Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Downe House (Boarding) 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact Downe House (Boarding) 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
If your daughter is drawn to boarding and wants a busy community to throw herself into, Downe House is one of the best-known girls' schools to consider. It sits in 110 acres of Berkshire countryside at Cold Ash, near Newbury, rather than in a town, and almost all of its pupils board. Girls join at 11 and 13, with roughly three applicants for every place, so a place here is competitive but not impossibly so. The Good Schools Guide calls it a modern boarding school with all the traditional trimmings, an unstuffy place producing confident young women who are well equipped for whatever comes next.
The school was founded in 1907 by Olive Willis, who started it in the Kent house once lived in by Charles Darwin before moving it to Berkshire. She wanted a place that valued each girl as an individual rather than expecting them all to behave the same way, and that spirit still runs through it. Music is a particular strength, with over half the girls learning an instrument and every younger pupil singing in a choir, and sport runs deep, with lacrosse pitches and tennis courts across the grounds. The detail families remember most is the term that younger girls spend at the school's own house in the Dordogne, in the French countryside, learning the language where it is spoken.
Downe House suits a girl who will take to boarding and wants plenty to get involved in, in lessons and well beyond them. Led since 1997 by headmistress Emma McKendrick, whom parents describe as hands-on and not at all frightened of teenage girls, it is a warm, busy place that sends its leavers out sure of themselves.
Downe House uses the ISEB Pretest, along with its own independent assessments, for the 11+ entrance exam.
Yes, an interview stage is part of the 11+ entrance process at Downe House.
Downe House is a single-sex independent boarding school for girls.
The official website for Downe House is https://www.downehouse.net/.
Admission to Downe House at 11+ is competitive, with roughly three applicants for every place.
The Downe House 11+ entrance exam is a two-stage process, which includes the ISEB Pretest and an interview.
Yes. Downe House offers means-tested bursaries at all points of entry, including 11+ boarding. They are based on your family's circumstances and can cover up to the full fee, plus an allowance towards school extras, where the need is there. If you think you may need help, the school asks you to talk to them well before your daughter's entry date. Contact the Registrar, Miss Angela Nutt, for a confidential conversation.
Downe House offers Scholarships and Exhibitions to girls with exceptional potential in Academics, Music, Creative Arts, Performing Arts and Sport, available at 11+. Your daughter must be registered before sitting for an award, and she takes an assessment in the relevant area; no special preparation is needed. Scholarship awards do not carry fee reduction, but families can apply for help with fees through the separate bursary scheme.
For 11+ boarding, your daughter attends an Assessment Day at the school in the autumn term, a year before entry. The day mixes activities like drama, design technology and team-building workshops with a piece of creative or persuasive writing, an interview with the Headmistress, a tour and lunch with current girls. She also sits the ISEB Common Pre-Test at her own school. It is designed to be enjoyable, not just a test on paper.
