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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

WUS 7+ Interview

57 replies

MilansMum · 24/01/2013 14:22

Does anyone know what sort of questions are asked at the WUS 7+ interview? What level of books do they have to read to the Master? What type of lesson do they participate in? Any answers would be most gratefully received as I don't know anyone who has been through the interview process at any competitive school in the UK. Many thanks.

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Turniphead1 · 24/01/2013 21:08

Hi Milansmum. Congrats to your DS. I don't know much about the lesson - but in general it's not much you can prepare for. The questions though do centre quite a lot on why they want to go to WUS and whether they are up for Colet Court. They tend to be asked about hobbies and perhaps something cultural - about musicians and artists (I was told this today and my DS would have no view on such matters!). All I am going to do is remind him to shake hands firmly, and look the Master in the eye. Oh and not mention that he really doesn't want to go to the School ....
Good luck!

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posadas · 24/01/2013 22:12

The objective of the interview is to try to get to know the boys if your son's main interest is football, the questions will probably be about football; if his interests are cultural, the questions will probably be cultural ie the questions will be designed to try to explore the "depth" of interests, whatever those interests are. They're also designed to try to see how original the boys are, how they think about unusual or unexpected topics, etc. As Turniphead said, you can't prepare, other than to try to encourage your son to relax and enjoy the experience.
By the way: Don't worry about questions about why your son might prefer WUS over another school. Most of the boys will be taking exams/having interviews at other competitive schools and many receive multiple offers. A parent I know a few years ago was nervous because he'd been told the schools try to figure out what is your top choice and only give offers if they think THEIR school is your top choice. In my experience/observation, this is not true. The schools want to get the boys they think will thrive in their school and they give offers to all who meet their criteria, regardless of whether they think they're also interested in "another" school.
Good luck!

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Turniphead1 · 24/01/2013 22:42

Thanks Posadas!

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TennisMom · 25/01/2013 14:15

Posada, from your experience, is the order of interview telling? In other words, do the tend to bring in boys most likely to get an offer earlier?

The interviews are spread over 2 days. Is it first day 1 group and then second day 2 groups?

Any other insights into the interview process in terms if interview order? There must be some underlying thoughts here. Much appreciated.

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TennisMom · 25/01/2013 14:18

Posada, from your experience, is the order of interview telling? In other words, do they tend to bring in boys most likely to get an offer earlier?

The interviews are spread over 2 days. Is it first day 1 group and then second day 2 groups?

Any other insights into the interview process in terms of interview order? There must be some underlying thoughts here. Much appreciated.

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MilansMum · 25/01/2013 18:51

Thanks so much for sharing your experience Posadas. Very helpful. We are just trying to relax over the weekend as there is obviously not much to prepare, which is a relief after the assessments. Good luck everyone.

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GoLadyEdith · 26/01/2013 10:00

No personal experience of WUS but dd went to NLCS at 7+. There were 3 interview dates lined up. Afterwards a parent with older dds told me they interviewed the strongest candidates on day 1, middle band day 2 etc. perhaps WUS has a similar system.

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TennisMom · 26/01/2013 10:29

GoLadyEdith, thanks for your insights of NLCS' process. I was told of something similar by another WUS mother. This makes sense.

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TennisMom · 26/01/2013 10:36

MilansMum, what time is your interview on Tuesday? We are trying to determine how many groups they are assessing on Day and Day 2. We are Day 1.

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Turniphead1 · 26/01/2013 10:51

Tennismom - we are in at 11am on Tuesday. Is Tuesday day 1?

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TennisMom · 26/01/2013 18:07

Yes, sorry, I meant to say "Day 1 and Day 2" above. Tuesday is Day 1.

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posadas · 28/01/2013 10:11

I don't have any insights into the meaning of different interview times. Probably best not to try to "read the tea leaves" and just help your sons be as relaxed and "natural" as possible.

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Turniphead1 · 29/01/2013 22:01

Hope anyone who went in today was happy. My DS seemed to enjoy it. Will they definitely wait until Friday to send out letters do you think?

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middlesqueezed · 29/01/2013 23:28

Glad he enjoyed it - best of luck . My current year 3 boy said they were all "Sooooo cute". In my experience they normally do wait until Friday, but send all the letters then so you should get it on Saturday morning.
Surprised not to see any 8+ WUS parents posting here. Are there none?

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TennisMom · 31/01/2013 07:43

My DS had a good time on Tuesday and was very happy coming out. He said they were taking turns telling jokes at the end while waiting for the parents.

Now that the last group is finished with interviews yesterday, the anxious wait begins until Saturday. My experience is that it will be a thin envelope one way or another so don't get initially discouraged if you receive a thin letter in the post box.

Good luck, everyone!

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TennisMom · 31/01/2013 07:45

Turniphead1, have you revisited the commute issue from North London in case DS is accepted?

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Turniphead1 · 31/01/2013 08:59

Tennismom. It's still very much an issue for us - but like everything it is doable.

If he gets accepted it will be down to two schools and we will need to be as certain as we can that the disadvantages to him, longer school day, less local friends, not at school with siblings, and to us (the extra travel logistics etc) are outweighed by the extra special quality of the education he would get there.

It's so hard to know what is the "right" school for your boy.

In some ways the easiest thing is if the decision is made for us on Saturday .

If its a yes on Saturday I would really appreciate speaking to anyone who has a son there currently. But let's worry about that then.

Good luck to all.

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Turniphead1 · 02/02/2013 08:47

I have no idea when the post comes on a Saturday. Oh for the days when it was 8am.

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middlesqueezed · 02/02/2013 09:37

Good luck all!

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TennisMom · 02/02/2013 11:37

Any letters yet? We won't be home to get the post until later.

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Turniphead1 · 02/02/2013 12:03

Good news here.
Decision time ...
Good luck Tennismom.

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anxiousdaddy · 03/02/2013 17:03

DS sat for CC and WUS. We decided today to accept CC . Good luck everyone.

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Turniphead1 · 03/02/2013 18:03

Including Anxiousdaddy I know of two boys taking CC over WUS which might be good news for anyone on the reserve list.

Well done to your DS.

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anxiousdaddy · 03/02/2013 21:18

DS is really into maths but was disappointed that there's no featuring of it at all in WUS interview. In sharp contrast with CC, he was challenged in maths by both the HM and the group session, which he really enjoyed. That's a deciding factor we chose to go with CC. The chance for parents to meet with HM in person with CC also weighted in our final decision. Hope we made the right choice for DS. Love to hear your views too.

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TennisMom · 03/02/2013 23:23

anxiousdad, don't let the WUS interview experience turn you off to the school. They probably already know the boys are good in maths based on the exam.

One of my sons had offers at both CC and WUS at 8+ so we went through everything you did, including the parents interview with HM. He is also very strong in maths (at least 3-4 years ahead of his age) and is currently one of the top math students in his class.

In the end, we chose WUS over CC due to proximity; flexibility for schools at 13+ (CC doesn't prepare you for CE and expects boys to stay whereas WUS will support boys for other schools at 13+); ethos of teaching the boys to "love learning" for its own sake and not for exams; and values quirkiness in individuals.

There are plenty of opportunities to do maths at WUS. It is very academic but you and the boys don't feel it.

I'd choose a school based on distance and commuting time since there will be lots of birthdays, school events and parents' coffee mornings and a long commute would be a pain.