Hand holding through 13+ scholarships?

[MarmiteAndButter]

Anyone else going through this?

DD is sitting for one and only one. She has never studied common entrance, has never done French or Latin and will be heavily jet lagged on the days of the exams.

She ought to be absolutely fine. She is seriously bright, at the top of her year group at an academic selective school abroad. And the school is obviously aware she won't have done the same syllabus. But, but, but...

The school have said she can do German instead, but she's only been doing that for 16 months 🙄

She is also sitting extended maths.

Anyone else going through this and would like mutual hand holding?

[Drinkstoomuchcoffee]

How academic is the school? Are you looking at boarding or day?
Is she just sitting the scholarship papers to get a firm offer of a place and avoid CE? Or do you need a scholarship plus bursary for her to attend the school?
If boarding and if she does not need a bursary, she will not have any problems if she is in top sets at school abroad. Only caveat would be if you were going for a highly selective school eg Wycombe Abbey.
London day schools more competitive though but am assuming you are boarding.
Loads of students have no Latin at 11 or 13. Many have no MFL - so she will be fine with 16 months of German. The MFL bar is not set high in the UK!
Scholarships are not worth much these days. Really just honorary.
Lots of hype about how selective UK boarding schools are. It is just not true. If your DC are not daft and you can pay they will be queueing up for her!

[Michaelahpurple]

I am not sure I agree about mfl. My DS is sitting 13+ scholarship (for an all boys' school) and I find the expectation for French somewhat staggering. Admittedly my French isn't strong but some of the papers seem wantonly obscure.

He isn't really in the running to get one which makes judging how hard to push him or nag him tricky. I want him to do his best and not be defeatist, but equally am a bit reluctant to see him slog utterly heroically when the outcome can only be "well done, you don't need to do CE " albeit he will learn a lot

Hey ho

[Ahwoo]

I think its best to talk to the school and ask them realistically what would be required. As alluded to by the posters above, different schools will vary in their standards & requirements.

If the school has posted past papers on the internet you should definitely have DC do a couple of them first, mark them yourself (if possible) and go back to the school in question and ask if your DDs scores are sufficient.

When is your DD sitting her papers? How much time does she have to prepare for this?

Good luck

[MarmiteAndButter]

Thank you 😀
I'd just like some mutual hand holding! I do think she'll be fine and I act completely nonchalant around her (and then can't believe it as surely she's still my baby who had two imaginary friends and couldn't skip in ballet class...)
Yes, it for boarding, and no bursary needed. It is more for the privilege of having one which would give her greater academic opportunities when there.
We did talk to her about sitting for a very academic school, and she spoke to a few. Wycombe did not appeal to her at all though.
She has fallen in love with a coed Midlands school family friends go to and a particular boarding house (the one most suited to her actually). It's not a strongly academic school but she says she'd rather have an all round education and try hard for herself rather than be pushed all the time and feel pressure. We have never used a tutor.
CE is outdated 😬 I wish it would become more than just talk at conferences and actually be overhauled (we work in the education sector).
Michael when are your son's exams? Is he nervous about them?

[MarmiteAndButter]

ahwoo she'll fly to the uk after half term, but she is taking high grade ballet exams here and so can only go for the days set.

[Pepperpot69]

My DS has just done pre-test and passed (phew!!) so CE is just a case of going through the motions, but yes it is a stressful time but worth it when you come out the other end.
It sounds like she is bright enough for you not to have to worry and the school will take into account that she is not from a UK prep!
Good luck. Pm me if you want to chat!

[Pythonesque]

I've a daughter doing this; although she's at prep I think only a couple in her class are sitting for academic scholarships and it's been very hard to know how she's really doing. Luckily we have a confirmed place and a provisional bursary offer that made it clear that it will be a top-up once scholarships are determined, which takes the pressure off completely. Just haven't worked out if she will have to sit CE papers next term with her classmates or not (sounds like her school hasn't decided either ...).

If the school you are looking at is like the one we are going for, the extra opportunities targetted at scholarship holders are also extended to others deemed likely to benefit, so I'd hope that your daughter would be encouraged to do more regardless of what they end up offering her at this point.

Good luck going through the process, hope it works out well for you and her.

[Michaelahpurple]

His exams are looming up at the end of April. I suspect he spending a touch too much time getting excited about slacking off for the summer term....