St Mary’s School, Cambridge: Admissions Procedure for 11 Plus/Year 7 Entry

Introduction

St Mary’s School is an independent school for girls aged 3 to 18, with boarding available from Year 5 (age 9). Founded in 1898, the school is rooted in Christian values, while welcoming girls of all faiths and those with no faith. It is one of nearly 200 Mary Ward schools, taking inspiration from Mary Ward, a woman who was passionate about the education of girls and devoted her life to God.

Pupils at St Mary’s School excel in public examinations. In 2025, 63% of GCSE grades were in the 9-7 range, and 77% of A-Level grades were in the A*-B range. Unsurprisingly, leavers go on to study at prestigious universities, including the University of Cambridge, University College London (UCL) and Durham University. 

The enrichment programme at St Mary’s School is extensive. Available activities include coding, yoga, creative writing and engineering, to name but a few. In Year 9, pupils can sign up for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme (DofE), which is designed to build their confidence and develop their skills in resilience, communication and teamwork.  

The happiness of pupils is important to all staff at St Mary’s. Each girl is known as an individual and valued. With respect, kindness and trust being the bedrock of the school community, pupils feel safe and secure and can flourish. 

If you are interested in your daughter joining St Mary’s School in Year 7, please read on to find out about the admissions process.

Admissions Process for 11 Plus Entry to St Mary’s School, Cambridge

Attending the Open Day in October at St Mary’s or arranging a personal tour is an ideal way to find out more about the school, helping you decide if you feel it is a good fit for your family. You can book online. 

The next step is to complete the online application form by December 1st, when your daughter is in Year 6. When you submit the form, you must pay a non-refundable application fee of £120 for a day application and £180 for a boarding application.

A reference will be requested from your daughter’s current school and reviewed as part of the admissions process.

Assessment Day, on the last Saturday in January of Year 6, will comprise the following:

• An online adaptive Quest assessment.
• A 30-minute creative writing paper.
• An interview with a senior member of staff.

You can expect to find out within a week of the Assessment Day whether your daughter has secured a place at St Mary’s. If she has, you will need to accept or decline the offer by the first Monday in March. If you accept it, you will have to pay a deposit of £500 for a day place and the equivalent of one term’s fees for a boarding place. Your deposit will be deducted from your daughter’s final term’s fees. 

Offers are made to girls who perform strongly in the entrance assessments and interview and who receive a positive reference from their current school.

Please be aware that priority will be given to the following eligible applicants:

• Those who have a sister already at the school.
• Those who would particularly benefit from the pastoral care they would receive at St Mary’s due to difficult personal circumstances.
• Those who have a mother who attended St Mary’s or another Mary Ward school.

St Mary’s School, Cambridge: Scholarships and Bursaries for Year 7 Entry  

The following scholarships are available for Year 7 entry:

• Academic Achievement scholarships
• Art scholarships
• Creative Writing scholarships
• Dance scholarships
• Design scholarships
• Drama scholarships
• Music scholarships
• Sport scholarships

The Academic Achievement scholarships are awarded based on performance in the entrance exams and last for one year. Recipients are given a £25 gift voucher.

The other scholarships need to be applied for by the deadline at the start of December, when your daughter is in Year 6, with the scholarship assessments taking place in mid-January.  

Scholarships, other than the Academic Achievement scholarships, are worth 5% of the day fees and are typically awarded for two years. Applicants can apply for more than two scholarships but will only be able to get fee remission for a maximum of two scholarships. 

For more details, please click here.  

St Mary’s School does award bursaries, but existing students are prioritised. If you could only afford to send your daughter to St Mary’s with financial assistance, please get in touch with the bursar at bursaries@stmaryscambridge.co.uk. You can also access more information here. 

The deadline for bursary applications is in October of the year preceding the year of entry.

Parts of the assessment are adaptive, meaning that questions will adapt to the level at which your daughter is working. If she is answering questions incorrectly, the questions will get easier. If she is answering correctly, they will get trickier. This will keep her motivated and engaged because she will be working at an appropriate level.

The difficulty level that your child reaches in the adaptive sections will be taken into account, ensuring that overall scores are fair. 

Creative Writing Paper

The creative writing paper will last for 30 minutes and will allow St Mary’s to evaluate your daughter’s ability, amongst other things, to do the following:

• Use spelling, punctuation and grammar accurately.
• Use her imagination to produce a piece of work that engages the reader.
• Use language effectively, including language techniques.
• Show she has a wide vocabulary.
• Use paragraphs to structure her work.
• Follow the task closely.

Interview

Your daughter’s interview will be with a member of the senior leadership team. It is an informal chat to find out about your daughter’s interests, including her hobbies and the subjects she is passionate about. 

The interviewer will be assessing whether your daughter is likely to embrace all that St Mary’s has to offer.

We understand that preparing for a school’s competitive entrance assessments can be a daunting task; however, it doesn’t need to be. Please review the tips below to help make the preparation period go smoothly. 

Tips to Help Your Child Prepare for the St Mary’s School, Cambridge, Year 7 Assessment Day

We hope the following tips help your daughter feel confident and ready for St Mary’s School 11+ entrance exam:

• Start a revision schedule early so that your daughter does not need to have any last-minute cramming sessions but can take a calm, measured approach.
• Make study sessions 20-30 minutes long, as this is the optimal length for your daughter’s age, enabling her to focus fully for the entire session.
• Ensure your daughter has plenty of time to relax and enjoy her hobbies, helping her to maintain good mental health.
• Revise Year 5 maths and English schoolwork so that your daughter has the factual knowledge she needs for the entrance assessments. Condensing her work by writing out key facts in a notebook will help make this feel manageable. 
• Encourage your daughter to read widely, as this is the best way for her to develop her vocabulary and reading comprehension skills, as well as her spelling, punctuation and grammar. Also, it is a fun and relaxing way to learn.
• Play games together that will enhance your daughter’s reasoning skills, such as chess and draughts.
• Engage your daughter in discussions so that she gets used to expressing her opinions and can talk confidently, which will prove useful for her interview. 
• Promote a growth mindset, which is the belief that our abilities are not set in stone but can be improved if we are prepared to work. Praise your daughter for all her efforts and teach her that mistakes are an opportunity for growth and learning.  
• Use our online Quest practice tests to ensure your daughter knows what to expect in the online assessment. She can practise using the online interface and become accustomed to the types of questions she will have to answer, the format of the test and the timings. As she works through the tests, she will get better at answering questions quickly and accurately, building her confidence. 

We have our recommended resources in the section below.

St Mary’s School, Cambridge: 11 Plus (11+)/Year 7 Entrance Exam Resources

Our St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 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 and Non-Verbal Reasoning and Creative Comprehension, 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 Mary’s School Cambridge Practice Test 1

11+ St Mary’s School Cambridge Practice Test 2

11+ St Mary’s School Cambridge Practice Test 3

11+ St Mary’s School Cambridge Practice Test 4

✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended resources for the St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 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 Mary’s Cambridge, Practice Tests Bundle - Save 20%

St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 11+ Skill Practice

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

11+ St Mary’s School Cambridge Mathematics

11+ St Mary’s School Cambridge Creative Comprehension Pack 1

11+ St Mary’s School Cambridge Creative Comprehension Pack 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.

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 daughter all the best in her entrance exam for admission to St Mary’s.

The information provided about St Mary’s 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.