Dame Alice Owen’s School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Information

Introduction

Dame Alice Owen’s School is a partially selective, co-educational secondary school with academy status. Located in the Hertfordshire town of Potters Bar, it was founded in Islington as a boys’ school in 1613. The school gradually expanded and a girls’ school was built in 1886 before the two merged in 1973.

Dame Alice Owen’s is  one of the UK’s highest-performing schools. It regularly produces excellent exam results at both GCSE and A-Level. The school also offers pupils an array of extracurricular activities, including music, sport and drama.

11 Plus Exam Information for Dame Alice Owen’s School

Address: Dame Alice Owen’s School, Dugdale Hill Lane, Potters Bar EN6 2DU

County: Hertfordshire

Admissions Info: admissions@damealiceowens.herts.sch.uk, 01707 643441

School Type: Co-educational, partially selective

Number of pupils: 1,466 (approx.)

Number of Places in Year 7: 200

Open Day Date: July

Exam Date: September

Exam Board Type: GL Assessment and set by school

Dame Alice Owen’s School 11 Plus Admissions

This article is relevant for those aiming for entry to the school based on the Academic Criterion. The school also offers an entry point via the Music criterion, which is not discussed here.

Admission to the school is determined by pupil performance in the 11 Plus exam. Prospective students and their parents are actively encouraged to attend one of the school’s Open Events before applying for a place. At the events, parents can learn more about the admissions process and have an opportunity to tour the school and speak to staff and current pupils.

Dame Alice Owen’s School is often oversubscribed for places, so the school uses the following criteria for places, giving priority to:

• Looked After, or previously Looked After children
• 22 children whose permanent home address is closest to the school at the date of application
• Children who have a sibling attending the school at the date of application
• Children demonstrating musical aptitude (up to 10 places)
• Up to 65 children selected by academic ability
• Children with a parent who is a member of staff at the school
• Children whose permanent home address is closest to the School

Read the full admissions policy for Dame Alice Owen’s School here.

Dame Alice Owen’s School 11 Plus Exam Format

The 11 Plus exam takes place in September in the academic year prior to admission. The test is broken up into two parts, taken on two separate dates in September.

Part 1

• Verbal Reasoning – This consists of a Verbal Reasoning paper in the GL Assessment format.
• English – One-hour comprehension paper in standard format and extended writing.

Part 2

• Mathematics – One-hour paper consisting of 50 questions in standard format

How to Prepare for the Dame Alice Owen’s School 11 Plus Exam?

We understand that the 11+ exam can cause some students anxiety; however, we have plenty of practice resources to help pupils prepare for the test. Students should start their revision plan early and include online practice papers to help identify any weaker areas that require additional work before the exam.

Practice Exam Papers for the Dame Alice Owen’s School 11 Plus Exam

To give students the best possible chance of gaining one of Dame Alice Owens’ 200 places in Year 7, we would recommend using the following practice papers, broken down by section:

Verbal Reasoning

The Verbal Reasoning test is created by GL, so the following resources will prove useful as they cover all the known question types, including the more recent ones which you won’t find in many other 11+ publications:

Full Practice Tests

• 11+ Verbal Reasoning – Grammar Schools – (Pack 1)
• 11+ Verbal Reasoning – Grammar Schools – (Pack 2)
• 11+ Verbal Reasoning – Grammar Schools – (Pack 3)
• 11+ Verbal Reasoning – Grammar Schools – (Pack 4)

English

The Dame Alice Owens’ English test is very similar to that of an independent school, standard format exam covering comprehension and composition. As such, we recommend the following packs to help prepare for this:

Comprehension

• 11+ English – Standard Format – (Pack 1)
• 11+ English – Standard Format – (Pack 2)
• 11+ English – Standard Format – (Pack 3)
• 11+ English – Standard Format – (Pack 4)
• 11+ English – Complete Comprehension Guide
• 11+ English – Reading Workbook

Writing

• 11+ English – Complete Writing Guide
• 11+ English – Writing Prompts
• 11+ English – Spelling – (Pack 1)
• 11+ English – Spelling – (Pack 2)

Mathematics

The Dame Alice Owens’ Mathematics test is very similar to that of an independent school, standard format exam. As such, we recommend the following packs to help prepare for this:

Full Practice Tests

• 11+ Mathematics – Standard Format – (Pack 1)
• 11+ Mathematics – Standard Format – (Pack 2)
• 11+ Mathematics – Standard Format – (Pack 3)
• 11+ Mathematics – Standard Format – (Pack 4)

Skill specific practice

• 11+ Problem Solving – Standard Format
• 11+ Mental Arithmetic – Standard Format

Why do some of the recommendations above show me independent school papers?

The main difference between independent and grammar school papers is the question format. Independent schools usually assess with standard format questions, which means students need to write out full answers. Grammar schools usually use multiple-choice format questions.

Whilst Dame Alice Owen’s School is a grammar school, they actually use the independent school (standard) format for some of their exams, which is why they are included in the recommendations above.

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Our practice tests aim to show what sort of questions were included in Dame Alice Owen’s School 11+ past papers. The information provided about Dame Alice Owen’s 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.