St Hugh's School 7+, 11+, 13+ Admissions: Process, Scholarships and Fees

To get into St Hugh's School in Faringdon, a family registers with the Registrar and then follows a route set by the year group: a Taster Day for most children joining the Prep School, and a review of school reports, CAT scores and a meeting with the Headmaster or Assistant Head Admissions for the Senior School at Year 9 and Year 10. The school does not use the ISEB Common Pre-Test for Senior School entry.

St Hugh's takes children from Nursery to age 16, so the entry points a parent searching for the entrance exam will meet are Year 3 (7+), Year 7 (11+), Year 9 (13+) and Year 10 (14+). Scholarships sit at Years 7 and 9, and bursaries are open to children joining Year 3 or above.

Entry points and places

Children can join at Nursery, Reception and any year of the Prep School, and the Senior School takes pupils at Year 9 and Year 10 as well as later in Years 9 to 11. For readers focused on the older entry points, the relevant year groups are Year 3 (7+), Year 7 (11+), Year 9 (13+) and Year 10 (14+).

The school has around 350 boys and girls and does not publish a fixed number of places at any entry point. Prep places are offered to registered children in order of registration date, with an allowance for siblings. The Senior School stops at the end of Year 11, so there is no sixth form and no 16+ entry.

• Year 3 (7+): Taster Day
• Year 7 (11+): Taster Day, scholarships available
• Year 9 (13+): reports, CAT scores and a meeting
• Year 10 (14+): same Senior School process

How the 13+ assessment works

Entry at Year 9 is decided on recent school reports, CAT scores and a meeting with the Headmaster or Assistant Head Admissions, and children are not pre-tested. The school states that the ISEB Common Pre-Test is not required, so there are no entrance papers in English, maths or reasoning to sit.

The reports and CAT scores form part of the review before the meeting takes place. Because the process rests on documents the current school already holds, the practical task for a family is to request recent reports and CAT results early, so they are ready when the application form goes in.

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How entry at 7+ and 11+ works

Children joining Year 1 or above attend a Taster Day, which is the assessment step for the Prep School, including Year 3 and Year 7. Before that, families tour the school with the Registrar and meet the Headmaster. Nursery and Reception children attend a pop-in session with a parent present instead.

The pages read do not describe papers, subjects or a pass mark for the Taster Day. Families who want to know how it is judged, or who have a child needing additional support, are asked to say so at enquiry or registration so the school can plan for it.

Registration and the admissions timeline

Admission follows set steps, and children must be registered before they can be offered a place. The Registrar, Mrs Kim Kousari, handles enquiries on 01367 870700, and the school advises early contact for the Senior School because interest is high. The pages read give no registration deadline or catchment criteria, although a catchment area map page exists on the site.

Where the Prep School and Senior School sequences differ slightly, the differences are listed below.

• Prep School: enquiry, tour and meeting with the Headmaster, registration with a fee, Taster Day, offer and deposit
• Senior School: enquiry, information evening or personal visit, application form with a registration fee, recent reports and CAT scores, meeting, offer
• Deposit: paid to accept the offer; at Year 7 and above it is credited against the final term's fees at Senior School
• Open Mornings run three times a year, and an online meeting with the Registrar can replace a visit

Interviews and references

The Senior School meeting with the Headmaster or Assistant Head Admissions serves as the interview, and its purpose is to discuss the application and get to know the child. No separate interview, group activity or written reference form is described on the pages read.

The school asks for recent school reports and CAT scores, which stand in for a reference from the current school. Prep School applicants meet the Headmaster during the tour stage and attend a Taster Day instead of a formal interview.

Scholarships and bursaries

Scholarships are offered at Year 7 and Year 9: academic, music, sport and art at both, drama at Year 9 only, and an Avalon Scholarship, the all-rounder award, for Year 9 pupils with strong ability across several areas. Applications close in the autumn term, and the subject assessments follow across the winter and spring.

The pages read do not describe the assessment content, so the Scholarships Programme booklet and the Year 7 Scholarships booklet linked from the scholarships page, or scholarships@st-hughs.co.uk, are the next step. Means-tested bursaries are available for children joining Year 3 or above; the maximum share of fees is not published.

Fees and what they include

Fees are charged per term and rise by year group, with Years 3 and 4 in the Middle School, Years 5 to 8 in the Upper School and Years 9 to 11 in the Senior School each carrying their own rate. Tuition covers wraparound care from Reception upwards, books and educational materials, and clubs except a few run by external coaches.

Catering, transport and trips for Years 4 to 8 are charged separately, as are individual music lessons and LAMDA. Published reductions include a Loyalty Reduction of 10% for pupils at the school since Year 5, a Military Discount of 20%, and an early adopter reduction of 10% for families joining the Senior School in its first intake years. Boarding is available for children up to 13.

Where pupils join from

Most Senior School entrants can come from the school's own Upper School, which runs to Year 8, and from other schools, since the Senior School is open to external applicants at Year 9 and Year 10. The pages read do not name any partner or feeder schools.

Pupils who joined in Year 7 or 8 and paid the enhanced deposit need no further deposit for Year 9. Pupils who have been at the school since Year 5 receive the Loyalty Reduction in the Senior School.

How to prepare

For Year 9 entry the preparation that matters is steady work in the current school, because reports and CAT scores carry the decision and no pre-test is set. Gathering recent reports, asking the school for CAT results and thinking through what the child would like to say to the Headmaster in the meeting are the practical steps.

For Prep School entry, a visit to the school beforehand helps a child feel at ease for the Taster Day. The school also runs its own Pre-Test Preparation for pupils heading to other senior schools, using Planet BOFA, Keystone Tests and Atom Learning, and it points to the ISEB Common Pre-Test familiarisation test online, where an answer cannot be reviewed once chosen.

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