Introduction
School Name: St. Margaret’s School
Description: Independent School for Girls
Acceptance Ages: 11+
Overview
St. Margaret’s School (Hampstead) is an independent school for girls situated in Hampstead, North London. The school came on the top of the Sunday Times Small Independent Schools league table in 2008 and 2009.
Through the provision of a secure, caring and challenging learning environment, girls at St. Margaret’s strive for excellence in all that they do. Results are extremely competitive, with 62% of GCSE grades at A* or A over the past 5 years.
Specialist teachers in French, Music, PE and ICT are introduced from as young as Reception, which further enables the girls’ progress up the school. The outstanding pastoral care is yet another addition to the harmonious community, where great importance is placed on having every child feel excited about coming to school every day to enjoy learning and social activities.
Open Events for St. Margaret’s School, Hampstead 11 Plus (11+) Entry
School’s Open Sessions scheduled in June and September and booking your place via an online registration form on the school’s website.
St. Margaret’s School, Hampstead 11 Plus (11+) Admissions
St. Margaret’s School has a policy of selection based on certain criteria. Applicants should be performing at a level that’s in accordance with national standards for her age. The school expects that girls interested in joining the school at Year 7 will achieve around Level 4 or above in English, Mathematics and Science by the end of Year 6.
Reports from current schools will be taken into consideration to determine the applicant’s is likely to fit in with the community. A sense of commitment on behalf of prospective parents in regards to their daughter’s education is also taken into account.
Demand for places often exceeds supply, and thus the school prioritises:
- Academic performance in the assessments
- Prior academic performance (where applicable)
- The girl’s attitude to learning
- Her character
- Parental commitment to St Margaret’s ethos
- Siblings of current pupils
Note that a girl with test results a little higher than another, whose parents show poor understanding of, or commitment to St. Margaret’s aims and ethos, may not be offered a place.
St. Margaret’s has a Bursary Programme through which it offers financial assistance to girls in need up to 100% of fees. Applying for a Bursary place follows the same assessment process as that for Year 7 entry but are not required to achieve any more than the minimum entry criteria.
Note that the amount of financial assistance varies according to your financial situation: parents with low income will potentially be considered eligible for the school to cover up to 100% of the fees. Both income and assets are assessed, so you will be expected to show independent evaluator items like bank statements or payslips. You may also be visited at home.
St. Margaret’s School, Hampstead 11 Plus (11+) Exam Format
St. Margaret’s School is part of the London Consortium of girls’ Schools which has a single entrance examination, thus reducing the number of entrance exams for Year 7 entry.
The London Consortium has replaced its traditional eleven plus exam with a bespoke Cognitive Abilities Test. The test assesses Mathematics, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning which has been created for the London Consortium by the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM). It’s worth noting that the CEM definition of Verbal Reasoning includes question types, such as comprehension, that you would usually find in an English test.
Some of the questions will be in a multiple-choice format and students will be required to mark their answers on a separate answer sheet. The test lasts for approximately 75 minutes, with a 30-minute break midway. CEM tests tend to consist of shorter timed sections, each focusing on a specific question type. These sections are then taken in a mixed order rather than one subject after another. For example, a 5-minute Verbal Reasoning comprehension section could be followed by a 10-minute Mathematics LNR section, followed by a 6-minute Verbal Reasoning cloze section.
There will be no other written assessments. The Consortium implemented the new cognitive test to identify applicants’ overall academic potential, rather than their ability to retain knowledge for a particular exam.
Students can take the test at any school in the Consortium and parents will receive test results in February.
