to ask about the Common Entrance Exam

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I read about this on another thread. What is it? Is it for private schools? Can any child take it? No one has ever taken it at our school.

Can you get your fees paid if you pass it?

Someone please explain the system to me.

Common Entrance is what Prep schools take in year 8 which is the final year of Prep school before moving onto Senior school which begins in year 9.

The marks determine what set you are placed in in senior school.

You really need to be at a prep. It takes at least two years preparation and the first bit if it is done in year 6.

It mainly determine what senior school you can get into firstly though. Some senior schools will require a higher score than others I.e St Paul's, Harrow, Eton etc

It is an entry test for independent schools which intake at 13+/year9, mainly traditional public schools as increasingly schools also offering 11+ intake set their own entrance tests. Many using CE also pretest candidates at 10/11 to narrow down applicants and offer a full fee place on condition of achieving a certain level at CE which is taken in the summer term prior to entry date. Scholarships and bursary applications are dealt with separately.

So is it like a private school 11 plus? All prep schools are private are they?

It is an exam which children sit if they want to go to a public (ie fee paying) school. It is 'common' because it is accepted by so many schools as an assessment test. It is 'entrance' because passing it allows you to enter public school.

Yes, sort of an 11+ exam, but at 13.

It covers more subjects than Maths and English though, more like a series of pre-gcse papers taken over several days. Prep schools spend much of year 8 practising for it.

The difference is that nobody fails CE.

Different schools have different pass marks. Some academic schools will be looking for 75% across the board rigidly applied. Others will be looking for 50% loosely applied and others to see that the candidate has no SEN they cannot cater for.

If you are not at a prep school there is always a non CE route via scholarship papers or school’s own entrance exam. Scholarship is easier if you have been at prep and/ot tutored but can still be attempted by those who have not. You can usually also get a non scholarship place via scholarship exam.

Entrance to most senior private schools,particularly boarding schools, is not competitive. You are advised by prep head where to apply and if parents can pay there is a place somewhere.

With the spread of pre testing, CE may be on its way out. It is not a particularly stimulating curriculum. And as with SATS in Y6 students doing CE in Y8 waste a lot of time on practicing past papers when they could be doing something more produtive.