Old Palace of John Whitgift School 8 Plus (8+) Entrance Exam Information – Key Details
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Table of Contents
NOTE: This school has now closed.
Introduction
Basic information: Old Palace of John Whitgift School is a selective independent school for girls in Croydon. Founded in 1889, it occupies Old Palace, a Grade I listed building. [1]
Curriculum: The Prep School curriculum is broad and balanced, providing pupils with a deep understanding of the core subjects English, mathematics and science. Additional teaching provision is available for humanities, art, computing, drama, DT, music and PE, allowing children to benefit from a cross-curricular educational approach and hence apply their knowledge in different contexts.
Co-curricular: The school offers a plethora of clubs, maximising the learning experience through fun and engaging activities. These include photography, orchestra, cookery, tennis, ballet and chess, with new clubs being introduced on a regular basis, whenever there is a demand. [2]
ISI Inspection report: The school’s most recent ISI report characterises pupils as confident learners who demonstrate excellent levels of knowledge and use sophisticated vocabulary. The PSHE programme facilitates their understanding about their duties as citizens of a global society and encourages them to develop respect for diversity. [3]
The Old Palace ethos is centred on ensuring girls’ success at the highest level through staff’s full involvement in overcoming any difficulties they may be facing in the process. The school’s environment has a family-like feel, allowing children to connect with peers and the local community through projects and volunteering, and thus building their communication and teamwork skills alongside their sense of compassion.
Old Palace of John Whitgift School 8 Plus (8+) Exam Information
Address: Melville Avenue, South Croydon CR2 7YN
County: Surrey
Admissions info: admissions@oldpalace.croydon.sch.uk or 020 8688 3863
School type: Independent, day school for girls
Open days: In the Spring and Autumn terms
Open Events for Old Palace School 8 Plus (8+) Entry
Old Palace School typically hosts Open Events in the Spring and Autumn terms, allowing parents and their daughters to explore the school’s grounds, briefly attend lessons and meet members of the teaching staff. Please click here to book your spot.
Old Palace School 8 Plus (8+) Admissions
In the first stage of the admissions process, you are advised to reach out to the Registrar to discuss availability of places. Following your visit to the school during Open Events, you should apply for a place in order for your daughter to be considered for the 8+ assessments. The fee of £100 is non-refundable.
The school will then reach out to schedule the examinations and interview with the Head of Prep. You will be notified of your daughter’s results within two weeks of the assessment. If she’s offered a place, you will be asked to secure it with a payment of a £800 deposit, refunded during her last term at the school.
Old Palace School 8 Plus (8+) Scholarships and Bursaries
Scholarships and bursaries are not available to 8+ applicants.
Old Palace School 8 Plus (8+) Exam Format
The Old Palace School 8 Plus (8+) exam consists of the following assessments:
- English
- Mathematics
- Reasoning
The English exam examines comprehension and writing skills, including inference, punctuation and spelling. Marks will be awarded for good use of imagination, creativity, form, purpose, organisation, cohesion and sentence structure.
The Maths exam assesses problem-solving abilities and arithmetic skills, including your child’s knowledge of times tables.
The Verbal Reasoning section of the exam is designed to test and assess logical thinking, use of English language and vocabulary.
The Non-Verbal Reasoning exam measures the ability to understand, interpret and problem-solve, testing logic and intelligence rather than knowledge.
Please see below for further details and recommendations on how to prepare for the Old Palace School 8 Plus entrance examination.
How to Prepare for the Old Palace School 8 Plus (8+) Entrance Assessment
To prepare your daughter successfully for the Old Palace 8+ entrance exam, we suggest that you make use of our targeted resources. Our practice tests enable familiarisation with the types of questions and the format of the actual exam, which will help your daughter gain confidence in the lead up to the big day.
With the use of our practice tests, you will be able to precisely identify your daughter’s strengths and weaknesses, which will guide you in devising a carefully thought-out revision plan that focuses on studying ‘little and often’.
Moreover, our practice tests will help your daughter get used to answering questions quickly and under time pressure.
The majority of our 8+ resources are accompanied by detailed step-by-step video tutorials for every question. These are available for free with all purchases. It’s like having a world-class tutor explain each question to your child at no extra cost!
Our practice tests are used successfully every year by tens of thousands of students targeting schools with a competitive entrance exam. They are age-appropriate, reflecting the demands of the actual exam.
Our recommendations to help your child prepare for the Old Palace School 8 Plus entrance exam can be found below.
Old Palace School 8 Plus (8+) Exam Practice Papers
Recommendations for each section of the Old Palace School 8 Plus exam can be found below:
English
We highly recommend the following packs to prepare successfully for the Old Palace School 8 Plus English assessment. They will help improve your child’s comprehension and writing skills:
Full Practice Tests
Comprehension Skills
8+ English: Comprehension Pack 1
8+ English: Vocabulary and Grammar
The Complete Guide to 8+ Comprehension
Writing Skills
The Complete Guide to 8+ Writing
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 highly recommend the use of the following packs to help develop your child’s arithmetic and problem-solving skills within the examination context of the Old Palace School 8 Plus maths test:
Full Practice Tests
Targeted Skill Development
8+ Mathematics: Mental Arithmetic
8+ Mathematics: Problem Solving
Reasoning
The following packs will significantly boost your child’s Reasoning abilities ahead of the Old Palace School 8 Plus Reasoning test:
Listening
The following pack is ideal for developing listening skills ahead of the Old Palace School 8 Plus entrance exam:
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Our practice tests aim to show what sort of questions were included in Old Palace School 8+ past papers. The information provided about Old Palace 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 Old Palace of John Whitgift School:
Click here to learn about Year 1 entry via the 5 Plus (5+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 3 entry via the 7 Plus (7+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 6 entry via the 10 Plus (10+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 7 entry via the 11 Plus (11+) Exam
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