state school child got into Eton

to be fair the grammar school point makes sense to me. you find out whether you have passed in October before you submit your preferences but don't find out whether you have a place until March. for the superselectives where exam score is the only factor then you can have a pretty good idea before March even though it'd not confirmed until then.

the rest of her posts are odd though. and if her child was really weeping for joy when he got the place I really hope she gets the rest of the process sorted out for his sake.

Yes, the "Eton village" thing is utterly bizarre, sounds like something one might write if one had never actually visited but gleaned info from a website. The actual place is as urban as you can get. Not at all the public school out in the country or even in a village....

The plot thickens.

The only thing like the OPs exam I could find were the New Foundation Scholarships, but these are for the very deserving poor but bright boys.

Also if you have been to Eton you might have noticed Windsor just a short stroll across the bridge?

I agree that it is very strange, propatria. Her ignorance of the Eton process seems bizarre.

Added to which in her very first post she claimed that her son had passed the grammar school test yet then later, when challenged, said that she would not know until March. Very odd.

Seriously bizarre. Why would anyone do that?

Well ,well ,when I mention no one in the admissions office had heard of the test,kris backs down,who would have guessed that,now a cynic might think looking at the evidence that the whole of the op was rubbish and the poster had no more "knowledge" of Eton than could be gained by doing the tourist tour,but Im sure thats just a cynical view,if that view was right then the whole of this thread would be a total waste of time,and no one would do that ,would they?

Kris, going back to your post of 17th Dec 04.33, you mention you have a 6 person household....does that mean you have 4 kids? Or perhaps you are caring for elderly parents in your household.

but, if you do have 4 kids and you can't afford to send them all to top, top public schools (which I can understand), how do you make the choices about which ones benefit from the super expensive educcation that is Eton? And wouldn't it be fairer to consider a less expensive option that all 4 children would be able to do?

Just a thought.

Do look at the ISEB requirements. My husband and I found the History extra-ordinary when we first looked. Syllabus is:

Section 1: Medieval Realms: Britain 1066-1485
Section 2: The Making of the United Kingdom: 1485-1750
Section 3: Britain 1750-circa 1900

Sections 1 and 2 contain questions on five common areas:
? War and Rebellion
? Government and Parliament
? Religion
? Social History
? General Topics
Section 3 contains questions on four areas:
? War and Rebellion
? Government and Parliament
? Social and Economic History
? General Topics

Who needs a degree!

RE was quite a stretch as well and needed a real capacity for analysis and argument. The top of a prep school, especially if you get small classes because the girls have left, can offer (relative) good value.

In terms of failing the CE, it does not happen often. The child gets the conditional place at age 10/11 on the understanding that they are good enough. If the child starts slipping, the prep school will let you know, perhaps advising you to consider an alternative school, or suggesting that the child cuts back on out of school activities. Since you need at least 70% in each exam, not an average, teachers will also tell you where the child is weakest, and where efforts need to be focussed.

The exams are taken in June of year 8. It is in no one's interest for a child to fail at that point.

I don't think you "fail" CE as such but schools like Eton would expect a certain level of attainment as a minimum and may even specify a higher level for specific subjects. As I understand it if he/she answers Level 1 that automatically limits what the child can achieve.

Check with the school. It is not a NC subject. If they are looking for something similar to CE Level 1 it is not hard and could be learned at home. Level 3 however is much harder and the expectation for almost all will be a minimum of 70%+ at Common Entrance. This is pretty much GCSE level, and represents about 4/5 years learning by bright boys with specialist teachers, and small classes.

There is a Cambridge Latin Course set of textbooks that leads up to CE. (Or an Oxford equivalent.) If your child is logical and takes to it, it might be possible to learn yourself, but the problem will be motivation and correcting errors.

Details here www.iseb.co.uk/

Be careful with the French. Our experience has been that CE French is more Grammar based than GCSE, which seems to be a lot of learning of phrases and vocabulary. This works because if you have a good structure you can easily learn the phrases and any extra needed for GCSE (and watch out, they probably do IGCSE which is considered harder). Just following the GCSE approach would be a handicap, if the rest of the class have a better grasp of the basic principles and probably would not get you through any CE type exam.

I would go for the prep school. Eton is only five years. It will be a fantastic experience for a child who can take the academics in his stride, with lots of opportunity for sport, music, drama and more. The alternative is to arrive 3 years from GCSE, behind in most subjects, and without as much experience of essay writing, argument, evidence etc.

Even switching to prep at the end of Yr 6 will be a slog and some schools will be reluctant to take a child later than the end of Yr 5. But at least the catchup is done then and though Eton will never be an easy ride academically, there will be scope to really enjoy what the school has to offer.

Lots of my son's contemporaries joined their Prep schools from the state sector. None though left it till 13. Eton is fiendishly expensive, in part because of the boarding costs. My advice. Stick to day and start at 11.

No idea on the Latin but it's not a common subject...

You could get the Cambridge course and work through it with your son. They do books with teacher crib sheets and Latin grammar is relatively straightforward IMO. If he's bright enough to pass the CE without going to prep he should be able to pick up Latin and motivated enough.

But surely it's worth spending a fraction of what you're planning to save on a prep on private tuition?

Oh well,Your son clearly isnt a special case,he could still attend a prep school,no one in the Eton admissions office is aware of this test/exam,,please tell us who said there was such a special exam?
Your second para of course makes no sense whatsoever,if you can have an exam based on the nc then there is no point in going to prep school,let alone for 6 years,if Eton had an enterance exam that wasnt CE ,then I can assure you a lot of people would be more than happy to save on prep school fees,but they dont and only in exceptional circumstances do child enter that have not passed ce.
You have also avoided answering why only last month you were asking questions about Hockerill/St Olaves,when by that time your son had already(according to you) been interviewed for Eton but at no stage did you ask questions about Eton/Harrow or Winchester all of which you now claim to have visited (among other schools)

"11+ intake to the other 11- 18 private schools is hence not needed at this point, and morally wrong as someone suggested, as we would need to lie about our intent."

But it's OK to do this to a state school? Bizarre.

Oh, and by the way, a lot of other private schools - and state ones, for that matter - have recording studios, bands and traditions. Saday, none of them could produce David Camerson to order, but choosing a school based on the kindness of a matron is perhaps a little odd.

Oh well, good luck. I suspect you're going to need it.

Unreal