate’s “working out”. An incorrect answer will be given some credit if it is supported by correct working out

Comprehension:

The comprehension section is designed to test a broad range of comprehensive skills which are required from the ideal St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate. The school lists these comprehension skills as follows – ‘deduction, inference, extraction and organisation of information as well as evaluation, comparison, identification of patterns and links, and logic’.

This section aims to assess the St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate’s ability to respond to a wide range of materials (including both visual and numerical materials) and have the ability to draw logical conclusions from the materials.

Please note that, no prior background knowledge is required, although the ideal St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate should have Key Stage 2 level scientific enquiry skills in the evaluation of material and presentation of data.

 

St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus (11+) Interview Guide

 

The aim of the interview is to look for, ‘evidence of creativity, engagement and the capacity for independent thought’, which is expected of the ideal St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate.

The format of the St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate interview is as follows. The interview lasts around 20 to 25 minutes and is always conducted by one member of the St. Paul’s Girls School Senior Staff. The St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Candidate will be offered stimulus material to talk about. The interview is conducted through the style of friendly, informal conversation.

Please note that the final decision for the admissions process will absolutely depend on both the Entrance Examination performance and the Interview performance.

 

St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus (11+) Bursaries – Overview

 

Website - https://spgs.org/admissions/bursaries/

St. Paul’s Girls School offers 11 Plus bursaries through a provision of needs-based financial support, from partial bursaries to full bursaries, where the maximum value is the full tuition fee.

The number of bursaries which are awarded each year is at the discretion of St. Paul’s Girls School and will vary on a year-by-year basis.

 

St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus (11+) Bursaries – Eligibility

 

The bursaries for St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Applicants are determined by each family’s financial situation, which is considered on a case-by-case basis. The bursaries take into account the family’s, ‘income, realisable asserts and other relevant factors.’. Any other circumstances which may impact the family’s ability to pay the full fees are also considered.

Normally, the 11 Plus bursary applicants will have attended a maintained school, however, St. Paul’s Girls School may occasionally make exceptions depending on the family’s case-by-case situation.

St. Paul’s Girls School’s bursary maximum household income requirement is currently (as of March 2022) £110,000 (gross) – parents who earn a higher than £110,000 combined total income are therefore unlikely to be considered. Concerning cases where parents are separated, St. Paul’s Girls School may require separate financial assessments to determine the 11 Plus candidate’s ability to afford full school fees.

A bursary offer is subject to St. Paul’s Girls School’s Bursary Conditions of Award. St. Paul’s Girls School requires parents to complete a financial assessment form every year. St. Paul’s Girls School retains the rights to adjust the value of the bursary if the 11 Plus candidate’s family income or assets changes in the future. Families are required to inform St. Paul’s Girls School immediately if there are changes to their financial income during a school year. In the cases where there is no change in circumstances, the bursary will continue throughout the 11 Plus candidate’s full academic career at St. Paul’s Girls School.

Parents are welcome to contact the St. Paul’s Girls School Business Directorate at anytime to discuss a possible bursary application:

020 7605 4881

businessdirectorate@spgs.org

 

St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus (11+) Bursaries – How to Apply

 

Step 1:

Complete the bursary section on the Examination Entry Form. The Deadline for St. Paul’s Girls School’s Examination Entry Forms for September 2023 will be mid-November 2022.

Step 2:

Complete the St. Paul’s Girls School preliminary bursary application form. The form takes account the 11 Plus candidate’s family income, capital resources, and other means held. The deadline for submission will be in early January 2023. This form will be available on the St. Paul’s Girls School website in autumn 2022 and sent to 11 Plus candidate parents in early December

Step 3:

St. Paul’s Girls School bursary applications are considered only after the 11 Plus candidate Entrance Exam and Interview have taken place. The 11 Plus candidate may expect a home visit from the St. Paul’s Girls School Bursar and a senior member of the St. Paul’s Girls School academic team to discuss the 11 Plus bursary application in more detail. Home visits will take place during February and/or March 2023.

Step 4:

The St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus applicant receives their St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus admissions offer. In the 11 Plus applicant admissions offer, the 11 Plus candidate will also

receive the news of whether they are offered a bursary, and for what amount. The family of the St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus applicant will be asked to complete an annual income assessment form in May 2023 to confirm the value of their bursary for the academic year of 2023-24.

 

St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus (11+) Bursaries – What does the bursary cover?

 

The St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus Full Tuition Fee Assistance covers the following

  • A one-off grant of £500 on entry to the school
  • One extra subject, such as, a music/PE activity
  • Up to £250 per academic year to cover school trips
  • Travel costs to and from school
  • £225 per year for textbooks (Given to all St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus applicant bursary award holder)
  • Full cover of any public examination costs (Given to all St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus applicant bursary award holder)
  • Additional support for St. Paul’s Girls students will be provided in cases where St. Paul’s Girls School’s recognition of the educational value of such event to the student (Parents should write to the Bursar to request this funding)

St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus (11+) Bursaries – Unexpected Hardship

St. Paul’s Girls School may award bursaries to existing students whose families have suffered unexpected financial difficulties which affect their ability to pay their tuition fees in full. For more information, please visit the St. Paul’s Girls School Bursary Programme Page - https://spgs.org/support/support-us/

St. Paul’s Girls School 11 Plus (11+) Academic Year of 2023 Entrance Timeline

For your child to enrol in September 2023, this will be your timeline.

By Mid-November 2022:

11 Plus applicants must submit the completed registration form with a copy of the St. Paul’s Girls School candidate’s birth certificate and registration fee of £125 (not applicable for families applying for a bursary only place)

Last week of November 2022:

11 Plus candidates will complete an on-screen time-limited cognitive ability test which covers verbal ability, mathematics, and non-verbal ability. 11 Plus applicants can get a flavour of the test by accessing intuproject.org. The test lasts an hour and will be taken at St. Paul’s Girls School. Results will be given in mid-December.

Wednesday 4th January 2023

Successful 11 Plus applicants will be invited to sit the full Entrance Examinations in English, Mathematics, and Comprehension.

Mid-January 2023:

Successful 11 Plus applicants will be invited for an interview

10th February 2023:

Final offer sent to parents

Early March 2023:

Deadline for offers. Successful 11 Plus applicants will pay a 50% deposit of a term’s fees. An additional overseas fee may be required for those residing outside of the UK.

Summer term 2023:

St. Pauls Girls School will send out information packs to successful 11 Plus candidates including invitations to summer term events.