St Paul's School 7+, 11+, 13+ and 16+ Admissions: Pre-Test, Papers and Fees

You get into St Paul's School by registering online for one entry point (7+, 11+, 13+ or 16+) and passing a staged selection process that, at 11+ and 13+, starts with the ISEB online pre-test and continues with the school's own English and mathematics papers and an interview. The 7+ uses the school's own written tests followed by a half-day group assessment, and the 16+ uses subject papers in the chosen A-level subjects.

Boys join from state and independent schools in and around London, offers are made on academic merit, and means-tested bursaries covering up to 100% of fees are assessed separately once a place has been won.

Entry points and places

St Paul's has four entry points: 7+ into Year 3, 11+ into Year 7, 13+ into Year 9 and 16+ into Year 12. The first two lead into St Paul's Prep School, which takes boys aged 7 to 13, and the last two lead into the senior school, which takes boys aged 13 to 18.

About 72 boys join at 7+ in the Lower First Year, about 36 join at 11+, and about 20 join in Year 12 at 16+. The Year 9 Fourth Form numbers 198 boys, with about half arriving from the Prep School and half from other London prep schools; the school publishes no separate figure for 13+ places.

A boy cannot sit both the 11+ and the 13+ assessment, and an offer applies only to the entry point he was assessed for. The admissions page carries an age checker that shows which entry points a boy's date of birth makes him eligible for.

How the 13+ assessment works

The 13+ assessment has three stages: the ISEB online pre-test, written mathematics and English papers at St Paul's, and an interview. Every registered candidate sits the pre-test in October or November of Year 6, preferably at his current school and otherwise at St Paul's, and the school requests a Head Teacher report covering character, academic strengths and interests.

Selected candidates then sit a 75-minute mathematics paper and a 45-minute English paper at St Paul's in early January, with guidance and sample questions published by the school as PDFs. Candidates who do well are invited to a Saturday interview covering numeracy, critical analysis of source material, co-curricular interests and a general conversation, whilst parents hear a talk from the High Master and senior leaders.

The outcome is an offer, an invitation to a further assessment in Year 8 for boys who show potential, or no place. Offers depend on continued good conduct and academic progress plus an unreserved supporting reference from the Head Teacher in Year 8; boys at schools that do not follow the St Paul's Year 7 and 8 curriculum may meet extra conditions, such as at least 70% in prescribed subjects at Common Entrance.

Boys invited to the Year 8 round are asked in the final term of Year 7 whether they want to be reassessed, and an up-to-date Head Teacher report is requested. English and mathematics papers follow in September of Year 8 and an interview in early October, after which some boys receive a Fourth Form offer and a few join a waiting list.

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How the 7+ and 11+ assessments work

The 11+ starts with the required ISEB online pre-test in Year 6, which boys sit at St Paul's or at their current school if it is an ISEB-registered invigilation centre. Parents register with ISEB at no extra charge, from July at the end of Year 5, and successful boys sit written English and mathematics examinations at St Paul's in December.

Boys whose written papers go well are interviewed by senior staff and the Head, with interviews beginning just weeks after the examination date, and parents also have the chance to meet the Head. The school provides a syllabus for the written subjects but cannot send past papers.

The 7+ uses the school's own tests on an examination day: English as a dictation exercise, mathematics, and reasoning that is weighted according to age. Successful boys are invited to a half-day group assessment in the following two weeks, in groups of about 10, with a maths lesson, an English lesson and a group problem-solving task, whilst parents meet the Head of the Prep School. Boys hear their results within a fortnight.

A reference is sought from the Head of the boy's current school at 7+, and boys are accepted on the understanding that St Paul's will be their first-choice senior school.

Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration is online for every entry point, and the sequence runs from registration through assessment and offer to acceptance with a deposit. Registration opens in February when a boy is in Year 1 for 7+, in April for 11+ and 13+ (the 13+ form is completed in Year 5 or at the start of Year 6), and in June of Year 10 for 16+.

A non-refundable registration fee applies, with a smaller exam fee at 11+ and 16+, and the 7+ form asks for an electronic copy of the boy's passport. Both parents must agree to the application unless one has sole custody, and an application made for the wrong entry point is rejected and refunded. Closing dates and assessment dates for each round sit on the Important Dates page for the entry point and may change.

• Register online, pay the registration fee and tick the bursary box if you want a bursary assessment.
• At 11+ and 13+, register separately with ISEB at no charge and sit the online pre-test.
• Sit the written papers if invited.
• Attend the interview or, at 7+, the group assessment if invited.
• Receive the outcome: an offer, a waiting list place, a Year 8 reassessment at 13+, or no place.
• Accept the offer by the stated deadline and pay the deposit, which at 11+ and 16+ comes with a further fee.

How 16+ entry works

Entry at 16+ is into Year 12 and requires an online application naming four Eighth Form subjects, entrance exams in the chosen A-level subjects, an interview with subject staff, and an offer that depends on GCSE results. Applications open in June of Year 10, selection takes place in the autumn term of Year 11, and late applications are not considered.

The papers are sat at St Paul's in early November, are based mainly on current GCSE syllabuses and test analytical skills and problem-solving ability. Most candidates also sit a numerical problem-solving paper, for which no sample is provided. Art and Extended Project have no written exam, Computing, Politics and Economics papers ask candidates to analyse supplied material, French has grammar, writing and reading sections, and Maths and Further Maths candidates sit the same single paper.

Candidates who perform well in all their subjects write about their interests, aspirations and motivation before a Saturday interview with subject Heads of Department or senior teachers. Art candidates bring a portfolio of work, Engineering candidates bring design work, Music candidates perform a short piece, Drama candidates perform a monologue and boarders meet the House Master. The school also asks the current school for a detailed academic reference.

Offers go out in early December and are conditional on at least eight GCSE or IGCSE passes at grade 7, at least six of them at grade 8 or 9, including the A-level subjects.

Scholarships and bursaries

St Paul's offers academic, music, art and sport awards at selected entry points, and means-tested Founder's Awards bursaries at all four entry points. Academic scholarships are awarded at 13+, to Prep School pupils on their Year 8 end-of-year results and to external candidates through scholarship examinations in May after they have accepted an unconditional Main List offer; no new academic scholarships are awarded at 16+. The examinations cover English, History, Geography, Latin, French, Theology and Philosophy, Mathematics and Science, with an optional Greek paper.

Music awards run at 11+, 13+ and 16+, with expected standards of above Grade 5, normally Grade 6 or above, and Grade 8 or above respectively, and 13+ candidates apply after accepting a place. Art scholarships run at 13+ and 16+ and begin with a digital submission of five images followed by a meeting with the Head of Art. Sport awards are offered at 11+ and 16+, with 13+ awards planned.

Founder's Awards range from 2% to 100% of fees and are open to families who have lived within a 20km straight-line radius of the school for at least a year, where the parents and the boy are British or Irish citizens or hold settled status, indefinite leave to remain or a suitable long-term visa. A boy must first win his place on academic merit, and the Finance Office then assesses household income and net assets separately from admissions.

Parents tick the bursary box on the online registration form and the school sends the financial forms once the boy reaches the relevant stage: after the call to interview at 7+, after the pre-test and invitation to the written assessment at 11+, in the spring of Year 7 at 13+, and after interview at 16+. Awards are discretionary, reassessed annually, and the outcome is given before the acceptance deadline.

Fees and what they include

Fees are charged per term, include VAT and differ between the Prep School (Years 3 to 8), the senior school (Years 9 to 13), joiners into Year 12 and boarders; the published figures are in the fees field of this guide and on the school's fees page. The basic fee covers tuition, games, loan books, stationery, libraries, medical inspection, careers aptitude tests, certain publications and lunch.

Extras include some senior school books, which become the pupil's property, public examination fees, and instrumental lessons paid directly to the visiting music teacher. Fees are paid by Direct Debit on the first day of each term, and families with three or more children across St Paul's School, the Prep School and St Paul's Girls' School can apply in writing to the Finance Director for remission, which is not backdated.

A deposit is payable on accepting a place at every entry point, with refund conditions that differ by entry point. Boarders and pupils normally resident outside the UK may be asked for an additional deposit, credited against final fees without interest.

Where pupils join from

Pupils join from state primary schools and independent schools in and around London, and the Prep School forms the school's own route into the senior school. Boys who start at 7+ and stay for the full duration are automatically registered for transfer to the senior school at 13+.

Boys who join at 11+ come from state primary schools and independent schools that finish at Year 6, spend two years at the Prep School and move up in Year 9. At 13+, boys at prep schools that end at Year 8 form the main group, and boys at schools ending at Year 6 can take the 13+ route and move to another prep school for Years 7 and 8.

State primary applicants are welcome at 13+, although the school describes 11+ as the most appropriate entry point for them. The one exception to the rule that an offer applies only to the entry point assessed is for boys who join a St Paul's Group prep school for Years 7 and 8.

How to prepare

Preparation works best when it follows the papers the school names, starting with its own published material. For 13+, the PDFs of guidance and sample questions support practice at the 75-minute mathematics and 45-minute English papers, and it helps to talk through numeracy problems and short source texts aloud ahead of the interview.

At 11+, the school supplies a syllabus for the English and mathematics papers and cannot send past papers, so practice tends to centre on that syllabus and on working comfortably at a screen for the ISEB pre-test. At 7+, past papers are not published, so suggested reading, the school's English and maths guidance, dictation and reasoning practice, and ease in a group of about 10 boys are the useful areas.

For 16+ entry, the papers rest on GCSE content in the chosen subjects and reward analytical thinking, so working through unfamiliar problems in those subjects is the most direct preparation. Candidates also draft the pre-interview statement and prepare any portfolio, design work, piece or monologue the pathway asks for.

Related guides

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• Hampton School (11+)
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• Lady Eleanor Holles School (11+)
• St Catherine's School (11+)
• The ISEB Common Pre-Test explained
• 13+ Common Entrance explained
• The 11+ entrance exam explained
• The 7+ entrance exam explained
• 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
• What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained
• Boarding schools in the UK

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