St Catherine's School Twickenham 11 plus guide

Are you thinking about applying to St Catherine's School for 11+ entry? Find out everything you need to know about the admissions process and how to prepare for the entrance exam.

Key information for St Catherine's School

• School type: Catholic independent day school for girls
• Location: Twickenham, South West London
• Admissions contact: admissions@stcatherineschool.co.uk
• 11+ exam: school-set English and Maths papers
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries
• Scholarships: academic, art, drama, music and sport

Important dates for 2027 entry

• Wednesday 11th November 2026: application deadline
• Check the school's website for confirmed dates: interview with the Head (held during the Autumn Term, after your application is received)
• Saturday 28th November 2026: entrance exam (English and Maths)
• First week of December 2026 (with some continuing into early January 2027): scholarship auditions and assessments
• February 2027: offers emailed to parents

How to apply to St Catherine's School

St Catherine's School is selective. Girls already in St Catherine's Prep have an automatic place in Year 7, but if you're applying from outside the school, your child will need to take an entrance exam to be considered for a place.

You must register your child via the school website by Wednesday 11th November 2026. A non-refundable registration fee applies.

Once you've registered, an interview with the Head is arranged, taking place during the Autumn Term. This is followed by the entrance exam in late November.

What will my child be tested on?

Year 6 girls sit two one-hour papers, set by the school: English and Maths. The papers are designed to bring out each candidate's skills and potential, regardless of how the curriculum has been taught at her current school, so there's no fixed pass mark to aim for.

English

The English paper looks for evidence of your daughter's creativity and writing skills, along with her command of punctuation and grammar.

Atom's guide to creative writing and reading comprehension can help her build confidence in both areas ahead of the exam.

Maths

The Maths paper assesses problem-solving ability and arithmetic skills, and may cover topics such as number, measurement, geometry, algebra and statistics.

How are places decided?

Every candidate is interviewed by the Head as part of the process. This is intentionally relaxed and doesn't include any assessment. It's a chance for the Head to get a sense of your daughter beyond her exam results, and for you to ask questions.

Places are offered based on:

• performance in the entrance exam
• a report and reference from your child's current school
• the interview with the Head

Offers are emailed to parents in February 2027.

Financial information

St Catherine's School is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school's website for a full breakdown of fees per year group.

Financial assistance

When exploring independent schools for your child, scholarships and bursaries are worth considering. They can ease the pressure of school fees and open doors to opportunities that might otherwise feel out of reach.

Scholarships

St Catherine's offers five scholarships for Year 7 entry: Academic, Art, Drama, Music and Sport. Each is worth 20% of tuition fees. Academic Scholarships are awarded based on entrance exam performance, reviewed by the Headmistress. Applications for Art, Drama, Music and Sport scholarships require a reference from your daughter's current teacher or coach, and candidates are invited to an audition or assessment, generally held in the first week of December, with some continuing into early January.

Visit St Catherine's School's website to see what scholarships are available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Your guide to independent school scholarships.

Bursaries

Bursaries are means-tested awards (based on a family's financial situation) designed to make independent education more accessible. Depending on your circumstances, a bursary could cover part or all of the school fees.

At St Catherine's, means-tested bursaries are available to Senior School families and are reassessed annually. Applications are made through the school's Online Bursary Portal and require full supporting documentation. For the September 2027 intake, applications close in November 2026.

Visit St Catherine's School's website to find out what bursaries are available and how to apply.

For more information, read: Bursaries: a parents' guide

How can I help my child prepare for the test?

Applying to senior school can feel like a big milestone, but preparation doesn't have to be overwhelming. Here's how you can help your child prepare for test day.

Stay on track with a clear plan

One of the hardest parts of exam preparation is knowing what to focus on, when, and how to make steady progress without it taking over family life.

A clear, structured plan helps your child feel less overwhelmed and more in control. It ensures they build skills in the right order, cover everything they need, and avoid last-minute cramming.

Atom's exam plan makes this easier. Enter your child's target schools and exam dates, and we'll create a personalised weekly plan tailored to the topics they'll be tested on. It shows them what to work on and when, adapts as they improve, and helps them build progress in a calm, manageable way, little and often.

That means less guesswork for you, less stress for them, and a clearer path all the way to exam day.

Build smart exam technique

As your child's knowledge grows, practice tests can help them feel more comfortable with the real exam format.

Atom's mock tests are exact replicas of real entrance exams. They're also unlimited, your child can take the same test repeatedly and see new questions each time. This helps them practise without repeating the same content.

Atom's mock tests are automatically marked. You'll see your child's standardised age score (SAS), where they're doing well, and what they should focus on next. You'll also learn how they compare to other children applying to the same school.

Encourage regular reading

Strong reading skills play a big role in preparation for entrance exams.

Encourage your child to read every day, even for just 10–15 minutes. The key is variety. Mix fiction and non-fiction, different genres, and a range of authors. This helps them become more confident in understanding tone, purpose, and meaning across different texts.

Over time, regular reading will:

• broaden their vocabulary
• improve comprehension and inference
• build confidence in tackling unseen texts

And just as importantly, it can help them enjoy reading, not just see it as exam preparation.

Looking for inspiration? Atom's reading and writing starter kit has suggestions spanning fiction and non-fiction for Years 3–6.

Celebrate progress, not just scores

When you're supporting your child through exam preparation, what really matters is knowing they're moving in the right direction, not just how they scored on a single test.

Atom's progress tracking gives you a clear, simple picture of how your child is doing in each topic and the direction they're moving in. You can see where they're on track, where they might need more practice, and spot progress as it happens.

That makes it easier to give meaningful encouragement, keep motivation steady, and focus on what matters most: consistent improvement, not just one-off results.