Oundle School — 13+ English Scholarship 2023
Oundle School set this 13+ English paper in 2023. Hearthprep hosts it as an interactive past paper — 10 questions worth 155 marks in 155 minutes, each marked the moment the paper is submitted and backed by a step-by-step worked solution. Most 13+ entrance exams are sat between November and January of the year of entry.
Real 13+ English paper from Oundle School (2023). 10 questions, 155 marks. Answer interactively with worked solutions. Covers Creative Writing, Poetry.
This is the school's own past paper, reproduced here with worked solutions by Hearthprep. Most 13+ entrance exams are sat between November and January of the year of entry, so a timed attempt at this paper is worth doing early enough to leave room for the topics it exposes. Work through it on screen with instant marking, or print the PDF and sit it under exam conditions.
- School
- Oundle School
- Entry level
- 13+
- Subject
- English
- Year
- 2023
- Questions
- 10
- Marks
- 155
- Time
- 155 minutes
- Exam board
- ISEB
Topics in this paper
- Creative Writing
- Poetry
Questions in this paper (3 of 10)
- Question 1written answer · 4 marks
SECTION A: COMPREHENSION (You should spend about 60 minutes on this section.) Both the poems below are set somewhere there is a lack of water. Read the poems carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 and 2 are about the first poem. Questions 3 and 4 are about the second poem. Question 5 invites you to consider both poems together. In all your answers we are looking to see…
- Question 2written answer · 5 marks
SECTION A: COMPREHENSION — On 'Burgos'. [Recap: R. S. Thomas's 'Burgos' is a single fourteen-line verse paragraph describing a harsh, parched Spanish landscape at dawn — 'the parched land... bitter with sage / And thistle' — where lonely bells call, 'sad priests' finger their beads for 'the lost people / Of the soil', slow donkeys carry silent men, and an eagle circles 'shadowless as the God / …
- Question 3written answer · 5 marks
SECTION A: COMPREHENSION — On 'Blessing'. Blessing The skin cracks like a pod. There never is enough water. Imagine the drip of it, the small splash, echo in a tin mug, the voice of a kindly god. Sometimes the sudden rush of fortune. The municipal pipe bursts, silver crashes to the ground and the flow has found a roar of tongues. From the huts, a congregation: every man woman child for streets …
7 further questions in this paper open with any paid plan, along with marking and the worked solutions. See plans.
Frequently asked questions
What is in the Oundle School — 13+ English Scholarship 2023?
10 questions worth 155 marks in total, written for 155 minutes. It covers Creative Writing, Poetry. Oundle School set it as a 13+ English paper.
How long is the Oundle School 13+ English paper?
This paper is timed at 155 minutes for 155 marks — roughly 60 seconds a mark. Hearthprep runs the same clock on screen, so your child sees how far through the time they are as they answer.
Can my child answer this paper online?
Yes. Every question on this page can be answered in the browser and is marked the moment the paper is submitted — multiple choice, short answers and written responses alike. Answers are matched leniently, so a correct value written a different way (units, fractions, word numbers) still scores.
Are worked solutions included?
Every question has a step-by-step worked solution and an AI tutor that will talk through it after the paper is submitted. The first 3 questions of this paper are free to try; the remaining 7 and the marking come with a paid plan.
Where does this Oundle School paper come from?
This is the school's own past paper, reproduced here with worked solutions by Hearthprep. Use it to time a full mock attempt, then drill whichever topics your child drops marks on.
Loading the interactive paper…