St Edward's School, Oxford 13+, 14+ and 16+ Admissions: Pre-Test, Papers and Fees

To get into St Edward's School, Oxford, most children register for 13+ entry into Shell (Year 9) and sit the ISEB Common Pre-Test in Year 6 or Year 7, or an online CAT4 in Year 8, with smaller entries at 14+ into Year 10 and at 16+ into the Lower Sixth. Registration is compulsory before any assessment, and only registered pupils are considered.

The later stages differ by entry point: 14+ and 16+ candidates sit an online adaptive test and then subject papers and an interview, whilst 13+ scholarship candidates attend an assessment day. Fees are charged per term for day and boarding pupils, and the sections below set out each stage in order.

Entry points and places

St Edward's publishes three entry points: 13+ into Shell (Year 9) with about 150 places, 14+ into Fourth Form (Year 10) with about 20 places, and 16+ into the Lower Sixth (Year 12) with about 65 places, where pupils begin A Level or IB Diploma courses. No entry point below Year 9 is published on the admissions pages.

The school's own pages label the Year 10 entry 14+ in a heading and 15+ in the body text, so families considering that route are best confirming the wording with the Registry at the school.

How the 13+ assessment works

The 13+ assessment depends on the year in which the child applies: Year 6 or Year 7 applicants sit the ISEB Common Pre-Test in the autumn term, and Year 8 applicants sit an online CAT4 cognitive abilities test, also in the autumn term. Applications can begin as early as Year 6.

Offers for Year 6 and Year 7 applicants arrive in late February, whilst Year 8 applicants hear in early December. The admissions pages do not publish paper lengths, subject breakdowns or question types for these tests, so the ISEB and CAT4 familiarisation materials are the best guide to format.

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Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration comes first at every entry point, and a child must be registered before sitting the ISEB or the school's own entrance assessments. The usual sequence runs in the order below.

The pages recommend visiting no more than three years before entry, through Saturday open mornings in term, the main open mornings or an individual visit that includes a boarding house tour.

• Visit the school, ideally in Year 4 or Year 5 for 13+ entry, in Year 9 for 14+ and in Year 10 for 16+.
• Complete the online registration form and pay the non-refundable registration fee through the payment gateway it links to.
• Submit the school report and personal statement where the entry point asks for them.
• Sit the first-stage assessment, then the second stage if invited.
• Receive the offer, which for Year 8 applicants at 13+, 14+ and 16+ arrives in early December.
• Accept within one month by paying the acceptance fee and acceptance deposit.

Interviews and references

Interviews at St Edward's are described for scholarship candidates at 13+ and for second-stage candidates at 14+ and 16+. At 14+ the interview follows English and Mathematics papers, and at 16+ it sits alongside three subject papers in early November. The pages do not describe a separate interview for the main 13+ route.

Instead of a named reference, the pages ask for a school report at 14+ and 16+, plus a personal statement of 500 words at 14+ and 500 to 1,000 words at 16+. Overseas applicants whose first language is not English sit a UKISET test, which is compulsory before registering at 13+ and optional at 14+ and 16+.

14+ and 16+ entry requirements

Sixth Form entry requires at least six GCSEs or equivalent, with three at Level 7 or above in the intended A Level or IB Higher Level subjects and three at Level 6. Mathematics or any science the candidate wishes to study requires Level 8. Candidates sit an online adaptive test in the autumn, then three subject papers and an interview.

Places at 16+ are conditional on GCSE performance, whilst places at Shell and Fourth Form are unconditional once the acceptance fee and deposit are paid. Fourth Form candidates sit an online adaptive test in the autumn before entry, then English and Mathematics papers and an interview if they progress.

Scholarships and bursaries

St Edward's offers academic, music, sports and arts awards, with academic and music scholarships at 13+ and 16+ and standard remission of 5 per cent of fees for scholarships and 2.5 per cent for exhibitions and awards. The Admissions Committee can add further remission at its discretion, and fee remission is not usually means-tested.

At 13+ academic candidates apply online, sit the CAT4 in the new year and attend an assessment day with Maths, English and Science papers, three optional papers, a group discussion and an interview. At 16+ strong scorers in the entrance papers may be invited to a further online assessment and an interview with the Scholarship Board.

Music candidates at 13+ audition on a main instrument and a second instrument (singing counts), with sight-reading, scales, arpeggios and aural tests. Means-tested support can reach up to 100 per cent of fees, requested through a Confidential Statement of Financial Circumstances form from the Admissions Department and submitted in the year before admission; military families eligible for the Continuity of Education Allowance can receive support up to 90 per cent.

Fees and what they include

Fees at St Edward's are set per term, with separate day and boarding rates published on the school's fees page and quoted including VAT where applicable. Compulsory course trips are usually included, whilst a registration fee, an acceptance fee and a refundable acceptance deposit apply to every family.

Parents living outside the UK pay an additional deposit of one term's fees. Extras are charged separately and include music, dance and drama lessons, rowing, Duke of Edinburgh fees, house subscriptions, medical insurance and weekend coaches. Discounts exist for paying four or more terms in advance and for a third and later child in the school at the same time, at 5 per cent off the fees.

Where pupils join from

The admissions pages name no junior school and no feeder or partner schools, and the school's 13+ entry is open to children from any school, with registration possible from Year 6. Candidates from non-prep schools are strongly encouraged to apply for academic scholarships, since the papers do not assume a scholarship or Common Entrance syllabus.

How to prepare

Preparation is most useful when it matches the specific stage: for 13+, that means familiarity with the ISEB Common Pre-Test if the child is in Year 6 or Year 7, or with CAT4 style cognitive reasoning if in Year 8. Because the pages do not publish paper lengths, practising under timed, calm conditions with the official ISEB familiarisation materials is a sensible approach.

For scholarship candidates, breadth tends to matter more than syllabus drilling, since the 13+ assessment day includes three compulsory papers, optional papers across the curriculum, a group discussion and an interview about interests and subject knowledge. Music candidates can prepare the scales, sight-reading and aural elements named on the music page, and may pre-audition in Years 7 and 8.

At 14+ and 16+, practice with online adaptive tests, English and Mathematics papers (14+), subject papers in the chosen A Level subjects (16+), and a clear, honest personal statement gives the most direct preparation for the stages the school describes.

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• The ISEB Common Pre-Test explained
• 13+ Common Entrance explained
• 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
• What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained
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Preparing for the St Edward's School, Oxford 13+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the St Edward's School, Oxford 13+ usually come to us a year or so before the assessment, though shorter runs work where the foundations are already sound. Having prepared pupils for entry to leading independent and grammar schools, with placements including Westminster, St Paul's, Wycombe Abbey and Eton, our tutors build each programme around the format the school actually uses, whether a written paper, an online pre-test, an interview or a combination of them.

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