St. John’s School Leatherhead 11 Plus (11+) Entrance Exam Information 2024
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Table of Contents
Introduction
St. John’s School is a fully co-educational independent school for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school offers day, weekly and flexible boarding for approximately 715 pupils.
St. John’s School was founded in 1851 by a clergyman, Ashby Haslewood, who was vicar of St. Mark’s, Hamilton Terrace in St. John’s Wood. The purpose of establishing the school was to offer free education for the sons of poor clergymen, as well as to provide a choir for his large church.
St. John’s School encourages pupils to try things beyond their comfort zone by being courageous and aspirational in their approach to life. The school’s philosophy is based on the premise that each pupil has different talents and distinct qualities.
The school’s tendency is to nurture these talents by encouraging a love of learning and education in a broad sense. Under exceptional pastoral care, pupils are encouraged to try new things in a secure, safe and encouraging environment.
St. John’s is highly progressive, offering day, weekly or flexi boarding options to help families achieve the best possible balance between school, work and family life. The main core values are courtesy, respect and tolerance, instilled in pupils with the aim of preparing them for full participation in society after graduation.
The rich and broad curriculum includes the following subjects: English, biology, chemistry, physics, history, geography, religious studies, music, drama, computing design, art, etc. Almost all pupils study two modern foreign languages.
The stimulating, creative and innovative curriculum helps improve pupils’ ability to criticise assumptions and suggest alternatives. They are perpetually encouraged to improve their analytical skills in order to become better learners and leaders.
Learning at St. John’s is understood in a holistic manner. Rather than considering each subject individually, pupils are expected to draw comparisons between subjects and their various areas of study.
In short, St. John’s aims to provide a culture of innovative teaching and pupil-centred learning through practical use of technology across state-of-the-art facilities.
St. John’s School Leatherhead 11 Plus (11+) Exam Information 2024
Address: Epsom Road Leatherhead KT22 8SP
County: Surrey
Admissions info: admissions@stjohns.surrey.sch.uk or 01372 373 000
School type: Co-ed independent day school
Number of students: 715 (approx.)
Open day: March, April, May, June
11+ Exam date: January of Year 6
11+ Exam type / Board: School’s own + CEM Select
Pass mark (Papers): Aim for 75%+ in our paper-based practice tests.
Pass mark (Online CEM Select Test): Aim for 60%+ in our online practice tests.
St. John’s School 11 Plus (11+) Open Events
The school highly recommends that parents and their children attend the school’s open events. They provide an opportunity for families to meet a wide variety of staff members and to talk about the full breadth of activities on offer.
Whole School Open Days do not require booking. They take place in autumn and summer each year. During these events, the whole of the School is open and on show, and tours are given by current pupils, as well as talks by the Head and St. John’s pupils.
Discover events are held on a normal school day in the Old Chapel regularly throughout the year. They start in the morning following refreshments, after which visitors are shown around the school. The events end with a talk from The Head. You can view the school’s exact location on the map below:
St. John’s School Leatherhead 11 Plus (11+) Admissions
Parents are required to fill in a registration form and submit a non-refundable registration fee (£150). They will also be asked for a reference from the candidate’s current school.
The entrance examination is set in January and consists of an informal interview, papers and an online assessment. Offers are made in February, following a satisfactory report and strong results in the St John’s assessment.
Places must be accepted by a specific date early in March. The acceptance deposit amounts to £1,500.
St. John’s School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Format
The 11+ exam at St. John’s School consists of the following assessments:
- English paper
- Mathematics paper
- Online abilities test
Each student is allowed to spend 50 mins on the English paper. It contains a reading and writing section. The reading section is in a multiple-choice format, while the writing section measures the quality of the child’s writing, including the accuracy of spelling, grammar and punctuation.
The maths paper should also be completed in 50 minutes. It is in a standard format and calculators are not allowed.
The online abilities assessment is called CEM Select. It consists of various modules that test Verbal, Non-Verbal and Numerical Ability.
Please see below for further details and recommendations on how to prepare for the St. John’s School 11+ examination.
How to Prepare for St. John’s School 11 Plus (11+) Exam
Practice tests are an effective tool for preparation for the St. John’s School’s 11+ exam. With the help of our practice tests, designed and formatted to match the actual exams, your child will learn to deal with various 11+ exam question types quickly and confidently.
The benefits for your child are numerous: the tests provide focused practice and familiarity with a wide variety of possibilities and examples, serving as an indicator of any weaker areas that require additional work ahead of the exam. We suggest starting early with your revision so that you have plenty of time to identify subject areas that need additional work.
The practice tests are challenging, and preparing for the 11 Plus can sometimes feel overwhelming. But once a carefully thought-out revision plan is implemented, students should find the process a lot more manageable.
St. John’s School Leatherhead 11 Plus (11+) Exam Pass Marks and Target Scores
Pupils who are able to score 75%+ consistently in our practice papers should be on track to pass the written sections of the St. John’s School 11+ exam.
St. John’s School also use the online CEM Select assessment. CEM Select is a unique test, which is highly time pressured. Students are not expected to answer all the questions. To learn more about how to approach this test, please click here. In terms of pass marks, 60%+ is considered an excellent score and 50%+ is considered a very good score.
Whilst there are no guarantees, this has historically been a fairly strong indicator that your child should do well in the St. John’s School Leatherhead 11 Plus examinations.
Don’t worry if your child is not scoring well in our practice tests from the outset. With targeted practice and focus, it’s possible to make big improvements in a short amount of time!
St. John’s School 11 Plus (11+) Exam Practice Papers
English: multiple-choice comprehension + writing
For the successful completion of the St. John’s Leatherhead 11+ English paper, we highly recommend the following practice tests and guides:
Comprehension: Full Practice Tests
Technical English + Skill Specific Practice
Masterclasses
Writing
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended 11+ resources for the St. John’s 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: standard format
The St. John’s Leatherhead 11+ maths paper can be challenging. Our recommendations are as follows:
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 St. John’s School mathematics exam at a large discount. Click the button below to learn more:
11+ Mathematics Bundle - Save 30%
The following full practice online tests are specifically designed to help your child become familiar with the demands of the St. John’s School CEM Select assessment:
Full Practice
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended full practice resources for the St. John’s School CEM Select exam at a large discount. These are available on our other site, Pretest Plus. Click the button below to learn more:
CEM Select Practice Tests 1-10 Bundle - Save 30%
✅ Alternatively, you can choose a bundle of five of our recommended full practice tests for the St. John’s School CEM Select exam and still save 25%. Select the relevant bundle below to learn more:
CEM Select Practice Tests 1-5 Bundle - Save 25%
CEM Select Practice Tests 6-10 Bundle - Save 25%
The following resources consist of focused tests that allow students to target specific question formats that appear in CEM Select:
Skill Practice: Verbal Ability
CEM Select – Comprehension Pack 1
CEM Select – Comprehension Pack 2
CEM Select – Missing Words Pack 1
CEM Select – Missing Words Pack 2
CEM Select – Shuffled Sentences
CEM Select – Letter Connections
CEM Select – Multiple Meanings
Skill Practice: Non-Verbal Ability
Skill Practice: Numerical Ability
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended skill practice resources for the St. John’s School CEM Select exam at a large discount. These are available on our other site, Pretest Plus. Click the button below to learn more:
CEM Select Skill Practice Bundle - Save 30%
Interviews
This guide covers all the key concepts your child needs to be aware of for the 11+ Interview:
11+ Interviews – The Complete Guide
Why do some of the recommendations above show me grammar 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 St. John’s School is an independent school, they actually use the grammar school (multiple-choice) format for some of their exams, which is why they are included in the recommendations above.
Our practice tests aim to show what sort of questions were included in St. John’s School 11+ exam past papers. The information provided about St. John’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.
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