Admissions Update

Children who want to come to Princethorpe College, the Foundation's senior school, sit an entrance examination, mainly at 11, and at other ages as space allows. A significant number also join us for Sixth Form at age 16.

We welcome children of all faiths and backgrounds, from our Foundation prep schools, Crackley Hall and Crescent School, and many other state and independent primary schools from around a radius of about thirty miles.

Competition for places is high, as are standards, but the school also looks for young people who will contribute to the wider life of the school.

Our Registrar, Mrs Catherine Rogers and Assistant Registrar, Miss Georgia Newborough, will be pleased to talk you through the admissions process; contact them at admissions@princethorpe.co.uk or call 01926 634201/297.

Click here to download our 2025 Admissions and Entrance Examinations Booklet (Years 7 to 10)

Click here to download the Princethorpe College Information Booklet for 2024-25. (LINK TO BE UPDATED)

Entrance Examinations Day

Entrance Examinations for all age groups (except Sixth Form) will take place on Saturday 9 November 2024 from 9.30am to 4.00pm.

All candidates must be registered before sitting the entrance examinations. Registrations, bursary and scholarship applications must be received by the deadline of Friday 27 September 2024 to allow us time to process the registration and contact schools for references.

The scholarships available range from Art and Performing Arts (Choral, Drama, Music, Musical Theatre including Dance) to Sport. All children who sit the entrance exams are automatically considered for an academic scholarship, and no separate application form is required. In addition, exceptional candidates who are both academically able and gifted and talented across a number of areas may be considered for an All-Rounder Scholarship, which would be awarded at the discretion of the Headmaster. No separate application form is required for an All-Rounder Scholarship.

Additional Needs and Access Arrangements

Children with a special educational need or disability (SEND) will be considered for access arrangements in the Entrance Examinations. Any access arrangements granted will be based on the child’s normal way of working in their current educational environment, for which evidence will be required.

Following receipt of a registration form from any candidate with a learning need, the registration form and all supporting documents (including for example, Personal Learning Plan/Pupil Passport/One Page Profile (PLP), Individualised Education Plan (IEP), Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), Educational Psychologist Report, SEND Specialist Assessment Report, Autism Diagnosis Report, Medical Report or Therapist Report) will be reviewed by a panel of experts from our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Team.

The panel will decide upon any appropriate access arrangements for the Entrance Exams based on the evidence provided and the candidate’s normal way of working.

In more complex cases or if the panel has specific questions a meeting with one of our SEND Team will be arranged by the Registrars. Please ensure the Registrars receive your registration in good time, to enable this important review to take place.

Parents will be notified prior to the Entrance Examinations Day of the nature of any access arrangements granted or reasonable adjustments to be made.

Online Registrations

Our registration form can be found online, and you are able to pay the £75 non-refundable registration fee at the same time as completing the form. You can also upload completed scholarship forms at the same time should you wish to do so. To start your registration and to view and download all our scholarship forms please click here.

On The Day

Candidates are requested to report to the college for 9.30am and entry to the building will be from no earlier than 9.00am. Candidates should wear comfortable casual clothes and should bring a pen, two pencils and an eraser. Year 7 candidates must not bring a ruler. Years 8-10 candidates should also bring a ruler. Candidates for Years 9 and 10 (13+ and 14+) should bring a calculator and protractor. 

Candidates sit papers in English and Maths and for those looking at Year 9 and 10 a language paper.  The papers vary in length from 45 minutes to 1 hour. All candidates for Year 7-9 entry also sit a 50 minute online assessment which includes Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Numerical Reasoning, appropriate to their age and year of entry. Year 10 candidates will take a paper reasoning assessment. More information is available under the relevant age group information. 

The online assessment is provided by Durham University’s Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM). The test is designed to enable all children to demonstrate their academic potential without the need for excessive preparation.

For more information on the online assessment please visit the CEM website at:

https://plus.cem.org/cemselectfam/

(If you experience difficulties opening this link please try Internet Explorer.)

There are no practice papers available for the online assessment. CEM advises parents that children can best prepare for their online assessment by learning to work quietly on their own, completing homework set by their school, and by reading and making sure they understand all the words in any books they read. Children should also, wherever possible, be encouraged to try to solve problems by looking things up for themselves. Children should be familiar with using a keyboard and a mouse including the ability to click, drag and slide with a mouse.

A copy of a past English paper is included in the prospectus pack. We do not provide Mathematics practice papers.

A range of resources are available online from www.bond11plus.co.uk.

The following may also prove helpful:

• Bond How to do 11+ Verbal Reasoning published by Oxford University Press (ISBN 978-0192776204)

• Bond How to do 11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning published by Oxford University Press (ISBN 978-0192776181)

• Bond How to do 11+ Maths published by Oxford University Press (ISBN 978-0192776167)

They can be ordered online. Alternatively you can access .....

For more information visit the Entrance Examinations Day section on our website.

Please contact the Registrars if you have any queries or concerns.

After the Entrance Examinations are marked, the Admissions Panel sits to discuss applications. The Panel will take into consideration the Entrance Examinations results, confidential references from feeder schools and for those with a SEND, feedback from the specialist panel.

Those entering Years 8, 9 and 10 will also have their personal interviews considered.

Offers Made

Exam results will be posted, first class, on Thursday 28 November 2024. No information will be available beforehand.

For those offered a place, confirmation of acceptance with £400 deposit is then required to secure the place by Monday 9 December 2024 (for those entering Years 8, 9 and 10) and Tuesday 4 March 2025 for Year 7. This deposit is refunded after the end of the final term which the pupil spends at Princethorpe.

As per our Terms and Conditions; on receipt of your deposit and the signed Confirmation of Acceptance you enter into a legally binding agreement with the School. You are therefore advised to read the Terms and Conditions before signing the Confirmation of Acceptance.

Once you have confirmed your acceptance of a place and sent your £400 deposit you will receive an acknowledgement and a receipt.  Joining details will then be sent to you. (This will be during the Easter holidays for Year 7 applicants). These include details of Term Dates, Induction, the School Day, Medical Questionnaire, Uniform, Buses, Catering, Locker Keys, Stationery, Parents’ Evenings and the Parent Teacher Association.