St. Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11 Plus (11+) Exam 2024/2025, Year 7 Entry – Key Details
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Table of Contents
Introduction
St Paul’s Girls’ School is an independent day school for girls in Brook Green, Hammersmith (West London). Founded in 1904, the school has educated an impressive number of notable professionals and regularly features exceptional GCSEs and A Levels results. [1]
Demonstrating sophisticated knowledge across a range of disciplines, students make the most out of the comprehensive education on offer, exploring different areas of learning with enthusiasm. To cater for their specific interests and inspire their intellectual curiosity, SPGS provides a stimulating curriculum which features Classics, computer science, economics, MFL and politics, among others.
The rich range of clubs and societies further enhances the educational experience, allowing girls to develop an array of soft and practical skills in parallel with a vigorous yet healthy competitive spirit. Through participation in Dissection Society, Junior Feminist Society and Gardening Club, alongside athletics, cricket, badminton and swimming (among others), girls grow in excellent physical and mental health, intellectual independence and the ability to work in teams. [2] [3]
SPGS regularly organises expeditions to exciting destinations, which have included China, Russia, Japan and the US. Within the scope of the many enrichment activities, girls also benefit from an adventurous programme of day trips. To explore their cultural awareness, pupils typically visit the London Central Mosque; to maximise their sense of aesthetics, they go to exhibitions at the Halycon Gallery and Tate Britain; to expand their knowledge in geography, they travel to areas such as the Lake District. [4]
SPGS is regarded as one of the nation’s first schools to promote the importance of educating women, producing passionate individuals who, due to their strong qualifications, inevitably influence the world around them. Developing into confident and engaged learners who exhaustively utilise the school’s strong support system, pupils perform well beyond expectations in the effort to awaken their authentic selves and inspire others to do the same.
St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11 Plus (11+) Exam Information 2024
Address: Brook Green, Hammersmith W6 7BS
County: Greater London
Admissions info: admissions@spgs.org or 020 7603 2288
School type: Independent day school for girls
Number of students: 780 (approx.)
Open Day date: In the Autumn term
11+ Exam date (Stage 1): November 2024
11+ Exam date (Stage 2): January 2025
Pass mark (Stage 1): Aim for 60%+ in our practice tests.
Pass mark (Stage 2): Aim for 85%+ in our practice tests.
Open Events for St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11 Plus (11+) Entry
The best way to get a feel for St Paul’s Girls’ School is to visit them during Open Day, when you and your daughter can explore facilities and meet some of the staff and students. The event includes an address by the High Mistress together with a tour of the school, led by current students. Upcoming dates and a booking form can be accessed through this page. You can view the school’s exact location on the map below:
St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11 Plus (11+) Admissions
The schools’ registration deadline is in November of the year preceding entry. Registration forms, which can be found here, should be submitted with a registration fee of £250.
The admissions process involves a two-stage examination. The Stage 1 exam consists of an online Reasoning test, sat in November of the year preceding entry. You will be notified of your daughter’s results in mid-December.
Successful candidates will be asked to sit a Stage 2 exam, taking place in early January. If your daughter performs well, she will be invited to attend a 15-minute interview later the same month.
St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11 Plus (11+) Scholarships and Bursaries
SPGS offers Music Scholarships to Year 7 applicants on the basis of their performance in an audition and interview. They are worth £1680 per annum and the expected standard is Grade 5 or above on the principal instrument. The candidate’s academic ability, tested in the entrance examinations, will be considered. At the discretion of the Director of Music, exhibitions worth £840 per annum may also be awarded. More details are available here.
Means-tested bursaries are offered to families in financial need. They may cover up to 100% of fees, subject to the level of assistance required. To establish the value of the bursary, the school administers a thorough evaluation process which includes a home visit.
Subject to your child’s conduct and academic progress, the bursary will remain valid throughout her time in the school. Please follow this link for details on how to apply.
St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11 Plus (11+) Exam Format
The Stage 1 St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11+ exam consists of the following online test:
- CEM Select
The online test (CEM Select) assesses Verbal, Non-Verbal and Numerical Ability through a series of short, online modules.
The test takes one hour to complete in total.
Please note that whilst the school refers to this assessment as a ‘cognitive ability test’, they are nonetheless referring to CEM Select and not CAT4.
You can view an official familiarisation demo for CEM Select here. This will introduce your child to some of the basic test mechanics but it is not designed to provide an accurate reflection of what the test is actually like in terms of timings, question formats and difficulty.
You can view our recommendations to prepare for the SPGS CEM Select first round test further below in this article.
The Stage 2 St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11+ exam consists of the following tests:
- Mathematics
- English
- Comprehension
Mathematics
The maths paper is designed to identify potential and features three 25-minute sections. The first section features questions that are fairly straightforward sums, while the second section covers problem-solving questions. The third section often has multi-part questions based on material that the girls may not have encountered before. Throughout the paper, it is essential that they show their working out.
English
The English paper involves the close reading of a passage of literary prose (comprehension) and creative writing. Questions will involve the extraction of information; some will ask for comments on the meaning and effect of individual words and phrases, and others will be extended imaginative writing tasks, based on the passage. Careful inference and sensitivity to linguistic effects and evidence of a wide vocabulary will attract high marks.
Comprehension
The SPGS 11 plus comprehension paper is designed to test comprehension in its broadest sense. Questions allow for the demonstration of the skills of deduction, inference, extraction and organisation of information as well as evaluation, comparison, identification of patterns and links, and logic.
There are some sample papers available on the school website. We have also designed specific practice tests for this unusual Comprehension test. You can view them in our recommendations section below.
Please see below for further details and recommendations on how to prepare for the St Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ entrance examination.
How to Prepare for the St Paul’s Girls’ School 11 Plus (11+) Exam
One of the best ways to prepare for a competitive entrance exam is to use our practice tests. Getting to know the types of questions and the format of the actual exam will help boost your child’s confidence.
Aside from becoming familiarised with the exam format, our practice tests will ensure that your child responds to the questions in an efficient and effective manner.
They also provide an excellent opportunity for your child to practise working under time pressure. While doing the tests under timed conditions, children can get used to answering questions quickly, with a close attention to detail.
Our 11+ practice tests are thoroughly researched and up to date. They are designed to reflect the demands of a competitive entrance exam and are successfully used by hundreds of thousands of students every year.
St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11 Plus (11+) Exam Pass Marks and Target Scores
St. Paul’s Girls’ School use the online CEM Select test as their Stage 1 filtering assessment. CEM Select is a unique test, which is highly time pressured. Students are not expected to answer all the questions. To learn more about how to approach this test, please click here. In terms of pass marks, 60%+ is considered an excellent score and 50%+ is considered a very good score.
Pupils who are able to score 85%+ consistently in our Stage 2 Practice Tests should be on track to pass the St Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ exam.
Whilst there are no guarantees, this has historically been a fairly strong indicator that your child should do well in the SPGS 11+ exam.
Don’t worry if your child is not scoring well in our practice tests and papers from the outset. With targeted practice and focus, it’s possible to make big improvements in a short amount of time!
St Paul’s Girls’ School (SPGS) 11 Plus (11+) Exam Practice Papers
Recommendations for each section of the St Paul’s Girls’ School 11 Plus exam can be found below:
Stage 1 Exam
CEM Select
The following full practice online tests are specifically designed to help your child become familiar with the demands of the St Paul’s Girls’ School CEM Select assessment:
Full Practice
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended full practice resources for the St Paul’s Girls’ School CEM Select exam at a large discount. These are available on our other site, Pretest Plus. Click the button below to learn more:
CEM Select Practice Tests 1-10 Bundle - Save 30%
✅ Alternatively, you can choose a bundle of five of our recommended full practice tests for the St Paul’s Girls’ School CEM Select exam and still save 25%. Select the relevant bundle below to learn more:
CEM Select Practice Tests 1-5 Bundle - Save 25%
CEM Select Practice Tests 6-10 Bundle - Save 25%
The following resources consist of focused tests that allow students to target specific question formats that appear in online CEM Select:
Skill Practice: Verbal Ability
CEM Select – Comprehension Pack 1
CEM Select – Comprehension Pack 2
CEM Select – Missing Words Pack 1
CEM Select – Missing Words Pack 2
CEM Select – Shuffled Sentences
CEM Select – Letter Connections
CEM Select – Multiple Meanings
Skill Practice: Non-Verbal Ability
Skill Practice: Numerical Ability
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended skill practice resources for the St Paul’s Girls’ School CEM Select exam at a large discount. These are available on our other site, Pretest Plus. Click the button below to learn more:
CEM Select Skill Practice Bundle - Save 30%
Don’t forget to use the code ppdiscount at checkout to get 10% off orders over £80 and 20% off orders over £200 if you don’t buy a bundle.
Stage 2 Exam
English
We strongly suggest the following packs for successful preparation for the St Paul’s Girls’ School Stage Two 11+ English paper, targeting comprehension and writing skills (including spelling, vocabulary and inference):
Comprehension
11+ Complete Comprehension Guide
Writing
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended resources for the English section of the St Paul’s Girls’ School Stage Two 11+ Exam at a large discount. Click the button below to learn more:
11+ SPGS English Bundle - Save 30%
If you’d like to have your child’s writing assessed and marked, you may be interested in our Writing Marking Service. Please click here to learn more.
Mark Schemes
St. Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ English Sample Paper
St. Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ English 2011 Sample Paper 1
St. Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ English 2011 Sample Paper 2
Comprehension
We highly recommend the following packs for successful preparation for the St Paul’s Girls’ School Stage Two 11+ Comprehension exam:
11+ SPGS Comprehension Practice Test 1
11+ SPGS Comprehension Practice Test 2
11+ SPGS Comprehension Practice Test 3
11+ SPGS Comprehension Practice Test 4
The following Critical Thinking packs will also prove useful when preparing for this test:
11+ Critical Thinking & Analysis Pack 1
11+ Critical Thinking & Analysis Pack 2
11+ Critical Thinking & Analysis Pack 3
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended resources for the St Paul’s Girls’ School Stage Two 11+ Comprehension Exam at a large discount. Click the button below to learn more:
11+ SPGS Comprehension Bundle - Save 15%
Mathematics
We highly recommend the use of the following packs to help your daughter prepare for the St Paul’s Girls’ School Stage Two 11+ Maths test:
Full Practice Tests
11+ SPGS Maths Practice Test 1
11+ SPGS Maths Practice Test 2
11+ SPGS Maths Practice Test 3
Skill Specific Practice
11+ Fractions, Decimals & Percentages
11+ Reflection, Rotation & Symmetry
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended resources for the Mathematics section of the St Paul’s Girls’ School Stage Two 11+ Exam at a large discount. Click the button below to learn more:
11+ SPGS Maths Bundle - Save 30%
Mark Schemes
St. Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ Mathematics Sample Paper
St. Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ Mathematics 2011 Sample Paper 1
St. Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ Mathematics 2011 Sample Paper 2
Don’t forget to use the code eppdiscount at checkout to get 10% off orders over £70 and 20% off orders over £250 if you don’t buy a bundle.
Interviews
This guide covers all the key concepts your child needs to be aware of for the 11+ Interview:
11+ Interviews – The Complete Guide
Our practice tests aim to show what sort of questions were included in St. Paul’s Girls’ School 11+ exam past papers. The information provided about St. Paul’s Girls’ School was believed to be correct at the time of publishing. However, please be aware of future changes. We advise you to contact the school directly if you are unsure of anything. School contact details are provided within the post.
Other entry points for St. Paul’s Girls’ School:
Click here to learn about Year 9 entry via the 13 Plus (13+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 12 entry via the 16 Plus (16+) Exam
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