City of London Boys 11+ interview

[1mum2boys]

Any mothers out there who received a disappointing letter today? It was a bit of a shock that my DS was not invited back for the interview because he has passed this stage with two other top academic schools. What surprised me was his ranking on Maths, which is his best subject and he has always scored over 90%. He was only ranked 329. However, his overall ranking was 213, which was not bad giving the fact that there were 700 candidates.

[mickmills]

We didn't apply to City, however I know how you feel. My daughter didn't get an interview at Highgate. She's no genius but consistently in top set in her state school for maths and literacy. She had worked hard, and thought the test went well. I tried to prepare myself for disappointment before the results, but it is still so hard to get that rejection letter....

[sdavlistentomother]

700 sat for 60 places??? Does the letter say what ranking needed for interview? It sounds like he might have just missed out. His other exams must have been reasonable to end up at 213 from 329 in maths. My guess is 200 called for interview?

[1mum2boys]

Thank you for your replies. Really appreciated it as it was my first thread. He was 142 on English and 167 on Reasoning, so overall, he did well. His feedback when he came out of the exams was that Reasoning was hard. The school was not top choice because we live in Ealing and the travel journey would have been a nightmare, but still a disappointment.

[Thankgoditsover]

I'm v surprised that ranking wasn't enough for an interview - I'd have thought they'd be offering 180 places so they'd want 250 or so for interview. I do know children (lovely ones) who were interviewed but didn't get a place.

As happened with mine for Highgate (still rankles). He was clearly of an academic level, they just didn't like his personality! Which is almost worse than not being interviewed at all...

[CaringMom]

We were also disappointed today. Our DS has interviews at 2 top schools (arguably better than City) but not City. Not sure what's happening there this year ! His overall ranking was 219/700.

[1mum2boys]

CaringMum, did you notice that the school's figures contradict? On the letter we got straight after the exam they said they'd had 550 applicants and in the results letter they say there were 700.
I feel very determined to find out exactly how many they were and how many they invited back for interview.

[1mum2boys]

I am sorry for your daughter. I hope things will work out in the right direction for her. They are too young to deal with disappointment. They worked so hard.

[ElevenPlusSoon]

1mum2boys, what is the full mark of each subject? 167 is extremely high mark.

[redlemons]

I'm amazed City releases indvidual results and position. I don't know any other schools that do that - surely it just adds to the torture when a child is borderline and rejected for interview and/or offer.

[sdavlistentomother]

At least there's a degree of transparency with City and while fustrating to only just miss out, at least some comfort can be taken from a reasonable performance and would suggest that he'll get an offer from an academic school. But then the whole thing is shrouded in mystery again at the interview stage.

[scabby1]

Commiserations to those whose Ds' did not get called for interview. Whether or not CLS is your first choice, it is still upsetting for any child to be "rejected".

Last year City interviewed 200 out of 680 odd applicants. There was less than 60 places available ( I think 54 or 56). The interview is long and academic (though enjoyable).

I think City should be applauded for releasing the figures and I think it's a real shame that other schools do not do so. This way, at least there is some transparency and it lets you know precisely how you DS performed compared to his peers. (However, If you do make it to interview at City, you are not provided with your ranking/position; all you know is that you finished in the top 200).

Redlemons-I believe that, for transparency reasons, all Grammar schools reveal an individual's results and position in their 11plus exam.

[1mum2boys]

They did not give the individual scores, only rankings.

[sleepwhenidie]

I'm waiting for ours..sure it will be disappointing because DS1 didn't get an interview at UCS or Highgate either (not hugely surprising). Luckily he isn't at all stressed, his attitude seems to be that he narrowly missed out (not strictly true, having spoken to UCS ) and everyone there was very clever. I'm not about to disabuse him of this assumption . It's a really tough process, it feels particularly harsh for DS1 who is August born and pretty immature, attention span for long exams is the issue much more than his ability and intelligence. Something that will come with maturity but of course the schools assess now for 13+ entry too (and you can't try for both) so I can't see how that would help

[1mum2boys]

Thank you. I do agree that any feedback is good as it helps you see where you can do better with the younger ones who will do it in the years to come.
sleepwhenidie, you just gave me an idea for a new thread: how did your DS / DD coped with 11 plus failure, what was their first reaction?

[sleepwhenidie]

Tbh my DS really doesn't see it as 'failure' - he gave it a very good shot and that is all we were asking. Maybe we should have pushed him harder but I have never been 100% convinced that scraping into one of these schools (and he always would have just scraped through) would be the best thing for him. The benefits of these private schools (IMO) are the confidence they give kids and also the breadth of opportunities they provide to find out about different things and potentially find a passion. Whilst it is disappointing to lose the latter, being 'bottom set' consistently would cancel out the former so in some ways I'd prefer him to be closer to top of the class in a less academic school. If he was clearly a very academic child and just missed out I would be much more upset (and so, probably would he, by extension ).

[sdavlistentomother]

Sleepwhen - you are really up against it with an August born. While some summer borns can be a whizz l think that's the exception. Schools pay lip service re taking age into account but l have my doubts. Summer born boys should be allowed to sit the 10+ in my view and then expected to score in line with Autumn borns in the 10+ markings. My DS now so far ahead of where he was 6 months ago.

[sleepwhenidie]

Ah I know sdav, I can see such a change in him over the last six months, if he could do the exams in the Autumn the outcome would have been much better I'm sure. Still not convinced it would have been good enough though! I'm a big believer in it all working out for the best (luckily!)

At the open day I asked UCS admissions officer about any allowance for age/summer borns when marking exams and she said there isn't any!

[anotherdayanother]

Hi,

Sorry to hear of disappointments. It really does seem to come down in part to how it goes on the day for any given child, and hence they might get two harder schools but not the slightly easier one.

Does anyone know if there is a group interview and an individual one as that seems to be a lot to squeeze into 20 mins (10 mins each I guess)?

It does seem like they interview 200 and you sound like you very narrowly missed out OP. Not many places if there are only 52-60.

[1mum2boys]

I agree with you re age. Mine is an August boy, too and although he is an academic whizz, emotionally he is still a baby. Over the years I could see how he struggled to find the right balance between being top academic pupil and reacting like a baby when things were not going his way.

[sleepwhenidie]

Just got it - as expected . He was 247 in English, 434 in maths and 304 in reasoning, so very middle of the pack. Sounds like it was an extremely strong field in maths!

[sdavlistentomother]

Clever summer borns who miss out should perhaps try another 2 years at prep, Common Entrance & have a go at 13? Maybe a senior that goes all the way through but that sits CE (l think Harrodian do this ?). You would be keeping options open while also having option of remaining in the senior school. Just an idea.

[sleepwhenidie]

This is what I don't understand sdav - when I asked UCS about this, they said you had to choose in advance and if you wanted 13+ entrance, you had to do the pre-assessment for that at the same time as the 11+ exams ie - choose which you want. Same at City etc. Because we tried for 11+ my understanding is that we are now unable to try for 13+. Seems crazy to me because that negates the point of allowing time for kids to mature a bit more ?

[sdavlistentomother]

Dulwich, Alleyns, Hampton & New Wetherby Senior have ACTUAL 13 entry l think. Yes, pretest for 13 must one of the worst ideas that senior schools have come up with.

[CaringMom]

1mum2boys
Did you find any further information out ? Still hurting and waiting until the 19th to find out about 2 other interviews DS did go to !

[Mandzi34]

How many places are City likely to offer? Does anyone know?