St Paul's Girls' School

Entry points and who can apply

St Paul's Girls' School is an academically selective girls' day school in Hammersmith. The main way in is at 11+, into Year 7 (which the school calls the MIV). It has about 120 places at 11+ each year.

• 11+ (Year 7). For September 2027 entry. You apply online and pay a non-refundable registration fee of £265. The school may waive the fee if you are applying for a bursary-only place. The deadline is 9am on Friday 6 November 2026, and the school says late applications will not be accepted.
• Occasional places (Years 8, 9 and 10). These come up only when a student leaves, so there are not vacancies every year. Depending on the year group, your daughter may need to study at least two modern languages and Latin, or be willing to catch up on Latin before she joins. There is a registration of interest form on the school's website.

You send a copy of your daughter's passport (and visa, if she has one) with the form. The form is also where you ask to apply for a bursary or a music scholarship, and where you say if she needs access arrangements. The school will then contact you to discuss them.

Your daughter must live with a parent, within a 50-minute journey of the school each way. The school may decline an application if the journey looks unrealistic.

The assessment: what your daughter will sit

There are three stages, and each one decides who goes on to the next.

Stage 1: the ISEB Common Pre-Test (by Thursday 19 November 2026)

Every candidate takes the ISEB Common Pre-Test. The school describes it as a computer-based, time-limited adaptive assessment of academic potential. Its 11+ page says it covers verbal reasoning, mathematics and non-verbal reasoning. The school does not publish how long the test lasts.

Your daughter can sit it at an approved ISEB testing centre, at her own school if it is an ISEB centre, or at St Paul's on Monday 16 or Tuesday 17 November 2026. You will hear the outcome in late November. At that point the school also asks her current school for a confidential reference.

Stage 2: the school's own written papers (Saturday 5 December 2026)

Girls who get through Stage 1 sit three papers at the school: English, Mathematics and General Comprehension. There is no alternative date. The school publishes sample papers on its 11+ page, and the timings below come from those. The school says the format may change from year to year.

The school explains what each paper looks for:

• English. Some questions ask her to pick out information, and some ask what particular words and phrases suggest. Grammar, punctuation and sentence control count for more than spelling. There is no separate creative writing section. The school says there is no need to learn unusual or obscure words.
• Mathematics. The first section starts with straightforward sums, then problem solving. The second has multi-part questions that introduce a new idea. All topics are within the National Curriculum up to Key Stage 2. A wrong answer gets no credit unless working supports it.
• General Comprehension. This tests deduction, inference, organising information, spotting patterns and logic. The material could be visual, numerical or written. No prior knowledge is needed, though Key Stage 2 scientific enquiry skills may help with data.

What this means in practice

• Each stage is a filter. Not every girl who applies will sit the December papers, and not every girl who sits them will be interviewed.
• Sections are timed. In the sample papers the invigilator tells candidates when to move on to the next section.

Interview and the decision

Girls who do well in the written papers are invited back for an interview on Saturday 16 or Sunday 24 January 2027. The interview lasts about 20 minutes with one member of senior staff. The school says it is looking for creativity, engagement and the capacity for independent thought.

The school decides on all three stages together with the reference from your daughter's current school. Having a sister at the school does not guarantee a place. Decisions are emailed on Friday 12 February 2027. To accept, you reply by Tuesday 2 March 2027 and pay a deposit of half a term's fees. Bursary families pay a reduced deposit.

Help with fees: bursaries and scholarships

For 2026–27 the fee is £12,854 a term, including VAT and lunch. Bursaries are means-tested and range from 5% of the fee up to the full published fee. The school looks at income, property, savings and other assets. It says families with combined gross household income above £150,000 are unlikely to be considered. Owning your home does not rule you out. The bursary page also says applicants will normally have attended a state-maintained school, though it may make exceptions.

The 11+ bursary steps for September 2027 are:

1. Tick the bursary box on the application form by 9am on Friday 6 November 2026.
2. In mid-December you receive the bursary form, which is due in early January 2027.
3. Applications are reviewed after the exams and interview. You may have a home visit at the end of January or in early February 2027. The school says the visit is not part of the selection process.
4. If your daughter is offered a place, you hear about the bursary at the same time.

Full bursaries also cover extras such as travel, trips, textbooks and a laptop. Awards are reviewed each year.

There are no academic scholarships. At 11+ the only scholarships are for music, worth one instrumental or singing lesson a week (currently £975 a year). The minimum standard is Grade 5 with Distinction on the first instrument or voice, or Grade 4 with Distinction on some less common orchestral instruments. You submit a video by 12pm on Monday 23 November 2026. Shortlisted girls have a live audition on Wednesday 20 January 2027. Music exhibitions, which carry no money, may also be awarded.

How to prepare

The school says girls do not need to spend lots of time practising. It wants them to respond intuitively and enjoy the material. On its bursary page it also says that not every student is tutored before the 11+.

1. Read good fiction and talk about the words. The English paper asks what a writer's choice of word or phrase suggests.
2. Make Key Stage 2 arithmetic secure. The school says the first maths section is designed to check that fundamental arithmetic is in place, and calculators are not allowed.
3. Always show working. The school says a wrong answer earns nothing without working.
4. Try unfamiliar problems. The school says the second maths section tests the ability to take in new ideas and use them, and General Comprehension material could be visual, numerical or written.
5. Look at the sample papers. The school publishes sample papers; use them to see the format.
6. Sort the pre-test logistics early. Decide where she will sit the ISEB Pre-Test, so it is done by Thursday 19 November 2026.
7. For the interview, let her talk about what she enjoys. The school says it is looking for creativity, engagement and the capacity for independent thought.

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