academic ability for eton

[drkag]

HI,

My son, who is only 6 currently, has decided that he wants to go to eton. Combination of reading young james bond and a friend's father. He is at a local prep school in SHeffield but we are by no means financially at the level of Eton. I am also wondering about the academic standards. He is bright, currently reading age 11+ and on a recent assessment by ed psych, due to problems at previous school, his IQ was recoreded as 158. I saw on here a sugegstion fo doing some bond assessment appers and for his age he finds these very easy.

I don;t want him getting his hopes up, do you think he would stand a reasonable chance of getting in. He also loves sport, and is on the LTA tennis performance program as well as playing rugby and cricket plus learning the trumpet so he is a good all rounder.

Thanks in advance

[adeucalione]

I don't know anything about Eton but an IQ of 158 puts him in the top 0.01% of the population - I can't imagine that wouldn't be good enough!

[titchy]

And will you be teaching him magic when he decides he'd rather go to Hogwarts?

[drkag]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that but yes he's read Harry potter and he knows it's not hogwarts!

[titchy]

What I mean is he's 6. His academic ability is irrelevant. You say 'oh yes wouldn't that be exciting' whenever he tells you anything about his future. You don't try and work out whether its feasible or not and then tutor or adjust expectations accordingly.

[MerryMarigold]

I agree with titchy. You are the parent here. You need to decide what future you'd like for him, particularly at the age of 6. If you really want to go for Eton, then you go for it, and let him know it may not happen. Life is about having a go and failing sometimes. Sometimes you have a go and succeed. Not a bad lesson for anyone to learn. If indeed you decide (as I would) that Eton would not produce the kind of child who I want to be my child, then say "how exciting" and let him forget all about it by the time he is 6 and a half.

[Mendi]

At age 6 my son told me he wanted to go to Imperial. My response was a fairly generic "that's nice, you'd better work hard and get top marks in all your exams then" - subject then left there. It's all very well encouraging your (obviously very able) child to have a goal, but isn't it sensible to keep the goals a bit shorter term at age 6? Eton is very competitive to get into and even some very bright boys do not get in if they aren't "right" (be it on a personal/social skills level, or whatever). It would be awfully hard to be one of those kids if you had spent half your life planning to go to Eton. I would just encourage your DS to be/do his best in all he does for now, and look at schools in another 3 years or so, by which time you will be in a much better position to assess whether a school would suit his particular character. It's not all about the kudos and a 6 year old isn't equipped to make major life decisions for himself.

[IndridCold]

You certainly have to be bright to get into Eton, and your DS sounds s though that side of it will not be a problem, but there is more to it than that.

This article explains pretty well what they are looking for, which is not only brains, but 'something else to bring to the party'.

Although there is still quite a bit of time to go there is no harm in starting to think about it now. Don't be at all put off by the financial side of things (many of my son's friends there are on bursaries), or by negative comments.

If I were you I would be devoting more time and attention now to your DS's extra-curricular interests rather than trying to hot-house him too much academically. Music, sport, circus skills; it doesn't really matter what it is so long as he genuinely enjoys it and has the potential to become quite good at it!

[difficultpickle]

What are his reasons for wanting to go to Eton? Is it simply because it is the only senior school he has heard of? Ds told me when he was 8 that he was planning to go to Eton or Winchester or possibly Radley. Reason - he knows boys who either have gone or are going there. He knows quite a lot about one because geographically his school is close to it. He won't be the one deciding which senior school he goes to as that is my job.

[SingingSands]

I'd start saving right away, it costs £30k a year.

[Ragwort]

I can't imagine anywhere where a 6 year old 'decides' that he would like to go to Eton .

[YoniFoolsAndHorses]

Which prep school? Have they ever had a child go to Eton before?

[Ladymuck]

Can't help on the academic side, but you son shouldn't start playing trumpet until he has his adult front teeth. I'd have thought that 6 is early for this?

[drkag]

Thanks everyone.

In reverse order, yes he has adult front teeth re the trumpet.

With regards to who chooses his school; we chose his first one and it was a disaster, he was involved in the second and he is thriving. If,after considering all options, he chooses eton when he is older I will support him. Yes, I have told him we will discuss it properly when he is older but he is an incredibly focused, determined young thing.

Why eton? His school has sent boys there, the prime minister went there, books etc that's why.

I personally don't want him to go to boarding school yet so will leave him at his current prep and of course I foster all his interests.,

Thanks again

[IndridCold]

It was a pleasure !

[peteneras]

James Bond aka 007 certainly went to Eton (as least in fiction) and his creator, Ian Fleming went there in fact. Good to see a real life James Bond in the making as I think your son has all the attributes that Eton is looking for, i.e. intelligence, sportsmanship, forward thinking and a spirit of adventure. No doubt, reading all that James Bond novels has influenced him and made him ?decide he wants to go to Eton?.

You should have absolutely no worries at all about his academic standard for Eton. With an official IQ of 158 (no matter under which scale), not only is your son good enough for Eton, but he is also good enough for registration as a member of the prestigious British Mensa - the High IQ Society.

It is important to attend a prep school with a good track record of sending boys to Eton. With his high IQ, it is certainly within his capabilities of winning a King?s Scholarship at the age of 13 (some distance to go yet) given the right guidance by the right prep school, e.g. Summer Fields, Papplewick, Westminster Under School, Dragon School etc. It is certainly not too early to think about Eton; once upon a time, some parents were doing exactly that - on the day their son was born by registering with the School straight away! But I think you?re sensible enough to navigate this difficult path wisely and ?not getting his hopes up? unnecessarily.

[morethanpotatoprints]

OMG, trumpet at 6, the teachers I know don't advise brass or woodwind until at least 9.
I don't know anything about Eton, but OP you are kidding if you think your ds wants to go because of something he's seen.
Our dd wants to be a famous singer/ musician and has done since she was about 2. Now if she does do this and stick with it, we are under no illusions that it came from her culture and not herself to begin with.
Your ds may be happy to have tuition for a particular school but this is coming from you and you need to step back and look at how YOUR behaviour and attitude could impact on him, both positively and negatively. You sound as though it is you who is pushing for Eton btw, especially with the IQ testing, thats not a crime but you need to acknowledge this. I don't know a parent who has had IQ tests even my dds friend who is way beyond years in Maths.

[MrsSalvoMontalbano]

Don't know if they still run it, but they used to have a scheme where children in state schools could take the Entrance exam at 11, and if offered a place, Eton would fund two years at a local (eg Sheffield etc) prep school, and the child would then go to Eton at 13 with fees paid. A local boy did this about 4 years ago.

[MrsSalvoMontalbano]

And re academic ability - at our local prep the boys who don't make it through to the linked public school often go to Eton instead

[Greythorne]

Trumpet is not recommended before 9-10 as it's not only about adult teeth but also jaw muscles and lips.

A decent music teacher should be offering guidance.

[peteneras]

That was called the Junior Scholarship. It?s now replaced with the New Foundation Scholarship since 2009. But the NFS is aimed at boys from the state sector - ?for at least years 6, 7 and 8 of their schooling up to age 13?. OP?s son is at prep school which makes the King?s Scholarship more viable.

[IndridCold]

There is quite a lot of financial help available from Eton with fees, I know several families who pay what they can afford and have a bursary to pay the balance.

[britishsummer]

OP, obviously your son has huge potential and Eton as a fantastic school must seem as a natural way to aim high with his potential, however ,even by putting off boarding until 13 Sheffield is a long way away from Eton. You have to be very aware of what that would imply for your family life and future relationship with your son. I have nothing against boarding school but would always want to be not more than an hour and half away. I accept that some families are prepared to make greater sacrfices for a sought after education and you may be one of them.

[Talkinpeace]

my oldest would have done great at eton - but she does not have a willie

[curlew]

My oldest would have done great at Eton, but doesn't have a willie, 30K a year or the air of effortless superiority that Etonians all appear to have which means they can only mix with other Etonians for fear of being strangled.

[MrsSalvoMontalbano]

curlew not sure why you make that statement? We know lots of old Etonians, as well as numerous other people, and the school per se is irrelevant... People are all different and you cannot categorise simply by school...