Admissions: Entrance Examinations and Scholarships: Requirements
St Mary’s is an academic school with a mixed ability entry. It is important that all pupils are capable of accessing the curriculum on offer. Throughout our entry process we want to see a candidates potential and therefore the examinations are only a part of our assessment prior to a place being offered.
Examinations for 11+, 12+ 13+ (Year 7, 8, 9) entry
All candidates sit English, Mathematics and Verbal and Non Verbal reasoning Papers on St Mary’s Entrance Examination Day in January of each year. Papers are set to test a range of academic skills as entry is from a wide range of feeder schools, both public and state. Our assessment process aims to indicate academic potential.
Evidence of supporting academic information be requested from the present school. Common Entrance mock results, and any other available supporting evidence of academic achievement will also be taken into account in the awarding of a place at St Mary’s.
Examinations for 14+ (Year 10) entry and Sixth Form
Admission is by means of an interview, testimonial and full academic report from the previous school, including GCSE predictions if the application is for Sixth Form entry.
Applicants of all ages from overseas for whom English is not their first language will need to have an assessment of their verbal and written English
Examinations for Sixth Form entry
Admission is by means of an interview, testimonial and full academic report from the previous school, including GCSE mock results subject to final grades for confirmation for Sixth Form entry.
Applicants of all ages from overseas for whom English is not their first language will need to have an assessment of their verbal and written English.
Past practice papers
Past practice papers are not available for any age group as we want to see what the candidate can do rather than what they have been coached to achieve in an examination. If there are any concerns about your daughter’s academic or examination performance please contact the registrar on 01747 857111.
Scholarships
The award of a St Mary’s scholarship recognises a candidate’s exceptional promise in academic work, music, sport or art. Recipients are expected to take the lead in intellectual and extra-curricular activities of the whole School and is required to work hard, to contribute positively to the life of the school, to be a credit to the school and to set a good example to others.
All Scholarships awarded are open to both internal and external candidates. Scholarships are awarded at 11+ (entry into Upper III, Year 7), 13+ (entry into Upper IV, Year 9), and 16+ (entry into the Sixth Form) and are detailed in the Scholarship Booklet.
All scholarships provide up to 10% fee remission (day or boarding) with further financial assistance of up to 40% by way of a means tested bursary. (Requests for a bursary form may be made through the Head.) All Scholarships awarded are normally tenable to the end of Sixth Form, subject to annual reviews and provided the relevant public examinations are taken.
In the case of external candidates, a request will be made by St Mary’s to the current school for a full testimonial in support of the application. External candidates will only be considered for scholarships if they are already registered and St Mary’s is the intended destination for the candidate i.e. first choice senior school.
Please note that although candidates may apply for more than one Scholarship, a candidate will only be awarded one Scholarship and the School will decide which is the most appropriate.
Deadline for all Scholarship applications for September 2012 is Thursday 1st December 2011
