St Dominic's Grammar School 11+ and 16+ Admissions: Assessment, Fees and Scholarships

How do you get into St Dominic's Grammar School? Year 7 is the main entry point, where every applicant, whether from the school's own Prep or elsewhere, sits an online 11+ entrance assessment covering verbal, non-verbal, quantitative and spatial reasoning, followed by a day visit and a meeting with the Headmaster. Sixth form entry at 16+ depends on GCSE grades, and other year groups are open when places exist.

The school is an independent, co-educational day school in Brewood, South Staffordshire, taking pupils from Nursery to Year 13. Its admissions office handles registration and can confirm which year groups have places before a family commits to the process.

Entry points and places

St Dominic's admits pupils at Year 7 as its main senior entry point and at Year 12 for the sixth form, and its admissions page states that admission is available at all entry points provided places are available. The pages read do not publish a number of places or forms of entry for any year group.

Families interested in a year group other than Year 7 or Year 12 therefore start with the admissions office, which confirms availability before registration. Other year groups follow the school's testing and day visit routine.

• Year 7 (11+): online entrance assessment, day visit, meeting with the Headmaster
• Year 12 (16+): GCSE-based conditional offer, day visit, final offer after results
• Other years: availability first, then testing and a day visit

How the 11+ assessment works

The 11+ entrance assessment for Year 7 is taken online, is multiple choice, and covers verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and spatial questions. The senior school page also names English and mathematics among the areas assessed, so a child is best prepared across both reasoning and core school subjects.

Internal and external pupils sit the same assessment. The school says candidates must show sufficient proficiency in most of the tests, and it also looks for enthusiasm, commitment and good behaviour. The pages read do not name an external test provider, a paper length or a pass mark.

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Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration at St Dominic's begins with a conversation with the admissions office about availability, followed by a registration form and a non-returnable administration charge. The pages read give no registration deadline, so families ask the office which round they are joining.

The sequence after registration runs in order, and the sixth form follows a close variant described in its own section.

• Contact the admissions office to check availability
• Register and pay the administration charge
• Attend a day visit with entry testing and a meeting with the Headmaster
• Receive an offer
• Return the acceptance form and pay the joining deposit
• Book a uniform fitting at the on-site shop and receive start arrangements by email

Interviews and references

Year 7 applicants meet the Headmaster during the day visit that accompanies the entrance testing. The school's Admissions Department also requests a reference from the child's previous school, so families do not need to arrange one themselves.

At sixth form level the school confirms an interview for scholarship applicants, and standard applicants spend a day visit experiencing their subject options. The pages read do not describe a group activity at any entry point.

Sixth form entry at 16+

Sixth form entry at 16+ requires a minimum of 8 GCSEs at grade 4 or above, including English and mathematics, with grade 6 preferred in each subject a student wants to take at A level, and a grade 5 sometimes accepted depending on option choices.

The process starts with a sixth form registration form and the administration charge, then a day visit, then a conditional offer based on predicted GCSE grades. The final offer follows once grades are confirmed, with an acceptance form and joining deposit. A-level courses run for two years, students choose at least three subjects, and the school encourages the EPQ.

Scholarships and bursaries

St Dominic's offers non-financial scholarships for pupils who are gifted or talented in academics, sport, performing arts or art. At Year 7, academic scholarships may be awarded for high performance in the entrance assessment, and performing arts auditions take place after the Year 7 testing date.

For other year groups, art and performing arts scholarships involve an audition, whilst academic and sport scholarships are based on the application. The sixth form page describes a small number of scholarships worth 50% of fees for applicants with grade 7 in at least seven GCSEs including English, mathematics and science, with an entrance exam only if applicants outnumber places. The two pages describe scholarships differently, so confirm the position with the school. No means-tested bursaries are mentioned on the pages read.

Fees and what they include

Fees at St Dominic's are charged per term, rise by year group, and are published on the school's fees page with a separate table for the Prep and for the senior school including the sixth form. Tuition covers textbooks, exercise books, teaching materials and extended day activities.

GCSE and A level examination fees are charged separately, as are optional breakfast, lunch and transport. Fees are due on the first day of each term, and the school applies a monthly charge to late payments. Families with more than one child at the school receive a discount on the second and third eldest children.

Where pupils join from

Pupils join St Dominic's Year 7 both from its own Prep, which educates children from Reception to Year 6 on the same site, and from other schools. Internal pupils sit the same 11+ entrance assessment as external applicants, so there is no separate automatic route in the pages read.

No named feeder or partner schools are listed. The senior school page gives no specific transfer arrangements from the Prep and directs families to the admissions team.

How to prepare for the 11+

Preparation for the Year 7 assessment is most useful when it matches the format named by the school: an online, multiple-choice test across verbal, non-verbal, quantitative and spatial questions, with English and mathematics also mentioned. Practising reasoning question types on screen, and keeping core English and mathematics secure, covers those areas.

Because the day visit includes a meeting with the Headmaster, a child who can talk calmly about their interests and current school will usually feel at ease. For sixth form entry, the most useful preparation is steady work towards the GCSE grades set out above, since the offer is conditional on them.

Related guides

• Independent school fees compared
• Newcastle-under-Lyme School (11+)
• Denstone College (11+)
• The 11+ entrance exam explained
• 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
• What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained

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The St Dominic's Grammar School 11+ rewards steady preparation over a year or so, with the last term given to timed practice and interview confidence. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors match the programme to the school's assessment format and to where the child is starting from.

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