St James Senior Boys’ School 11 Plus (11+)/Year 7 Exam and Admissions Information

Introduction

St James Senior Boys’ School is an independent day school for boys aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1975 and, along with the other schools in the St James Schools family, it has a unique approach to education that blends Eastern and Western philosophies. Twice a day, the school spends ten minutes in silence, known as Quiet Time, creating a sense of Oneness with the world. Additionally, philosophy is part of the curriculum, and pupils are served only vegetarian food.

The academic curriculum at St James Senior Boys’ School in the Lower School is broad and balanced, designed to enable pupils to discover where their passions lie and to embrace learning. Typically, boys then go on to take 9 or 10 GCSEs and then 3 A-Levels, with a wide variety of subjects to choose from.

Life outside of the classroom is rich and rewarding. Boys can join the school’s cadet unit, sign up for the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) in Year 9 and take their pick from various clubs that run before, during and after school. Getting involved means pupils receive a truly holistic education.

St James Senior Boys’ School has a strong pastoral care system, with several staff trained as mental health first aiders. Additionally, the school has ELSAs (emotional literacy support assistants) and a counsellor on site, enabling boys to receive personalised support and guidance when needed.  

If you are considering registering your son for Year 7 entry to St James Senior Boys’ School, please read on to learn about the admissions process.

Admissions Process for 11 Plus Entry to St James Senior Boys’ School

St James Senior Boys’ School holds various open events throughout the year, allowing you to experience life at the school. You will listen to a presentation by the Head and be shown around the school by current pupils. Alternatively, you can book a private visit. Please fill in the online form to arrange a visit.

If the school feels like the right place for your son, you should then complete the online registration form by the mid-November deadline, when your son is in Year 6. You will also need to upload a copy of your son’s passport and most recent school report and pay the £150 non-refundable registration fee.

St James Senior Boys’ School will then contact your son’s current school for a reference, which will be reviewed as part of the admissions process.

Your son will attend an assessment day at the end of November, during which he will sit an online Quest assessment and be interviewed by the Head or a senior member of staff.

Offers will be made in early December. Your son could receive an unconditional offer, a conditional offer or be put on a waiting list. To accept an unconditional offer, you must pay a £2,000 deposit (or one term’s fees if you do not reside in the UK) by the acceptance deadline in early March. The deposit is refunded when your son has completed his education at the school.

Please be aware that it is possible for your son to sit a 10+ pre-test for entry to Year 7, with the registration deadline in March of Year 5 and the assessment day in May of Year 5. If you are interested in this early route, please get in touch with the school for further information. The 10+ entrance test will also be an online Quest assessment.

St James Senior Boys’ School: Scholarships and Bursaries for Year 7 Entry

The following scholarships are available for Year 7 entry:

• Academic
• Sports
• Music
• Drama
• Art and Design

Academic scholarships, known as Head’s scholarships, are awarded based on performance in the online Quest assessment and interview.

You can only apply for one of the other scholarships, and your son must have already received an offer of a Year 7 place when you do so. The scholarship application deadline is in January of Year 6.

For details about the criteria and scholarship assessments, please read the Scholarship Policy.  

The school offers bursaries worth up to 100% of the school fees for Year 7 entry, but they are not available to those taking the 10+ pre-test route.

Bursaries are means-tested awards that enable boys from families who cannot afford the full fees to attend St James Senior Boys’ School. The deadline for confirming that you wish to apply for a bursary is the last Friday in October of Year 6.

If you apply for a bursary, an independent company will assess your financial circumstances and visit you at your home or arrange a Teams call. You can email the school bursar (bursary-applications@stjamesschools.co.uk) for more information if you are considering applying for a bursary.

Tips to Help Your Child Prepare for the St James Senior Boys’ School Year 7 Entrance Exam

Here are our top tips to help your son be fully prepared for the 11+ assessment day at St James Senior Boys’ School:

• Practise mindfulness exercises to help reduce stress. Focusing on breathing or doing a short calming activity can help your son stay relaxed and stop concerns about the assessment day from building up.
• Promote a growth mindset. Knowing that intelligence and skills are not set in stone but can be developed will help your son stay motivated. Teach him that mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow, and setbacks are temporary. 
• Revise maths and English schoolwork. Doing this will give your son a strong foundation of knowledge for the maths and English modules. Condense the revision down to the key facts to make it feel manageable. 
• Read regularly. Reading even for ten minutes a day will broaden your son’s vocabulary, which is particularly helpful for the English and verbal reasoning modules of the online Quest assessment. It will also improve his reading comprehension, vital for the English module.
• Play games and puzzles. Select games and puzzles to play that involve spatial awareness, logical reasoning or vocabulary to enhance your son’s performance in the online Quest assessment. Scrabble, tangrams and jigsaw puzzles would all be helpful. 
• Discuss the school’s ethos and unique approach with your child. You can read about it here. It is important that, as a family, you support the school’s approach and that your child understands it so that he feels confident discussing it in his interview.
• Use practice tests. We have produced online Quest practice tests that your son can work through to become deeply familiar with what to expect in the actual online assessment. He can use the practice tests to identify any areas he needs to devote more time to and reach a stage where he can answer questions quickly and accurately across all the modules.

For our highly recommended resources, please see the section below.

St James Senior Boys’ School: 11 Plus (11+)/Year 7 Entrance Exam Resources

St James Senior Boys’ School 11+ Online Practice Tests

Our St James Senior Boys’ School 11+ Online Entrance Assessment Practice Tests are available on our other website, Pretest Plus, and provide realistic and highly accurate preparation for the actual exam. Each full mock test replicates the modules, timings and question types used in the real assessment, ensuring your child becomes familiar with the format and expectations. Covering Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning, these tests are all pitched at the same difficulty level, allowing you to benchmark your child’s progress, track improvement and identify key areas for further practice.

11+ St James Senior Boys’ School Practice Test 1

11+ St James Senior Boys’ School Practice Test 2

11+ St James Senior Boys’ School Practice Test 3

11+ St James Senior Boys’ School Practice Test 4

✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended resources for the St James Senior Boys’ School 11+ Online Test at a large discount. These are available on our other site, Pretest Plus. Click the button below to learn more:

11+ St James Senior Boys’ School Practice Tests Bundle - Save 20%

St James Senior Boys’ School 11+ Skill Practice

The following Skill Practice exercises focus on one module that will come up in the St James Senior Boys’ School 11+ Online Test, allowing you to target the specific exam sections that your child finds challenging.

11+ St James Senior Boys’ School Mathematics

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.

Please do contact us if you have any questions about our resources. We will do our best to help you. We want to take this opportunity to wish your child all the best in their entrance exam for admission to St James Senior Boys’ School.

The information provided about St James Senior Boys’ School was believed to be correct at the time of publishing. However, please be aware that there may be future changes. We advise you to contact the school directly if you need clarification on anything. School contact details are provided within the post.

Please note that Exam Papers Plus is an independent publisher of practice tests and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publishers of the Quest online assessments or any other test publisher.