Common Entrance Examination

Common Entrance Examinations (commonly known as CE) are taken by some children in the UK as part of the admissions process for academically selective secondary schools at age 13 or 11. They are set by the Independent Schools Examinations Board. Most of the secondary schools that use Common Entrance for admission are public schools; most of the schools that routinely prepare their pupils for Common Entrance are preparatory schools. Both kinds of schools are normally fee-paying, that is, they are particular kinds of independent schools. The name comes from the fact that, unlike many other selective secondary schools which each set their own entrance examinations, the secondary schools concerned agree to use a common set of examination papers. However, the marking of the scripts and all other aspects of the admissions process is still done independently by each secondary school.