City of London Boys 11+ interview

I think DS was asked to prove a maths puzzle couldn’t be done (he showed how technically this may be true, however...) and something like ‘how many planes are on the sky right now?

@lookhappy thank you so much for sharing your story. Gosh that's exactly what I needed to hear right now. City was our top choice so it's a real blow - as I say, to not even make it through to the exam is a particular disappointment.

He's also applied for Westminster and then a range of North London schools (some of which also seem to throw some real curve balls each year).

I've been concerned for a while that his very, very high CAT scores haven't seemed to translate into particularly outstanding test results but hopefully one of the other schools will see his potential.

Gosh it's a brutal business.

Well done to your son. Where did he choose to go in the end?

However, we had also applied to 3 other top academic independent schools. He got scholarships to two of them (including one that is right at the top of the league table, i.e. much higher up than City). And he passed everything else, (including the SS grammar).

Had I received the City result first I would have been very downhearted. I loved City, but City throws out some strange results, I think. Don't worry. With 141 CAT score I bet he'll also get some scholarships! I hope you'll come back to update us.

BTW which other schools did you apply for?

PS re quirky interviews. I overheard ALL interviews (covid last year) and city's was actually the most straightforward. Other schools were really quirky! City was much more boring - favourite subject type questions...rather than getting him to think or develop ideas. Strange really. Maybe it was down to the interviewer we had. I actually thought it was his best interview, too (he answered all questions confidently and without rambling, like he did in the others. Second tip: can't second guess the schools! Or at least I couldn't.

I got the impression that the exam for CLS was hard and there’s a lot of competition. DS did is a few years back and I remember collecting him after the exam and some do the boys faces coming out - they looked shell shocked. He said that the interview was quite quirky too.

We've just had the same disappointment but for 13+. We didn't get rankings but my son scored 141 in all CAT categories so we thought he'd at least get through the ISEB stage. Now feeling incredibly pessimistic about everywhere else 🙁

Do you have a teacher at school who oversees transition? They might have an insight.

Applied to a few other schools. Will wait and see.. hoping we get atleast one school 🤞

Ouch. What’s plan b? Is there a waiting list?

13+

Call admissions - although they might be pretty busy. What entry point did you try for?

Just got our 2021 City of London results and my DS didn't a call for the interview :( is there anyway I can get his score?

Hi... just got our 2021 results and my DS didn't get through :( how do I get his score?

Good luck for tomorrow everyone!

Very interesting points Coffeeismycupoftea

Somewhere, you might find it if you google, is a governors' meeting minutes for City and they outline the take-up rate. It's very high at 10+, but not at all at 11+. I think they might over offer by something like 2.5:1. If you think about it, City is accessible from loads of places but might not be the first choice for those. Eg, you live in Shepherd's Bush, it's easy on the Central Line, but you'd prefer Latymer. Or you live in Muswell Hill and would prefer Highgate. Or whatever. It's not inconvenient for lots of people, but it's convenient for very few.

Yes that makes sense re 120.

They probably over offer quite a lot and there are 60 or somplaces, maybe 120?

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

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 !

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.

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 ?

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.

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!

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.