Dollar Academy Entrance Test

PREP 1 TO PREP 3
You will be invited to bring your child for interview with Mrs Robertson or other members of the Prep School staff. This will normally take place in late January or early February.

PREP 4 AND 5
Entry is by similar interview and a short test, normally on the last Saturday in January each year (9.30am - 1.15pm). Boarders m ay be admitted to Prep 5 on the basis of a confidential report from their present schools.

JUNIOR I AND JUNIOR II
Entry is normally by the main Entrance Examination which takes place on the last Saturday in January each year (9.30am - 1.15pm). Arrangements are made for pupils who do not live locally to sit the Entrance Examination in their own schools. Pupils who become ten in the calendar year of their proposed entry to Junior I sit papers in English and Arithmetic and take a Verbal Reasoning Test. Pupils who become eleven take more advanced papers for entry into Junior II.

ADMISSIONS AT OTHER AGES
Pupils applying for entrance to Forms l and ll are generally asked to sit papers in English and Maths, and to take a Verbal Reasoning Test. Pupils for Form ll are also asked to sit a Modern Language Paper. For entrance to Forms lll, lV , V and Vl, pupils are assessed by public examination results, a report from the previous school, and, wherever possible, an interview.

FORM VI AWARDS
The Governors offer an award to those pupils entering Form VI who have obtained 5 or more A Band 1 passes in SQA Higher examinations at Dollar Academy.

The Governors have recommended that high standards be attached to these bursaries, and Dollar Academy pupils who have been awarded them will be re-assessed each year, as will their financial circumstances. The intention, is, however, to provide significant support to a number of boys and girls throughout their senior school careers.

If you would like your child to be considered now or in the future for entry to the Academy, please return the application for enrolment form to the Registrar, along with a registration fee of £20 . Cheques should be crossed and made payable to the Governors of Dollar Academy Trust.

ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONS
Although the examinations are not basically pass/fail examinations, they tell us which pupils are sufficiently able to benefit from a Dollar Academy education. The examinations are held on the last Saturday in January each year. Intending day pupils sit the examination at the school, along with prospective boarders who can reach us. Applicants who live at a distance often take the examination in their own schools. The pattern of the examination is indicated below.

Junior l, Junior ll (P6 and P7), Form l

(a) Mathematics

(b) English:
Reading Candidates are required to complete a “cloze” reading passage from which a reading age will be established.
Writing We ask pupils to produce a piece of creative writing on a subject which will allow them to display their ability to handle language competently and accurately, using an appropriate and interesting range of vocabulary.

(c) Verbal Reasoning Test

JUNIOR II AND FORM I
The level expected in the English paper and the standard of the m athematical questions and of the i nterpretation are , of course , higher.

FORM II
Pupils take papers in Mathematics and English and a third appropriate subject, along with a Verbal Reasoning Test.

FORMS III, IV, V AND VI
Pupils are judged by school report and, where possible, by interview.

Children who are successful in the entrance tests and other assessment procedures will be placed in a suitable year group, and, where relevant, in the most appropriate teaching sets. Much time is spent on making such decisions, and parents are asked to respect the professional experience of those undertaking the assessment.