What You Need to Know:

13 Plus Exam (13+exam)

What is 13 Plus Exam (13+exam)?

The Grammar schools and independent schools have historically maintained rigorous selectivity, admitting primarily the most academically gifted students. The 13 Plus Exam (13+exam) is generally seen as a second opportunity to secure admission to a grammar school and is accessible in specific UK regions. Students can sit for the 13 Plus Exam (13+exam) in Year 7 or Year 8. Since it occurs after the 11 Plus Exam (11+exam), students benefiut from additional time for preparation and revising challenging topics. It's worth nothing that the 13 Plus Exam (13+exam) is not as widespread as the 11 Plus Exam (11+exam) and isn't universally accepted by all grammar or independent schools.

As the name implies, the 13 13 Plus Exam (13+exam) is typically taken at age 13, during Year 8, oftern reffered to as a late transfer test. Its purposes is to determine eligibility for entry into Year 9 at the school.

Unlike the 13 Plus Exam (13+exam), participation in the 13 Plus Exam (13+exam) necessitates registration with the school of your choice. Meanwhile 13 Plus Exam (13+exam) takers for entry to grammar schools are students who previously sttempted the 11 Plus Exam (11+exam) but didn't pass, students can ONLY choose either 11 plus exam (11+exam) or 13 plus exam (13+exam) entry for the same independent school.

Most 13 Plus Examw (13+exams) are administrated by the Independent School Examinations Board (ISEB) through the Common Entrance Exam...

Why are there both 11 Plus Exam (11+exam) and 13 Plus Exam (13+exam)?

The historical reason for the existance of both 11 plus exam (11+exam) entry and 13 plus exam (13+exam) entry is that people believe that girls grow mature earlier than boys, Therefore, girls can enter secondary schools earlier than boys. As a result, nowadays most girls' senior schools accept stduents starting at age 11 while boys' senior schools accpet boys at age13 or admit them to their lower schools at age 11.

Difference between: 11 Plus Exam (11+exam) and 13 Plus Exam (13+exam)?

The process of selecting the appropriate senior school and determining the optimal timing for your child to take entrance exams canb be intricate and overwhelming. If your child aims to transition to a state selective grammar school or is in a prep school that only goes up to age 11, the natural progression is to move on at the 11 plus (11+) stage. However, many independent schools now offer flexibility of entry at either Year 7 or Year 13, which requires you to make a choice regarding the entry point.

Schools vary widely in their chosen exam formats for both the 11 plus exam (11+exam) and 13 plus exam (13+exam). Some use computerized testing, and some employ multiple-choice papers while others prefer written exams. Schools with multiple stages in their selection process often use a combination of these formats. Consequently, both entry points assess a student's resilience and adaptability in addition to their academic abilities and potential. Both exam stages can be highly demanding and place considerable pressure on students.

Apart from the historical consideration for gender difference between the 11 plus exam (11+exam) and 13 plus exam (13+exam) entry, there is also difference in exam conponents. A student taking the 11 plus exam (11+exam) in Year 6 must complete papers in English, Maths, and Reasoning. On the other hand, the 13 plus exam (13+exam), typically taken in Year 8, covers a wider array of subjects compared to the 11 plus exam (11+exam). In addition to English, and Maths, students may opt to be examined in subjects such as history, geography, science, or a second modern language (many schools accept modern European language like French, Spanish, German, Latin or Greek; some schools also accept modern Asian language like Japanses, Chinese-Mandarin, Korean or Arabic).

What does 13 Plus Exam (13+exam) look like?

13 plus exam (13+exam) consists of Maths, English, Science and other Arts and Humanity subjects such as Geography, History, Religious Studies, and a modern European Language other than English. Some schools will even have Science Experiment exam to test on students' academic abilities in Science.

Maths:

For 13 plus exam (13+exam), students need to sit three papers in Maths: Calculator, Non-calculator and Mental Arithmetic. Just like other entrance exams, maths exam usually test on contents beyond the national curriculum. The Mental Arithmetic paper will be delivered via audio.

English:

The 13 plus exam (13+exam) English test is designed to assess students' reading, comprehension and writing skills. In order to show comprehension skills, students need to read a long passage and answer the following questions briefly, which also shows their ability to express their understandings and compose short passages. For the writing test, students need to write grammarly correct paragraphs while delivering their own creative ideas.

Science:

The 13 plus exam (13+exam) science test contains Chemistry, Biology and Physics, combined or separate.

Interview:

There will be several questions that come up in the 13 plus exam (13+exam) interview. Detailed questions might vary from different schools, but there are usually some topic categories that most schools prefer:

-Personal Questions: this is usually about student's hobbies, personal interests, and extracurricular activities. Through these questions, students can present their personality and confidence, which helps the school know more about the student quickly.

-Current Affairs and General Knowledge: this category usually serves as a way to gauge student's cirtical thinking skills and knowledge about the nowadays world. Students may find these questions challenging to answer, but it is an ideal opportunity to show their ability to analyze and structure a thoughtful response (especially in Point-Evidence-Explain structure).

-Academic Related Questions: These questions are used to test on student's understanding of the subjects, which may include verbal analysis of a passage or mental maths questions.

How to prepare for 13 Plus Exam (13+exam)?

13 plus exam (13+exam), as the entrance exam to senior school, requires student to behave well in their academic study and interview. They would look for students with excellent academic performance and interview performance.

For 13 plus exam (13+exam) Maths test, students need to have a good grasp of current year as well as more advanced maths knowledge. Students need to practice numerical and problem solving abilities. Therefore, it is better that students have regular practice.

For 13 plus exam (13+exam) English test, as the main focus should be around comprehension and story-writing skills, students can keep the habit of reading and applying solid techniques and vocabulary into their own creative writing. Students can also practice their logical progression of ideas, use of paragraphs, and powerful and attractive frist and last lines.

For 13 plus exam (13+exam) interviews, students can prepare some questions beforehand and follow up current hot topics. Parents or tutors can also lead the students to think more comprehensively in order to maintain an as complete as possible logic structure. Besides, learning about interview etiquette will also help student stay confident and polite during the interview process.

In order to make students more used to the 13 plus exam (13+exam) , students can also have several mock exams before the exam day.

Independent Schools with 13 Plus Exam (13+exam) entry:

• City of London School
• Royal Russel School
• King's College School
• Harrow School
• St. Paul's School
• Dulwich College
• James Allen Girls' School
• Westminster School
• Harrodian School

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