St Clement Danes School 11 plus: 2024 entry guide

Are you considering St Clement Danes School for your child? We've collated everything you need to know about Year 7 entry in 2024. Keep reading to learn about the school application process in South West Hertfordshire and how to help your child excel in the 11 plus exam.

About St Clement Danes School

St Clement Danes School is a partially-selective secondary school for boys and girls aged 11 to 18 occupying a large site in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire. It was founded in 1862 by the churchwardens of St Clement Danes Parish in Aldwych, London and is a member of the Danes Educational Trust.

The school aims for all its students to grow into responsible and fulfilled adults with the skills, qualifications and confidence to shape their futures. Ofsted rated the school 'outstanding' and the Good Schools Guide called St Clement Danes students "articulate, confident, curious and happy". The school's exam results place it among the top 10 best state secondary schools in Hertfordshire.

• Address: St Clement Danes School, Chenies Road, Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, WD3 6EW

• Local authority: Hertfordshire County Council

• School type: mixed partially-selective school

• Headteacher: Toby Sutherland

• Number of pupils: 1,550+

• National rank (Sunday Times Parent Power): 132

• A level results: 79.4% A*–B

• GCSE results: 56.3% A*/A/9/8/7

Key info for Year 7 admissions

• Admissions contact: [email protected]

• Number of places in Year 7: 240 (of which up to 24 places are allocated based on academic ability)

• Open day date: TBC

• 11 plus registration opens: 11th April 2023

• 11 plus registration closes: 16th June 2023

• Exam date: 9th September 2023 (academic test)

• Exam type: SWH Consortium – GL Assessment

• Common application form (CAF) deadline: 31st October 2023

• National school offer day: 1st March 2024

How to apply to St Clement Danes School

If you would like your child to be considered for a place in Year 7 at St Clement Danes School, you will need to complete the common application form for your local authority.

If you would like your child to be considered for a place under the academic criterion, you will also need to register for them to take the academic ability test with the SW Herts Consortium. This group of grammar and partially-selective schools all administer the same academic tests, so if your child is applying for an academic place in any of the schools in the consortium, they will only need to take the academic tests once.

1. Register for the academic ability test

If you are thinking about registering your child for the academic criterion at St Clement Danes School, it's a good idea to speak to your child's teacher first to see if the 11 plus and a selective education is right for them. The 11 plus is a challenging exam, designed to select the children working within the top 25% of their year group.

You will need to register your child with the SW Herts Consortium between Tuesday 11th April 2023 and Friday 16th June 2023. You will then be notified of your child's test venue on Friday 7th July 2023.

2. Apply for a school place

You will be notified of your child's scores in the academic test via your parent portal on the SWH Consortium website on Wednesday 19th October 2023. You can use your child's results to decide whether to apply for a place at St Clement Danes School.

To apply for a school place, you will need to name Rickmansworth School on your common application form. You must complete the form for your home local authority:

• Buckinghamshire residents: Buckinghamshire Council

• Hertfordshire residents: Hertfordshire County Council

• London Borough of Barnet residents: Barnet Council

• London Borough of Enfield residents: Enfield Council

• London Borough of Harrow residents: Harrow Council

• London Borough of Hillingdon residents: Hillingdon Council

Before completing your common application form, make sure to check the school's oversubscription criteria first. In the likely event that more children achieve the qualifying score than there are places available, the school will need to apply oversubscription criteria to prioritise places.

The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2023.

What's the pass mark for St Clement Danes School?

Your child's scores in the academic ability test will be age-standardised to ensure that children born later in the school year aren't disadvantaged. Scores will then be combined to give a total score across both papers, which is then placed in rank order with all the other children who took the exam. The range for the combined score is between 140 and 272.

There is no minimum score required – the 24 children with the highest scores will be eligible for a place. However, in previous years the minimum score required for a place at St Clement Danes School under the academic criterion was 208 (2022), 213 (2021), 210 (2020) and 221 (2019). These figures may be useful as a guide when helping your child prepare for the test.

Achieving a particular score doesn't guarantee a place at the school, as it may be oversubscribed with qualified candidates. We always recommend researching the admission policies for your target schools and looking at their oversubscription criteria.

St Clement Danes School admissions criteria

St Clement Danes School is a popular school and is often oversubscribed. Children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan which names the school will automatically be admitted, and the number of available places will be reduced accordingly.

When the number of eligible children who have applied to the school exceeds the number of places available, places will be allocated to children who fall into the following categories in order of priority:

1. Looked after and previously looked after children

2. Children with a sibling at the school

3. Children with a parent permanently employed by the school

4. Up to 10% of places are reserved for children who pass the SW Herts musical aptitude test

5. Up to 10% of places are reserved for children who pass the SWH Herts academic ability test

6. Children living in WD3 postcodes

7. Children living in any other postcode

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