Some children are ready to be assessed in a formal way at 6/7. Others are years away from it. KCS and CC take in older suitable bright children too - children (boys especially, I believe) shouldn't have to be pushed into applying at the earliest possible opportunity. I know boys who have joined Kings between the ages of 8 and 11 and have settled in very happily and very easily, but would not have been ready at 7.

I don't know much about this having been state educated but can't you wait until they are 15/16 to be assessed. E.g. GCSE.

I would imagine that assessing a child's potential at 6 is a bit hit and miss.

I also think the idea of forcing children down an academic route so young seems a bit mean...nicer to allow them to follow their own interests. Children are designed to learn and what they are taught seems slightly irrelevant.

I hadn't realised how good I was at maths until I was 12 and then there is so much still to learn, that being good at maths at 12 doesn't mean a lot.

Still managed to get a good degree from Cambridge though! (But not in maths, it was in engineering)

What do you think about the kings college pre-prep assessing boys too early. Are August born boys disadvantaged? Has anyone heard of prime tutors?

How do you assess for potential particularly if you use traditional maths and english comprehension exams? What does Colet Court use if it is not a standard set of exams however dressed up.

I have a 6 year old at one of the KCS owned pre preps and I think we have to be very clear here re what we mean by 'tutoring'. Do we mean mums doing a bit extra, or private tutors doing a bit of exam prep with them or full blown kumon maths and English from aged 3. All of the above are going on at our school with more than half the boys, head turns a blind eye and not interested in getting involved in the wider problem and boys being judged too early when they arrive in my opinion on whether they are CC/KCS material and personality. Very disolusioned by the whole thing. We have a very bright, sporty, outgoing Sept born boy, but think this method of getting them in at 7+ is too much too soon. Good luck!

It all depends on the child. I have a friend with a dd born the first week of September, very mature and able, she would have been much better born the week before and the youngest of the year. On hindsight I really wish I had made an effort to keep my August born DS down a year when he was five-however I don't know whether it would have been allowed and he did OK in the end.

MrsGofG, DS1 is 10 in Y6, DS2 7 in Y3 - both August birthdays.

NotanOtter, it is age weighted by month for the one local grammar school round here. However, the prep school tests are not as far as I can see strictly age weighted, though I'm sure they do make allowances. They're private schools, so they set their own criteria and thus pick the candidates who they have most confidence in, as Amey said earlier.

Apologies to the OP for the digression. I only know 1 child who got into one of the 2 schools mentioned at 7 or 8 without being tutored - but my sample is only about 10 boys, so not really that useful.

abbeya i do beg to differ

my august born is late august and has always worked hard in order to keep up. being naturally an able child - the two things combined benefited him academically
he scored highly (as high as he could ) at gcse and is now looking at top universities home and abroad..

i actually think his birth date benefitted him and iknow this goes against current thinking

re the age thing - isn't it weighted?

in our area it is weighted and the three of mine already in the grammar school are august /october/october

i was far happier with the august who 'won' a couple of points due to being a baby - than the october ones who were penalised a couple for being older

the august baby also learned to 'work' from a young age

autumn borns much more lazy due to walking into educaion at the 'top of their field'

my next two were born jan/feb which is perfect and the most recent one july again

sorry to digress

The forward planning works fine as long as you stay in England & Wales - the minute you go elsewhere the cut off dates change and your best laid plans to have a child with an age advantage can go to pot.