Quick and detailed information for the 11+ exams in 2023-2024 of St Helen and St Katharine is provided below for 9+, 10+, 11+ and 13+ Parents' reference.
St Helen and St Katharine 11 plus Exam Information
- Address: St Helen and St Katharine, Faringdon Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1BE
- SHSK Website: click here for more information
- Admissions Contact:
- Telephone: 01235 520173 (Reception)
- Telephone: 01235 530593 (Admissions)
- Email: [email protected] (General Enquiries)
- Email: [email protected] (Admissions)
- School Type: Girls
- Total Number of Students in School: 700
- Number of Places available: Parents need to check the latest updated information on the school website.
- Open Days:
- The next Headmistress' Breakfasts will take place on:
- Saturday 30 September 2023 - Year 9 Entry Head's Breakfast
- Thursday 12 October 2023 - Junior Department Head's Breakfast
- Friday 3 November 2023 - all entry points
- Open Day will take place on Saturday 30 September 2023
- The next Headmistress' Breakfasts will take place on:
- Registration Form: St Helen and St Katharine Online Registration Form
- Closing Date for 9+ and 10+ Registration:10 November 2023
- Closing Date for 11+ Registration: 10 November 2023
- Closing Date for 13+ Registration: 2 October 2023
- Exam Provider: St Helen and St Katharine
- ISI Report: ISI Report | St Helen and St Katharine, London
St Helens and St Katherine's 9+ and 10+ Exam Date
- The closing date for registration for 2024 entry is 10 November 2023
- The assessment day for 2024 entry will be 27 January 2024
- All candidates will be interviewed in the week following the entrance assessment, for the 2024 entry
- Closing date for acceptance: 1 March 2024
St Helen and St Katharine School 9+ and 10+ Exam Styles
English:
- The assessment will involve a reading comprehension exercise and a creative writing task.
- The writing will be assessed on the following points: imagination and creativity; form and purpose; organization and cohesion; sentence structure; punctuation; vocabulary; spelling and handwriting.
- The best preparation is reading. Excellent examples of good stories and poems are available in the children’s section of bookshops and libraries.
- A writing journal in which children record thoughts and ideas, write stories and poems and develop banks of vocabulary, can also help to develop imagination and confidence.
- Time: 1 hour 20 minutes (9+ and 10+)
Mathematics:
- The paper will include short questions on all areas of the National Curriculum: number; measurement, geometry, algebra and statistics (with the addition of ratio and proportion for Year 6).
- There will be a mental arithmetic section as well as written questions, including some problem-solving. For all written answers candidates will be encouraged to show working out as necessary.
- Finally, some questions are included to help identify candidates
- who excel in this curriculum area.
- Time: 1 hour 15 minutes (9+ and 10+)
St Helen and St Katharine School 11+ Exam Dates
- The closing date for registration for 2024 entry is 10th November 2023, however, earlier registration is recommended
- The entrance assessment for 2024 entry will be on 13 January 2024
- All candidates will be interviewed in the week following the entrance assessment, for the 2024 entry
- Place offer holders will be invited to attend an event in May ahead of the acceptance deadline in July 2024.
St Helen and St Katharine 11+ Exam Styles
- Candidates will be required to take an entry assessment in English and mathematics.
- English (Time: Reading 40 minutes, Writing 35 minutes): The reading paper will require students to answer questions about setting and characters in response to a short passage of prose text. School will assess comprehension of meaning, understanding of a writer’s specific language choices, understanding of the effects of structural choices, and evaluation of a range of viewpoints. Students will need to evidence their ideas with reference to the text, perhaps by quotation. School value thoughtful inference and well-supported opinions. The writing paper will require students to write a short narrative or description, which will be related to the text from the reading paper. School value control of structure (both of paragraphs, and also of the overall arc of the piece), creativity and originality. School would credit ambitious vocabulary and punctuation where it is effectively used, but simple and controlled pieces of writing are often best. As such, the best responses are often well-planned as well as well-written, and planning will be actively encouraged in the assessment. School do assess accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar, but see it as secondary to a broader control of language and ideas. Pre-prepared creative pieces often stand out as such, and can disadvantage students by not fulfilling the precise task set; school would advise against pre-preparing whole pieces word-for-word.
- Mathematics (Time: 1 hour): The mathematics paper will consist of both short questions to test accurate execution of formal mechanical arithmetic and longer problem solving style questions which involve mathematical ideas presented in words or in diagrams and require the understanding and use of basic techniques in everyday problems. Candidates may need to give explanations and reasoning for these questions. Marks will be given for correct and methodical working as well as correct answers throughout the paper where appropriate. Answers written down with insufficient reasoning may not receive full marks. Subject material may include, but will not necessarily be limited to, any of the following:
- The four rules applied to decimals and fractions including rules on orders of operations
- Conversion between fractions, decimals and percentages in simple cases.
- Use of percentages in straightforward cases
- Basic area and perimeter of shapes
- Basic knowledge of data handling including graphs and averages
- Types of number – prime, multiples, factors, squares, cubes
- Calculations involving time
- Transformations including reflection and rotation
- Number sequences
- Use of coordinates in all four quadrants
- Name and properties of triangles Some questions will involve situations designed to identify people with special mathematical aptitude. Candidates will need to have available a pen, pencil, eraser and ruler. Calculators may not be used.
Access 11+ Past Papers with Detailed Mark Schemes and Answers.
School Catchment Area Criteria: Parents need to check the latest updated information on the school website.
School Fee: St Helens and St Katherine's 2023-2024 Academic Year Fees Details
St Helens and St Katherine's 13+ Exam Dates
- The closing date for registration for 2024 entry is 2 October 2023, though earlier registration is recommended
- The entrance assessment for 2023 entry is 6 October 2023
- Parents will be notified of the outcome of the assessment within two weeks of the assessment day
- Place offer holders will be invited to attend an event in May ahead of the acceptance deadline in July 2024.
SHSK 13+ Exam Styles
- Candidates will be required to take an entry assessment in English and mathematics.
- English (Time: 1 hour 15 minutes): The reading section will require students to answer questions about setting and characters in response to a short passage of prose text. School will assess comprehension of meaning, understanding of a writer’s specific language choices, understanding of the effects of structural choices, and evaluation of a range of viewpoints. Students will need to evidence their ideas with reference to the text, perhaps by quotation. School value thoughtful inference and well-supported opinions. The writing section will require students to write a short narrative or description, which will be directly related to the text from the reading section. School value control of structure (both of paragraphs, and also of the overall arc of the piece), creativity and originality. School would credit ambitious vocabulary and punctuation where it is effectively used, but simple and controlled pieces of writing are often best. As such, the best responses are often well-planned as well as well-written, and planning will be actively encouraged in the assessment. School do assess accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar, but see it as secondary to a broader control of language and ideas. Pre-prepared creative pieces often stand out as such, and can disadvantage students by not fulfilling the precise task set; school would advise against pre-preparing whole pieces word-for-word.
- Mathematics (Time: 1 hour 15 minutes): The paper will consist of questions which test the candidate’s ability to apply arithmetical and mathematical techniques with accuracy and those which will require candidates to select and apply their knowledge and techniques to solve more complex problems. Candidates will need to have available a pen, pencil, eraser, ruler, pair of compasses and a protractor. Calculators may not be used. The mathematics required will reflect those topics that would normally have been covered by students in Year 7 and the first part of Year 8. As well as the more obvious topics this may include, but will not necessarily be limited to, any of the following:
- Use of the four rules – including cases involving mixed fractions or decimals
- Rounding to decimal places and significant figures
- Conversion between fractions, percentages and decimals in straightforward, usually well-known, cases
- Use of standard form to represent small and large numbers
- Using approximations to one significant figure to estimate calculations
- Percentage problems including a percentage of something, finding something as a percentage and simple interest
- Ratio and simple ideas of (direct) proportion
- Angle properties – triangles, angles on parallel lines
- Simple conversions including foreign currency
- Simplification of algebraic expressions including those involving brackets and powers
- Substitution into algebraic formulae
- Solving more complex algebraic equations including brackets and those where the unknown occurs on both sides
- Very simple rearranging formulae
- Speed, distance and time calculations
- Transformations – rotation, reflection, translation
- Areas of triangles and quadrilaterals
- Simple probability
- Taster day/interview (Time: 15 minutes): Candidates will be invited to spend a day at St Helen’s as part of the entrance assessment process. Students will be interviewed during the taster day by the Head of Middle School. Your daughter will be able to discuss her interests and strengths and relate those to the opportunities offered at St Helen’s. This will also be a good time for her to ask any questions she may have about the School.
Access 13+ Past Papers with Detailed Mark Schemes and Answers.
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11 Plus Exam Guidance - Facebook Group for Parents and Teachers- Key Stages Guidance - Facebook Group for Parents and Teachers
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