St. Olave's Year 7 Entrance Test

The PA organises Familiarisation Mock Tests at the school premises each year and also sells Sample Test Papers.

2024 Mock tests sessions will be held on 8th, 15th and 22nd June 2024.Online Bookings are now open.

Please note that the Mock Tests are organised exclusively by the St. Olave’s PA. Therefore, please direct any queries to the PA at olaves.mocktests@gmail.com and not to the School. We will not be able to provide any updates on queries made to the school. All updates are provided on this website.
Please visit the FAQ for more information.

Familiarisation Mock Tests for St. Olave’s SET (Selective Eligibility Test)

Each year, St. Olaves’ Parents’ Association organises familiarisation (mock) tests to give year 5 pupils the opportunity to practise the St. Olave’s Stage 1 Entrance Test (SET). The whole test experience is designed to be as similar to the actual SET as possible, both in terms of the school environment and the content of the test. We provide personalised information to parents/carers detailing their child’s performance and where their child places within the cohort. From this, parents/carers can identify any areas in which their child may benefit from further support.

Please visit the FAQ and Booking pages for more information and booking.

How are the sessions organised?

Pupils are taken through the process of:

arrival and organisation into groups;

being escorted into the examination hall;

seating arrangements, listening carefully to and understanding instructions;

how to fill in the multi-choice answer grid correctly;

expectations concerning behaviour.

Each session is the same length as the real SET.

What is the test like?

Our test has the same degree of difficulty as the St. Olave’s SET entrance paper. The format is identical, with four sections covering:

            English Comprehension         Mathematics         Verbal Reasoning         Non-verbal Reasoning

Pupils will have controlled amounts of time for each section, as in the real test. All papers will be collected in at the end of the mock test.

What happens afterwards?

We send results to the parent’s/carer’s registered email address about two weeks after the test. To give parents a very clear picture of their child’s performance in comparison to other potential grammar school applicants, we include the following:

whether their child attempted each question and if so, whether he or she answered correctly or incorrectly

their child’s percentage score for each section and in total

their child’s percentile ranking within the cohort taking the test that week, for each section and overall

similar percentile rankings within the same sex cohort taking the test that week

After all the mock tests have been run, we send a further email with similar percentile rankings showing their child’s performance compared to all the pupils who sat the test this year.

How much does the mock test cost?

£60

What if I can’t afford it?

Everyone should have the opportunity to gain admission to a Grammar school, regardless of financial circumstances. We therefore have a limited number of free places available to those who would otherwise be unable to afford the mock test. To apply for one of these, please write in confidence to the PA via email to: olaves.mocktests@gmail.com .

Is this test suitable for applicants to other selective schools?

As it is open to both boys and girls, and ‘within sex’ results are given, we believe this test—which we think is the most rigorous of the local ‘preparation’ tests—will be very helpful, regardless of which school you finally decide to apply to.