What is the 13+ Common Entrance Exam?

The 13+ Common Entrance (CE) is a pre-GCSE/IGCSE exam for students in year 8 and 9.

Core subjects:

● English
● Maths
● Science
● Plus, optional additional subjects.

Length of 13+ CE exam:

● Papers are between 40-90 minutes depending on the subject.

Exam information:

English

There are two exam papers for the 13+ English exam and both have a reading and a writing section.

Paper 1

● Section A - Reading: An unseen passage of literary prose from a novel, play, (auto)biography or travel piece followed by questions which test understanding, analysis, and evaluation.
● Section B - Writing: A choice of five non-fiction essay titles to write about and demonstrate ability to write for a practical purpose.

Paper 2

● Section A - Reading: Candidates are given an unseen poem followed by a series of questions to test their poetic technique and personal response.
● Section B - Writing: Candidates are required to write an imaginative or descriptive response to one essay title from a choice of four.

Maths

There are three exam papers:

● A calculator paper.
● A non-calculator paper.
● A mental arithmetic paper.

Science

A choice between:

● One exam with combined Chemistry, Biology and Physics (Lower level).
● Three separate exams (triple) for Chemistry, Biology and Physics (Higher level).

Source and additional information:

https://www.iseb.co.uk/assessments/common-entrance/at-13-for-schools/