St Paul's School Admissions Tutors
Specialist preparation for one of London's most academically selective schools
St Paul’s attracts boys with exceptionally strong academic profiles.
The 13+ process is deliberately multi-stage. A candidate must first perform strongly enough in the ISEB and school-reference stage to progress to written examinations, and then strongly enough again to reach interview.
This makes it particularly important to identify weak areas early.
How does St Paul's 13+ admission work?
Stage One: ISEB
Candidates complete the ISEB Common Pre-Test in Year 6.
St Paul’s also asks the pupil’s Head Teacher for a report covering academic strengths, character and interests.
Stage Two: St Paul's written examinations
Selected boys then attend St Paul’s for further written assessment.
The current papers include:
Mathematics – 75 minutes
and
English – 45 minutes.
Stage Three: Interview
Candidates performing well in the written assessments are then invited to interview.
St Paul’s explains that interviews explore areas including:
- numeracy;
- critical analysis of source material;
- co-curricular interests; and
- general conversation.
That makes the interview partly academic and partly personal.
Preparing for the St Paul's Mathematics paper
For mathematically able pupils, the temptation is often to race ahead.
That is not always the best strategy.
We first look for:
- accuracy;
- fluency;
- reasoning;
- ability to organise working;
- resilience on unfamiliar problems.
A difficult question is useful because it tells us something about the pupil.
Do they guess?
Freeze?
Abandon the problem?
Or start identifying what they already know?
That problem-solving behaviour is trainable.
St Paul's English entrance preparation
We place emphasis on:
- perceptive reading;
- inference;
- vocabulary in context;
- analysis;
- evidence;
- clear writing;
- precision;
- responding to unfamiliar texts.
Strong English preparation should encourage a pupil to notice things.
Why has the writer chosen that word?
What changes if the sentence is read another way?
What evidence actually supports that interpretation?
That is far more useful than memorising “impressive” phrases.
How do you prepare for a St Paul's interview?
Because St Paul’s may explore numeracy and source material within interview, preparation should not be limited to ordinary questions such as “Why do you want to come here?”
Our tutors can present pupils with:
- a chart;
- a short text;
- a numerical puzzle;
- a picture;
- a proposition;
- an unfamiliar claim.
The pupil then has to analyse it in real time.
We encourage boys to slow down enough to think.
There is no prize for answering before the interviewer has finished asking the question.
St Paul's 16+ preparation
Only a relatively small number of boys join St Paul’s externally in Year 12 each year.
Applicants need to show that they are ready for the academically ambitious Sixth Form environment.
At this age, generic entrance tutoring becomes much less useful.
Preparation should be aligned to the student’s intended Sixth Form subjects and academic strengths.
Our tutors can provide subject-specific extension alongside entrance assessment and interview preparation.
Is St Paul's right for my son?
St Paul’s is likely to appeal particularly to a boy who is:
- very academically able;
- intellectually curious;
- comfortable in a high-achieving peer group;
- independently motivated;
- interested in opportunities beyond the classroom;
- happy with a London-school environment.
Parents sometimes focus heavily on whether their son could gain a place.
The more useful question is whether he would enjoy the pace and culture once he gets there.
A pupil should not spend years preparing for a school whose day-to-day environment does not suit him.
St Paul's Admissions FAQs
Yes. ISEB is the first stage of the 13+ selection process.
Selected candidates currently sit a 75-minute Mathematics paper and a 45-minute English paper.
Yes. Strong performers in the written assessments progress to interview.
The School states that interviews explore numeracy, critical analysis of source material, co-curricular interests and general conversation.