Know exactly where your child stands for St Columba's College
Thousands of practice questions and up to 6 mock papers, all in the exact St Columba's College 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 St Columba's College 11+ format, on one simple plan. It starts with a free diagnostic.
St Columba's College
St Columba's College is a co-educational independent Catholic day school in St Albans, Hertfordshire, offering Year 7 entry for boys and girls. The 11+ admissions process consists of a single-stage Quest Admissions exam followed by an interview stage. Annual fees for the Senior School are £9,270 per term for the 2026/27 academic year, which includes VAT.
St Columba's College suits the child who wants to be known by name rather than measured against the child next to them, and who settles faster somewhere calm than somewhere competitive. It is an independent Catholic day school in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on King Harry Lane, a short walk from the city centre, looking across at the cathedral. It takes boys and girls from four to eighteen. A child entering Year 7 in 2027 joins a fully co-educational year group; girls have been part of the 11+ intake since September 2022.
The school was founded in 1939 and has been in the care of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart since 1955, the only school in Britain belonging to that congregation. The three words it keeps returning to are courage, courtesy and compassion, and the phrase you hear most often from staff is that pupils should be 'known, valued and treasured'. Day to day that looks ordinary in the best way: house tutors who see their group twice a week, and inter-house competitions running from sport and public speaking to chess and baking.
The Good Schools Guide found pupils 'charming and without a smidgeon of arrogance', and they name pastoral care as 'the single best thing about the school'. Parents talk about children they thought 'might have struggled elsewhere' and who have not. The same review is honest that this is 'not the best place for the single-minded scholar or more alpha types', worth knowing before you apply. It suits a child who is willing to have a go at things, who would rather be encouraged than pushed, and who will be happier somewhere the adults notice when a Tuesday has gone badly.
Key facts
Annual fees
£9,270 per term for the Senior School (2026/27), including VAT (£7,725 tuition plus £1,545 VAT). Fees for 2027/28 not yet published.
Admissions
Admissions contact
admissions@stcolumbascollege.org
Admissions phone
01727 892040
Registration form
Sibling policy
What this school tests
Quest Online Admissions Assessment
English
- Grammar
- Punctuation
- Reading Comprehension - Comparison
- Reading Comprehension - Evaluation
- Reading Comprehension - Grammar and punctuation
- Reading Comprehension - Inference and Deduction
- Reading Comprehension - Information Retrieval
- Reading Comprehension - Language Techniques and Imagery
- Reading Comprehension - Sentence-level Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension - Sequencing
- Reading Comprehension - Structure, Form, Voice and Tone
- Reading Comprehension - Summarising
- Reading Comprehension - Text Classification and Purpose
- Reading Comprehension - Types of Words and Phrases
- Reading Comprehension - Word Meaning / Choice
- Spelling
- Vocabulary
Maths
- Algebra
- Angles and Degrees
- BIDMAS
- Coordinate Grids
- Estimation and Rounding
- Factors and Multiples
- Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
- Measurement
- Money
- Number and Place Value
- Operations
- Perimeter, Area and Volume
- Position and Direction
- Properties of Shapes
- Ratio and Proportion
- Reflection, Rotation and Symmetry
- Sequences
- Special Numbers
- Speed, Distance and Time
- Statistics
- Time
Non-verbal Reasoning
- Figure Analogies
- Figure Matrices
- Figure Series
- Grid Matrices
- Horizontal Codes
- Match to a Group of Figures
- Most Like Three Figures
- Odd Figure Out
- Odd Shaped Matrices
- Star Matrices
- Triangle Matrices
- Vertical Codes
Verbal Reasoning
- Alphabet Logic
- Anagrams
- Compound Words
- Embedded Words
- Form a Word
- Insert 2 / 3 Letters
- Insert a Letter
- Letter Analogies
- Letter Sequences
- Move 1 / 2 Letters
- Ordering Words
- Rhyming Synonyms
- Shuffled Sentences
- Synonyms
- Word / Logic Puzzles
- Word Analogies
- Word Completion
- Word Match
- Word Opposites
- Word Pairs
- Word Relationships
- Word Swap
- Words and Codes
Spatial Reasoning
- 2D Rotations
- 2D View of 3D Shape
- 3D Rotations
- Block Counting
- Building Blocks
- Combining Shapes
- Diagonal Reflections
- Figure Missing from Image
- Fold and Punch
- Folding Cubes
- Hidden Shapes
- Missing Face of Cube
- Nets of 3D Shapes
- Shape Completion
Catchment area
Selection review and safety net
Previous exam results
GCSE results
2025: 55% of results at grades 9-7, 36% at grades 8-9, 17% of all entries at grade 9, 98% at grades 9-4
A-level results
2025: 43% of grades at A*-A, 72% at A*-B, 91% at A*-C; 29% of students gained at least three A grades
Frequently asked questions
What exam board does St Columba's College use for the 11+?
St Columba's College uses the Quest Admissions exam board for its 11+ entrance assessment.
Does St Columba's College interview candidates as part of the 11+?
Yes, there is an interview stage as part of the 11+ admissions process at St Columba's College.
Is St Columba's College co-educational or single-sex?
St Columba's College is a fully co-educational school, welcoming both boys and girls into its Year 7 intake.
What are the school fees for St Columba's College?
For the 2026/27 academic year, Senior School fees are £9,270 per term, which includes £7,725 tuition and £1,545 VAT. Fees for 2027/28 have not yet been published.
What is the website for St Columba's College admissions?
You can find more details on the official admissions page at https://stcolumbascollege.org/admissions-process/.
Location
https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m14!1m8!1m3!1d24743.294843288935!2d-0.368871269989268!3d51.739391094989024!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x48763f142b7df6a7%3A0x930e3804a245d935!2sSt%20Columba's%20College!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sph!4v1787306633718!5m2!1sen!2sph
