St Teresa's Effingham 11 plus guide

Are you thinking about applying to St Teresa's School, Effingham 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 Teresa's School, Effingham

• School type: girls' independent school (day and boarding)
• Location: Effingham, Surrey
• Admissions contact: a.charles@effinghamschools.org
• 11+ exam: ISEB Common Pre-Tests and creative writing
• Financial assistance: means-tested bursaries
• Scholarships: academic, art, music, performing arts and sport (including equestrian and tennis)

Important dates for 2027 entry

• Saturday 10th October 2026: registration deadline
• Friday 6th November 2026: ISEB Common Pre-Tests sat at St Teresa's, for candidates whose current school is unable to invigilate
• Thursday 12th November 2026: Experience Day, including a creative writing task
• Saturday 14th November 2026: online interviews
• Friday 20th November 2026: final deadline for completing the ISEB Common Pre-Tests
• Week commencing Monday 30th November 2026: offers of places made

How to apply to St Teresa's School, Effingham

St Teresa's is selective. This means that your child will need to sit an entrance test to be eligible for a place.

You must register your child for Year 7 entry by creating a parent account and completing an online registration form, along with paying a non-refundable registration fee. Registration for 2027 entry closes on 10th October 2026.

St Teresa's uses the ISEB Common Pre-Tests, an age-standardised online assessment used by many independent senior schools, alongside a creative writing task completed on an Experience Day at the school.

Most candidates sit the ISEB Common Pre-Tests at their current school during the first term of Year 6. If your child's school is unable to invigilate the tests, they can sit them at St Teresa's instead. All tests must be completed by the school's final deadline in November.

Your child will also attend an Experience Day at St Teresa's, where they'll complete a short creative writing task and take part in activities alongside current pupils. Interviews take place online shortly afterwards.

Offers of places are made towards the end of November.

What will my child be tested on?

The St Teresa's 11+ assessment is made up of two parts: the ISEB Common Pre-Tests and a creative writing task.

Part 1: ISEB Common Pre-Tests

The ISEB Common Pre-Tests are online, multiple-choice assessments used by a wide range of independent senior schools. They're designed to identify potential as well as attainment, so no special preparation is required. The tests assess:

• English (40 minutes)
• Maths (40 minutes)
• Non-verbal reasoning (30 minutes)
• Verbal reasoning (25 minutes)

Part 2: Creative writing

The second part is a short creative writing task, completed during your child's Experience Day at the school alongside other activities.

How are places decided?

Places at St Teresa's are decided using a combination of factors, including:

• performance in the ISEB Common Pre-Tests
• the creative writing task
• the online interview
• a reference from the headteacher at your child's current school

Offers are made during the week commencing 30th November 2026.

Financial information

St Teresa's School, Effingham is a fee paying school. Take a look at the school website for a full breakdown of fees per year group and for boarding students.

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

Scholarships are awarded for a child's talent or achievement. While many schools focus on academic excellence, some offer awards in music, sport, drama, art, or other specialist areas.

Scholarships often come with a small fee reduction and acknowledge your child's talents, motivating them and boosting their confidence. Some schools automatically consider all applicants, while others may request an additional application, assessment or audition.

Visit St Teresa'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 and sometimes extras like uniforms, lunches or school trips.

Families provide financial information to qualify, and awards are reassessed each year. For many families, bursaries make an excellent education possible that might otherwise seem out of reach.

Visit St Teresa'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, so 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 to 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 to 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.