Barnard Castle School 11 Plus (11+) Entrance Exam Information 2024
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Barnard Castle School is a co-educational independent day and boarding school, located in Barnard Castle, County Durham. It was founded in 1883 by John I de Balliol and the local industrialist Benjamin Flounders. Their goal was to create a school of ancient public school quality at a more reasonable cost, educating pupils regardless of their faith.
The school occupies 50-acre grounds in Teesdale, within the North Pennines. It became fully co-educational in 1993.
Barnard Castle’s ethos is centred on providing an outstanding educational experience for local girls and boys as well as children from all over the UK and the world. Fostering strong Christian values, the school encourages both girls and boys to learn to live and work together in an unpretentious, open and respectful atmosphere.
Barnard Castle provides a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes academic rigour and the wonder of discovery, whilst nurturing an aptitude for life-long learning. In Year 7, children study English, mathematics, French, biology, chemistry, physics and PSHE. The non-core subject include art, classics, computer science, design technology, geography, history, music, physical education and religious education.
Further development of confidence, integrity, resilience and teamwork is secured through pupils’ participation in a range of sports and a wealth of cultural and co-curricular activities.
All pupils in Year 7 follow a structured programme named Mind Body and Soul. The ‘Body’ activities are designed for each pupil to experience different sporting activities and skills. The ‘Mind’ activities include Chess, Creative Writing, Languages and Debating, whilst ‘Soul’ includes Pottery, Baking, Gardening and Drama.
Pupils at Barnard also take part in team practices, music ensembles and school plays/musicals and get to go on organised trips abroad to visit places like Italy, Greece, Germany, Iceland, Australia, South Africa, Samoa, New Zealand, Holland and Spain.
Barnard Castle School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Information 2024
Address: Newgate Barnard Castle County DL12 8UN
County: Durham
Admissions info: admissions@barneyschool.org.uk or +44 (0)1833 696030
School type: Independent co-ed day and boarding school
Number of students: 660 (approx.)
11+ Open day: June, October
11+ Exam date: January of Year 6
11+ Exam type / Board: School’s own
Open Events for Barnard Castle School 11 Plus (11+) Entry
The New Pupils’ Day is held in June, offering an opportunity for prospective pupils (across all year groups) to meet their peers and their Housemaster/Mistress. While your child spends the day in school, you can meet up with teaching staff and ask questions of interest.
Senior School Open Mornings are held in October, typically consisting of guided tours of premises and one-on-ones with senior members of staff. In addition to these events, you can arrange a personal visit at a time of mutual convenience, during which you will have the opportunity to meet the Head. You can view the school’s exact location on the map below:
Barnard Castle School 11 Plus (11+) Admissions
To proceed with the application, you will need to complete a registration form and pay the £75 registration fee. Copies of your child’s birth certificate and passport and their most recent school report will be requested.
Exams for entry into Year 7 take place in late January of the year of entry. Your child will sit a paper-based exam, assessing their skills across two areas of the curriculum.
The results of the entrance exams are confidential to the school. They help determine whether your child is able to access the curriculum and whether the school can meet their educational needs. Offers of places are usually sent within ten days of sitting the exams.
There is a range of important policy documents you should become familiar with prior to entry. These include policies on child protection, counter-bullying and cyber-bullying, the complaints procedure, and the rewards and sanctions procedures. The policies are available to download from the website.
Barnard Castle School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Format
The 11+ exam at Barnard Castle School consists of the following papers:
- English
- Mathematics
The English paper aims to examine your child’s comprehension and writing skills and thus consists of two parts: a comprehension and a writing exercise.
The maths exam tests pupils’ problem-solving and arithmetic skills. The paper will include questions on number, measurement, geometry, algebra and statistics.
Please see below for further details and recommendations on how to prepare for the Barnard Castle School 11+ entrance examinations.
How to Prepare for the Barnard Castle School 11 Plus (11+) Exam
One of the best ways to prepare your child for the Barnard Castle School 11+ entrance exam is to familiarise them with the types of questions and the format of the actual exam. You can achieve this with the use of our practice tests.
Consisting of thoroughly researched and up to date questions, our practice tests will help you identify the strong and weak areas in your child’s knowledge base, and thus remove unnecessary stress from the exam preparation process.
By getting used to answering questions quickly and under time pressure, your child will gain a significant advantage over other candidates who prefer a less structured approach towards preparation for a competitive Year 7 entrance exam.
We highly recommend that you make use of our practice tests in order to increase your child’s confidence ahead of exam day. They are available for immediate download, print and use after purchase.
Please see below our recommended packs to help you prepare your child for the Barnard Castle School 11+ entrance examinations.
Barnard Castle School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Practice Papers
NOTE: The following English and Mathematics practice tests are in standard format, which means that students need to write in their own answers rather than choose from a list of multiple-choice options. This matches the 11+ Exam format used by the school.
English
Make use of the following highly recommended packs in order to successfully prepare your child for the Barnard Castle School 11+ English paper. They help improve 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 11+ resources for the Barnard Castle School English exam at a large discount. Click the button below to learn more:
11+ 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.
Mathematics
We strongly suggest the use of the following packs to help develop your child’s skills within the examination context of the Barnard Castle School 11+ maths test:
Full Practice Tests
Skill Specific Practice
11+ Fractions, Decimals & Percentages
11+ Reflection, Rotation & Symmetry
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended 11+ resources for the Barnard Castle School mathematics exam at a large discount. Click the button below to learn more:
11+ Mathematics Bundle - Save 30%
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.
Our practice tests aim to show what sort of questions were included in Barnard Castle School 11+ exam past papers. The information provided about Barnard Castle 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 Barnard Castle School:
Click here to learn about Year 3 entry via the 7 Plus (7+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 4 entry via the 8 Plus (8+) Exam
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