13+ common entrance tests covering all subjects. Help!

[MissiongalSF]

Hello there,
My DD was accepted into a 13+ academic boarding school in England, on a conditional basis, subject to passing a series of more than eleven hours of a (kind of ) GCSE pre-test (Eng, Maths, Sciences, Humanities, Languages). They are the full series of 13+ Common Entrance Exams. We are coming from an international country so are not familiar with this concept. Most other schools we looked at have required Maths, Engl, Verbal, and Non Verbal tests. Hence we are surprised at the sheer time required (this pre-condition was included in the Admissions guidelines but not the extent or time involved). Is this common or is this one of the rare schools requiring this level of scrutiny? Also any quick and efficient ways of preparing (the school has said look for past papers)? Recommended resources? I will have to get a tutor, but this is all highly complicated in the current environment, plus she is in school so has to juggle normal school homework/tests/assignments and activities. Our international move was announced last June so we are clearly late to the process. The good London days schools mostly only have occasional spots - no 13+ intakes - so we have no idea if any real opportunities will materialize. Thank you.

Most independent schools have their own entrance tests that candidates can sit if they are not coming from a prep school that prepares dc for 13+. I don’t see how you could sufficiently prepare for the 13+ exams if you dc has not covered the syllabus which is 2yrs long! as you have found it, it’s not like the 11+ where you can just get a tutor to cover VR+NVR etc its much more detailed than that, some of the subjects eg Geography also have a practical element to it, involving a school trip.

I’m not sure how both you and the school missed this aspect of the admissions process but what’s done is done, contact the school and tell they can’t sit the 13+ and want her registered for the school own entrance exam.

Hi, I would speak to admissions. To ask an overseas student to sit the full Common Entrance is really harsh. That’s normally only expected of someone who has come up through the prep school system.

The ISEB have a website (they run the CE exams and you can buy past papers). Subjects mine sat are RS, English, French, Latin, History, Geography, Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Some of the exams have different levels of paper for example Maths Level 1, 2 or 3 (paper 3 being the more difficult). And as the PP says the Geography exam has a field project element.

I would hope there has been a misunderstanding between you and the school admissions and your DD is not required to sit Common Entrance. It would be more usual for her to sit the senior schools own exams, in maybe English, Maths and Science. I hope this helps and good luck.

Unless you have just moved to the international school, having applied from a prep school, I would be astonished if you were required to sit full CE. I know of no school that does this - what school is it? Normally english maths and science are required, usually the CE papers fir these subjects and sometimes french but often just for establishing sets rather than as an entrance test - if his school doesn’t teach french then they will have known this when you applied.

It have though known people to secure places in year 6 from a prep school, with the implicit assurance that the boy will have been taught the full curriculum , then move them to an international school and find two years later that they are still expected to sit CE

Thank you Lemonsea and Shimy for responding. I did know that my DD had to pass several exams, but she was supposed to be able to do the school exams, not CE exams, but the school is not offering this option anymore because of covid/ (the schools asks those students not taking the CE to come to the school and sit the exam - this is not possible). Also, she has to sit 2 different English exams, and 2 Maths exams plus all of the rest, humanities, languages and sciences, hence + 11 hours of exams. And this was not clear to us (everyone mentioned 4-5 hours). I find this excessive, thinking maybe not worth my kid killing herself. But then we need to find some more options for secondary schools.

Having sat 13+ CE myself back in the day, there is pretty much no way that a child could hope to do themselves justice in those without having been prepped for them. It was almost an entire week of exams when I took them (if you did all the extra Maths papers plus Latin, Ancient Greek etc).

Two English papers is normal - a literature paper and a language paper, and there are 3 Maths papers (with the third being nigh on impossible unless you are very much a mathematician).

If the school won't budge, then you can either aim for good scores in the core subjects and just wing it on the others and hope. Or find some other schools to apply for.