Abingdon School 13+ scholarship examination for entry in September 2010
Summary of papers and Interviews
Dates for sitting papers and interviews are to be confirmed.
The papers and interviews listed below, except for Greek, are compulsory. Some candidates from certain preparatory schools, however, negotiate a dispensation from Latin.
Where a pupil has a special talent or interest which he would like to be taken into account in the award of a scholarship, such as the ability to speak a different language, we are always prepared to set an additional paper, or arrange for an extra interview, to assess his potential.
| General Paper (1hr 30 mins) |
Comprehension on a passage, plus one essay, selected from a wide range of titles. The Headmaster’s interview (20 mins) may make reference to the general paper, as well as including questions on a piece of poetry (which will be given to candidates shortly before the interview) and a piece of art. |
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| English (1hr 30 mins) |
Q1. Prose comprehension |
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| Mathematics (1hr 30 mins) | About seven questions, based on the extended common entrance syllabus (papers 2 and 4), and designed to test mathematical intuition and potential. | ||||||||
| Science (1hr 30 mins) |
All questions must be attempted, and there will be equal weighting between Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Based on the Common Entrance syllabus (national curriculum level 6). There will be a ten-minute science interview. |
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| Latin (1hr 30 mins) |
A. Unseen Translation |
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| French |
We are looking for candidates who show potential as linguists, who have a wide range of vocabulary, and who can manipulate the language they have learnt with imagination and confidence in any situation. Very good knowledge of Present, Future (all forms), Perfect and Imperfect tenses is essential. Candidates must be able to manipulate these tenses with confidence. Outline knowledge of the Pluperfect is desirable but not essential. Candidates will be expected to use articles, adjectives and pronouns with a high degree of accuracy and will be expected to make good use of a range of idioms such as être en train de, être sur le point de, depuis, après avoir, avant de, use of si, qui & que, negative expressions. |
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Humanities |
Each candidate answers questions from two of the three sections only. In each section, there is one compulsory question, and one essay selected from a wide range. The compulsory question in history and religious studies is a comprehension exercise; in geography it is a map question. Section A Geography |
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Greek |
A. Greek to English sentences In Greek, questions are in ascending order of difficulty and candidates are allowed to complete as much of the examination as they can, depending on how long they have been learning Greek. |
C J Burnand