St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus (13+) Entrance Exam Information
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Table of Contents
Introduction
St Mary’s School, Cambridge, is an independent day and boarding school for girls located in close proximity to the University Botanic Gardens. With sports fields a short distance away, the school offers numerous opportunities for girls’ full development. Many additions, such as a STEM Learning lab and several sports facilities, are also in the making.
St Mary’s forward-looking approach towards education includes a rich curriculum, which comprises art, science, classical civilisation, computing, drama, English, food & nutrition, MFL, games & PE, geography, history, Latin, Mandarin Chinese, mathematics, music, PSHE, religious education and DT.
Furthermore, the school offers a broad extra-curricular programme of activities, through which girls engage in everything from athletics and yoga, to Model United Nations and Japanese.
In order to provide girls with an insight into their likely careers paths, St Mary’s maintains links with Specialist Further Education establishments and prestigious universities, as well as organisations which offer esteemed Apprenticeship programmes.
Its holistic approach encourages girls to explore their talents, affinities and passions, make informed choices and access the world of work with outstanding academic qualifications and personal traits, which inevitably lead to positive outcomes.
St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus (13+) Exam Information
Address: Bateman Street, Cambridge CB2 1LY
County: Cambridgeshire
Admissions info: admissions@stmaryscambridge.co.uk or +44 (0)1223 224 167
School type: Independent, day and boarding school for girls
Number of students: 650 (approx.)
Open day: In the Spring and Autumn Terms
13+ Exam date: January of Year 8
13+ Exam type / Board: Online test (CEM Select)
Open Events for St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus (13+) Entry
St Mary’s School welcomes families on Open Morning, taking place in the Spring and Autumn Terms. During the event, you will meet key staff members, including the pastoral team, and tour the school’s magnificent grounds.
To better familiarise your daughter with life at the school, St Mary’s organises Taster Days. Follow this link to book a spot.
St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus (13+) Admissions
Year 9 applicants must be registered in order to be considered for entry. Click here to access the registration form and pay the £75 fee.
The entrance exam takes place in the January preceding the September entry. There will also be an interview with a senior staff member and a current school report and/or reference will be requested.
The deadline for registrations is in the December of the year preceding entry. Offers of places must be accepted by the first Monday in March by paying a deposit, refundable once your daughter leaves the school.
St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus (13+) Scholarships and Bursaries
Scholarships are usually valued at 5% of day fees, but can cover up to 20% in exceptional circumstances. Scholarship application forms can be accessed online. The deadline for applications is in December of the year preceding entry.
Academic Scholarships are awarded to top-performing applicants in the entrance examination week, during which they will sit an essay-based paper lasting 30 minutes.
STEM Scholarships are awarded to applicants who excel during their three-minute presentation on an aspect of STEM which has inspired them. There will also be a test, assessing their thinking skills, and an interview with the STEM Co-ordinator and another member of the Senior Leadership Team.
Art Scholarship applicants will be expected to demonstrate exceptional artistic talent and creativity and will be evaluated on the basis of a portfolio and/or sketchbook of recent artwork. There will also be an interview with the Head of Art. Note that talent in various media and diversity of skill are a priority criterion to the school.
St Mary’s also awards Scholarships for Creative writing, Dance, Design & Enterprise, Drama, Music, Sports and Textiles.
The Mary Ward award is offered to applicants with particular interest in spirituality, religion, work for justice, charity, chaplaincy and community. Mary Ward scholars typically assist with liturgy (services) and assemblies, engage in the activities of the school’s charity committee, represent the school at events and take active part in charity fundraising.
Applicants for this award should submit a letter of application and attend an interview with the Director of Christian Life and the Chaplain.
Means-tested bursaries, awarded at the discretion of the Head, are reviewed annually with the expectation that they will decrease over time. In this way, more applicants can benefit from the school’s bursary fund.
Also, existing families who had suffered an unexpected hardship, will be prioritised over new applicants.
The value of bursaries ranges from 5% of tuition fees to 100%. To apply for a bursary, you should complete the relevant application form and include full details about income and assets. Click here for more details.
St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus (13+) Exam Format
The St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13+ exam consists of:
- An Online Test: CEM Select
- An English paper: Essay
The online test (CEM Select) assesses Verbal, Non-Verbal and Numerical Ability through a series of short, online modules.
Please see below for further details and recommendations on how to prepare for the St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13+ entrance examination.
How to Prepare for the St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus (13+) Exam
One of the best ways to prepare for a competitive entrance exam is to use our practice tests. Getting to know the types of questions and the format of the actual exam will help boost your daughter’s confidence.
Aside from becoming familiarised with the exam format, our practice tests will ensure that your daughter responds to the questions in an efficient and effective manner.
They also provide an excellent opportunity for her to practise working under time pressure. Whilst doing the tests under timed conditions, children can get used to answering questions quickly, with a close attention to detail.
Our 13+ practice tests are thoroughly researched and up to date. They are designed to reflect the demands of a competitive entrance exam and are successfully used by tens of thousands of students every year.
Our recommendations to help your child prepare for the St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 plus entrance examination can be found below.
St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus (13+) Exam Practice Papers
Recommendations for the St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13 Plus exam can be found below:
CEM Select
The following full practice online tests are specifically designed to help your child become familiar with the demands of the St Mary’s School CEM Select assessment:
Full Practice
✅ You can now purchase a bundle of all of our recommended full practice resources for the St Mary’s School CEM Select test 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 Mary’s School CEM Select assessment 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 Mary’s School CEM Select test 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%
Don’t forget to use the code ppdiscount at checkout to get 10% off orders over £80 and 20% off orders over £200 if you don’t buy a bundle.
Our practice tests aim to show what sort of questions were included in St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 13+ past papers. The information provided about St Mary’s School, Cambridge, 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 St Mary’s School, Cambridge:
Click here to learn about Year 3 entry via the 7 Plus (7+) Exam
Click here to learn about Year 7 entry via the 11 Plus (11+) Exam
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