St Peter's School, York 7+, 8+, 11+, 13+ and 16+ Admissions: Assessments, Bursaries and Fees

How do you get into St Peter's School 2-18? Families apply online for one of the main entry points, which are Year 7 (11+), Year 9 (13+) and Lower Sixth (16+), with Year 4 (8+) used mainly for York Minster Choristers. Years 7 and 9 sit the school's own computer-based maths, English and reasoning tests, a creative writing paper and a group task in January, whilst Lower Sixth applicants sit subject papers in November and attend an interview.

Junior entry from Year 3 upwards uses the INCAS assessment followed by an informal meeting with the Head. The school lists no catchment area, sets registration deadlines in the year before entry, and offers means-tested Help with Fees bursaries for day places from Year 7.

Entry points and places

The main entry points are Pre-School, Reception, Year 4, Year 7, Year 9 and Year 12 (Lower Sixth), and a few places may open in other year groups. The school does not publish a number of places for any of them. It describes entry to the other years as usually oversubscribed, so the admissions team asks families to make contact before applying.

From age 7 upwards the entry points a parent is most likely to meet are shown below. Boarding, part-time or full, is available from Year 7, and families indicate boarding interest on the application form.

• 7+ (Year 3): abridged INCAS assessment and a short meeting with the Head
• 8+ (Year 4): full INCAS assessment day; mainly used for York Minster Choristers
• 11+ (Year 7): computer-based tests, creative writing and a group task
• 13+ (Year 9): the same entrance assessment as Year 7
• 16+ (Year 12): entrance exam in preferred A Level subjects and an interview

How the 11+ and 13+ assessment works

The assessment for Year 7 and Year 9 is the school's own entrance assessment, held in January of the year of entry, and every prospective pupil must pass it. It comprises computer-based maths, English and reasoning tests, a creative writing paper and a group task. The school does not name an external test provider for this stage.

In the second half of the Christmas term, families receive a letter with the assessment details and complete a form about the child's interests and achievements. After the tests, pupils meet staff so the school can learn about what they enjoy. Candidates are told the outcome in February, and later applicants receive an individual timeline.

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How the 7+ and 8+ assessments work

Junior entry from Year 2 upwards is assessed with INCAS, and the format depends on the year group. Years 2 and 3 sit an abridged assessment of 3 of the 5 INCAS parts, followed by a short informal meeting with the Head.

Years 4, 5 and 6 attend an assessment day with the full INCAS assessment, covering reading, spelling, mathematics, arithmetic, developed ability and a short creative writing prompt, then meet the Head informally. Year 1 children join one of the classes for the day, and Pre-School and Reception entry is an informal assessment with a meeting with the Head and a transition report from the child's nursery or setting.

How the 16+ entry works

Sixth-form entry requires a minimum of six GCSEs at grade 6 or equivalent, and the school states that entry is highly competitive, with candidates usually needing to score well above that level. The entrance exam for Lower Sixth is held each November.

Candidates are assessed in their preferred A Level subjects and have an interview. Reports, references and predicted grades from the current school are requested and considered. Outcomes usually follow within about two weeks of the exam, and offers may be firm or conditional on meeting stated GCSE criteria. Overseas candidates who cannot attend on the day can arrange to sit the tests closer to home.

Registration and the admissions timeline

Registration is an online application form, and the school advises applying at least a year ahead because it is oversubscribed. The deadline falls in December before entry for Nursery, Reception and Years 4 to 10, and in October before entry for Lower Sixth. Applications after the deadline may still be considered if spaces remain. A non-refundable registration fee is payable at registration, and bursary applicants do not pay it.

Families applying for Year 7 or Year 9 move through the seven ordered steps below, from an open event to paying the acceptance deposit.

• Visit or attend an open event, which is compulsory before a bursary application
• Submit the online application form
• Receive the assessment letter in the second half of the Christmas term
• Return the interests form and pass the confidential report form to the current Head Teacher
• Sit the assessments in January
• Receive the outcome in February
• Accept the place and pay the acceptance deposit

Scholarships and bursaries

The school offers honorary academic and music scholarships, an engineering scholarship at sixth form, and means-tested bursaries called Help with Fees. Music scholarships are available at 13+ and 16+ and carry no fee concession, though the school covers tuition on up to three instruments and exam fees for the award's duration. Auditions expect Grade 5 on the first instrument at 13+ and Grade 7 at 16+, an orchestral or band instrument and a background in theory. Academic scholarships recognise strong GCSE performance.

The Ginetta DT and Engineering Scholarship is a single annual sixth-form award, means-tested and covering up to 100% of the day fee. Applicants take Design Technology as one of three assessment subjects, prepare a portfolio or presentation on a real-life problem, and attend a scholarship assessment of design challenges and a panel interview after receiving an offer of a place.

Help with Fees bursaries cover 50% to 100% of day fees for entry at Year 7 or above, including sixth form, and boarding places are not eligible. Assessment considers income, savings, assets and outgoings, awards do not depend on the child's performance, and the child sits the same entrance exam as everyone else. A visit before applying is required, and a family can receive help for a maximum of two children.

Fees and what they include

Fees are charged per term and published on the school's tuition fees page, with separate rates by year group for day pupils, full boarders and part-time boarders. Day fees include VAT, tuition, lunch with fruit through the day, textbooks, exercise books and files, after-school care until 5.15pm in the Junior and Senior Schools, and a Surface Pro device for Years 7 to 11. Boarding fees add all meals and accommodation.

Public examination fees carry an administration charge, and music tuition, instrument hire, EAL lessons and extended after-school care are charged as extras. Withdrawal needs a full term's written notice. The school takes an acceptance deposit when a place is accepted, and refund conditions sit in its terms and conditions, available from the Bursary or School Office.

Where pupils join from

Pupils join from independent schools across the UK and from international schools, most often at Year 7, Year 9 and Lower Sixth. The school's site is organised into St Peter's 2-8, St Peter's 8-13 and St Peter's 13-18, and its feeder-schools page names no individual schools.

The page says the school has links with many feeder schools and runs events tailored to individual schools, with the Prep School Liaison as the contact. Successful junior applicants are invited to a Moving Up Day in the summer term to meet their future teacher and classmates, and the school does not publish how pupils move between its own age sections.

How to prepare

The school says pupils do not need to prepare or revise for the Year 7 and Year 9 tests, because they show how a pupil thinks. Practical preparation therefore centres on familiarity with the format: working comfortably on screen for maths, English and reasoning questions, writing a short piece of creative writing to a time limit, and joining in a group task. Completing the interests and achievements form together helps a child talk about what they enjoy when meeting staff.

For junior entry, children can practise the INCAS areas of reading, spelling, maths, arithmetic and a short creative writing prompt. Lower Sixth candidates focus on their chosen A Level subjects for the November papers, while music applicants prepare to the stated grade and Ginetta applicants build their portfolio before the October deadline.

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• The ISEB Common Pre-Test explained
• 13+ Common Entrance explained
• The 11+ entrance exam explained
• The 7+ entrance exam explained
• The 8+ entrance exam explained
• 11+ and 13+ scholarship exams explained
• What is a bursary? Private school bursaries explained
• Boarding schools in the UK

Preparing for the St Peter's School 2-18 11+ with Taylor Tuition

Families preparing for the St Peter's School 2-18 11+ 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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