Put your hand up if you find the whole process of choosing the right secondary school for your child at the very least, stressful and at most, completely daunting and overwhelming.

There is so much local knowledge out there – firstly from the schools themselves who give detailed accounts of what you and your precious one have to do to gain access to their hallowed grounds.

Then there is the information you glean from other parents ‘at the gate’ – sometimes helpful but often wildly inaccurate and peppered with liberal red herrings so that you don’t apply to the same school as they want!

We aim to take the stress out of making this choice by providing you with firstly, the most recent admission statistics from the schools themselves, secondly, entrance tests criteria which may be 11plus or 11plus style and music aptitude developed in house by the individual school and thirdly blah blah blah. The tests consist of English, Maths and non verbal reasoning.

St Edwards College Liverpool

St Edwards School is a large, over-subscribed voluntary- aided school set in Sandfield Park in West Derby. It is a religious school and is based firmly in it’s Catholic tradition with strong connections to the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

How many children do St Edwards take in Y7?

In September 2018, St Edwards will take 150 pupils.  30 of these pupils will gain a place based on their musical aptitude which is demonstrated in the Musical Aptitude Test. A maximum of 15 choristers from the Metropolitan Cathedral are also included in this total of ‘music places’.

The remaining 120 faith places will go to baptised children in line with LA requirements (i.e. looked after children and children with SEN are taken first) then siblings and other baptised children next.

What is this Musical Aptitude Test?

The Musical Aptitude Test takes place in the late September before the year of entry, when your child is in Y6. There is one test for three schools: King David High School, Archbishop Blanch High School, and St Edwards. The test is about your child’s musical aptitude and not about what grade they have achieved in his / her instrument.

What does OFSTED say about St Edwards?

St Edward’s provides its pupils with an outstanding, all-round education. It, successfully, fosters an ethos that matches its aim to ‘provide a broad and challenging education …in which individuals are encouraged to fulfil their own potential, value the talents
of others and live life to the full’.