Common Entrance Exam

Common Entrance Examinations (commonly known as CE) are taken by independent school pupils in the UK as part of the admissions process for academically selective secondary schools at age 13 or 11. They are set by the Independent Schools Examinations Board. Most of the secondary schools that use Common Entrance for admission are public schools; most of the schools that routinely prepare their pupils for Common Entrance are preparatory schools. Both kinds of schools are normally fee-paying, that is, they are particular kinds of independent schools. The name comes from the fact that, unlike many other selective secondary schools which each set their own entrance examinations, the secondary schools concerned agree to use a common set of examination papers. However, the marking of the scripts and all other aspects of the admissions process is still done independently by each secondary school.

The Independent Schools Examinations Board or ISEB offers examinations for pupils transferring from junior to independent senior school at the ages of 11+ and 13+ in the United Kingdom. The main examination is Common Entrance, established in 1904.

At 11+, Common Entrance consists of two English examinations, as well as an examination each in Mathematics and Science.

At 13+, Common Entrance consists of examinations in Mathematics (three papers: a (listening) mental mathematics paper, plus written non-calculator and calculator) English (two papers), Latin, Classical Greek, Geography, History, Religious Studies, plus either Physics, Chemistry and Biology OR Science. In addition, there are a choice of four modern languages: French, German, Mandarin, Spanish, which are assessed via written, spoken and listening papers.

In some 13+ subjects, a Level 1 (foundation, aimed at those who would score under 40% on Level 2) or Level 2 (harder, more knowledge required) paper is required; these subjects are French, English, Spanish, Mandarin and Science (Level 1 candidates sit a single Science paper, Level 2 three separate papers). In addition, in Latin and Mathematics, Levels 1, 2 and 3 are offered. Level 3 is a higher level, requiring more knowledge and skills than Level 2. All other subjects consist only of one level.

A still higher level 13+ scheme called Common Academic Scholarship, is designed for scholarship candidates, and single Scholarship papers are set in each of Mathematics, Geography, English, French, Science, History, Religious Studies and Latin. Scholarship candidates do not sit the Common Entrance papers, only Common Academic Scholarships (CASE). The syllabus for Common Academic Scholarship is identical to that of CE, except in Latin, where the required knowledge goes beyond Level 3. The papers, however, should be more challenging than the normal papers.

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