30 TESTS
FOR ENTRY AT SECONDARY 1 (11 - 12yrs)
Entrance in to Independent Senior Schools is usually a written examination, often combined with an interview.
Each Independent School has its own admission policy and entrance procedures, some schools use National Standard Tests, while others have developed their own. The exam is often made up of English, Maths and one that tests reasoning. It is often a good idea to let your child know what to expect.
Here are some examples – provided by George Hawkins (MBE), the Director of Step Ahead Tutoring – of the kind of questions which many of the Independent Schools use within their entrance tests.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS MATHS
Mental: 1. Write in figures: eight million, five hundred and eighty thousand, three hundred and twelve
2. Divide 5 by 1000 3. How many metres are there in 0.8 of 1km?
Mechanical: 4. 4896 + 760 + 93504 + 28 = 5. 253.05 - 84.218 = 6. 13 3/4 + 2 2/5 = 7. Complete and total the following bill: a) 17 1/2 litres at 2p per litre = b) 70kg at 7kg for 5p = c) 100 trees at £2.96 for 10 =
Problem: 8. To help a charity, a girl bought wool for £3.60. Out of this she made 15 little dolls. She sold the dolls for 35p each. a) How much did each doll cost to make? b) How much profit did she make on each doll? c) If she sold all the dolls, how much clear profit could she send to charity?
ENGLISH
1. Comprehension may involve reading a passage of text and answering in sentences the questions: For example: One chilly, blustery morning in March, I cannot tell exactly how many springs later, Hazel was dozing and waking in his burrow. He has spent a good deal of time there lately, for he felt the cold and could not seem to smell or run so well as in days gone by. He had been dreaming in a confused way - something about rain and elder bloom - when he woke to realise that there was a rabbit lying quietly beside him - no doubt some young buck who had come to ask his advice. The sentry in the run outside should not really have let him in without asking first. Never mind, thought Hazel. He raised his head and said, “Do you want to talk to me?”
1. Who do you think Hazel is? 2. How do you know he was getting old? 3. What had the sentry failed to do?
2. Essays Recently, schools have been asking candidates to continue the story having been given an introductory sentence or paragraph. For example: “They were walking through the woods when they saw something shining brightly on the ground........”
Equally, candidates may be given a list of titles, which tend to be based on personal experience or creative writing, from which to choose one to write about: • Describe a special day or time in your life. • Write about an achievement of yours. • The day we got a pet. • It wisnae me! Write about a time when you were wrongly accused. Explain the circumstances and your thoughts and feelings.
3. Insert suitable words into the spaces: In China, a bicycle has usually been one of the wedding ______a groom gives his bride! Bicycles are used for local travel such as going to ______ or to work. Millions jam the streets of cities and many cyclists die in road_______ because they swerve in and out of traffic. To encourage people to use old,_______ public buses, Beijing, China’s capital, has banned bikes from busy _______ between 7.00am and 8.00am. They’re also removing protective _________ or trees which separate car lanes from bicycles. Guangzhou has banned ________ over 15 years old and motorcycles from its city centre.
MATHS ANSWERS
1. 8,580,312 2. 0.005 3. 800 4. 99,188 5. 168.832 6. 16 3/20 (16.15) 7. a. 0.35p b. 0.50p c. £29.60, total £30.45 8. a. 24p b. 11p c. £1.65
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