Tier 4 January entrance exams going ahead?

We have Emanuel left for Jan and the last thing we want is for her to have to sit with others and they haven’t placed all in school bubbles

I don't think Emanuel have updated since before the Christmas break. The plan then was to use its main date and fallback date with candidates evenly split between the two. One is a Saturday anyhow, and the Friday one they have put the school onto online learning so there are more classrooms available for well spaced exams.

With school re-opening announcement expected this afternoon, I dare say Emanuel (and others) are waiting for that new guidance and will then be working their socks off to re-organise January

Is anyone waiting to see what St George’s in Weybridge might do? They are supposed to be on site on the 5th, I can’t see that happening.

@PatoPato I’m so sorry to hear that-so frustrating for you and for DC who have presumably been slogging hard with exam prep over the holidays

I have to say I really don’t feel some schools have handled this situation well and come across as being rather arrogant and insensitive to the current situation. They must have at least suspected that something like this would happen! A few of our local indies (we are SW not central London) have been similarly insistent that they have to go ahead with their specific exams and of course it’s now causing huge stress and anxiety for the applicants who don’t know what can and can’t go ahead. Really doesn’t give a warm welcoming feeling at all.

I am so grateful and relieved that the two schools we are applying to switched to ISEB early on and stressed in their communications that they really wanted to “do the right thing“ - both in minimising stress for DC and parents, and in ensuring that there was limited movement between schools to minimise the risk of cross infection given that we’re in the middle of a pandemic.

I really don’t know why the schools didn’t all do the same thing. These specific individual exams can’t be that important if some schools can now decide to ditch them completely! And as for some of the stuff I’ve read on other threads (dc needing access to three separate devices?!) words fail me.

@PatoPato *sorry meant 10/11 year old in post above

@PatoPato OMG that is majorly drastic!! No exam for a selective school. Try not to be disheartened - the interview is a great judge at seeing a child’s potential despite it being virtual. I expect they may ask some arithmetic / logic based questions. I wouldn’t worry about her being “shy” etc. They will anticipate all the children may be nervous and all have their own personalities and this will work in her favour not against her. I personally would have favoured this approach and no exams for all. See it as a blessing, as take the pressure off what was a very very testing week otherwise. It will be a great experience and honestly much better to have one less paper exam out of three in a week for a 10/12 yr old.

PS I appreciate that many will be happy that there is no site exam and that I might be in a minority in having wanted these exams to go ahead. It's not a cavalier attitude, it's just that our household has had covid & come through the other side (and so far I think there have only been 25 confirmed cases of reinfection)

@MumsRule20 FHSS have just emailed to say they are pulling next Friday's exams totally and will just be selecting based on school reference and online interview.
I am furious - I wanted DD to have the chance to sit the exam to show that all her hard work was justified. They could at least have requested the ISEB results that many will have already sat.
I don't feel confident about our school reference as all our school reports reference her confidence levels. She's not shy, she's just quiet...and bloody good at cognitive tests
There is a virtual scream going on in the Pato household right now!

@FlyingPandas totally agree with what you say in your last post and why the other schools did not prempt in the same way as those changing tactics at last moment. Some schools knew it would get worse come January and put measures into place promptly. To leave it until the last moment is unfair on all to say the least. I dreaded every computerised exam CEM / ISEB that my Dc has to sit at the school. In one case a huge number in a room. We have Emanuel left for Jan and the last thing we want is for her to have to sit with others and they haven’t placed all in school bubbles. Lucky schools who are hosting at their own with an Emanuel invigilator. One poster on the SW Independent Girl’s thread mentioned this was happening for them.

@PatoPato it amazes me that FHSS did not opt for ISEB like FHRP did at later stage when some of the other London Consortiums opted for same and FHRP requested this be sat by December. They are sister schools. Makes no sense...

We can only adapt as we have been, not worry too much and keep things calm for the children sitting. It really all does seem much more of a gamble and lottery than ever before. Guinea Pigs in the process and definitely will wonder on the fairness of assessments with all these different up health and disruptions in the process

Ours told us last week that it’s online on a weekend and not on site

All our schools are eerily silent on interviews and updates yet for 3 exams over the next 2 weeks.
I have taken to review each of our school websites for latest updates (with BAU for exams thus far), and have noticed two schools are updating the school website with who is returning and exam details. I suspect this is easier to communicate with admissions teams on leave.

Next week we've got SPGS, IPS & FHSS - all of whom are hosting on site

SPGS is fiercely protective about its unique exam material using a 3 stage process to both weed out overly tutored kids & select the very specific type of characteristics they are looking for. There are hardly any old papers in circulation, only those it posts on its website.

IPS use a CEM based one hour online & one hour written reasoning test for which there are no past examples in circulation - it is even more secretive than SPGS!

FHSS is part of the London Consortium which sets its own test. Again there are none of these in circulation and no practise papers. Godolphin & Latymer, also part of the Consortium, had the good sense to avoid next week's nightmare and jumped ship to a pre Christmas ISEB and are probably feeling pretty smug about their decision.

For the first three schools mentioned, any kind of off-site process completely compromises their selection methods both now & going forward. I think that's why they have held so fast for so long - finding an alternative is near impossible for them. I do really feel for these poor registrars who have probably had no kind of Christmas at all this year.

It would be fascinating to see how it all pans out were we not part of it all!

The more I read and hear, the more I wonder whether some schools were just wildly over optimistic in planning to go ahead with their own January exams! I suspect many are now wishing they’d simply opted for ISEB /CEM.

My guess is that a lot will end up doing a variation of Radnor’s approach and/or online assessment with remote invigilation at home. This is a potential minefield though as it means the playing field cannot possibly be level for DC!

Any of the following could be an issue and yes, I know you could make the assumption that parents applying to independent schools are likely to try to move heaven and earth to help their DC sit the exams fairly but even so...

-potential poor WiFi connection for online assessment (especially with recent poor weather!)
-problems with an assessment connection not working / exam pages not loading properly etc at home, which could be sorted easily in a school setting but how stressful for a dc and parent trying to do it from home!
-disruption at home from siblings, pets, just general household noise - with the best will in the world, not all families will have an ideal space to set up an exam
-parents struggling to juggle their work, conference calls, other dc etc whilst trying to monitor dc sitting exam
-dc highly anxious at the entire scenario - it will possibly be more stressful for them than being in an exam room with lots of other dc as at least then they can see that others are in the same boat.

I would not want to be an admissions officer in one of these schools that’s for sure. Can you imagine the fall out (and requests for special dispensation based on any of the above) when DC don’t get offers and parents try to claim that the exam arrangements weren’t actually fair?!

I feel for everyone in this scenario but especially the poor 10 and 11 year olds trying to cope with all this uncertainty.

And with so many children likely to be in self isolation remote exams for 11 plus are the only way.

See if Eltham college had had remote exams then it would mean that those people who were self isolating as part of a burst bubble - could participate from home.

I don't think they will go ahead.

Eltham college sat exams in person last few days of December term and I knew of 3 local primary schools were the year 6 children were supposed to be self isolating.

But I am sure that those who were booked just turned up to the 11 plus test anyhow.

I know this because 1 family tried to tell me that no they didn't have symptoms after telling me they had them and got tested. When I asked about Eltham they just changed the subject.

Another parent from my son's school just didn't get the letter in time.

I am just so glad we did not apply for Eltham.

A bunch of parents tried to turn up to Kent grammar tests when their class was put in self isolation. Thankfully the school informed the test centre so they had to sit a rearranged session.

There is no way at 11 plus exams should take place in person. They can move them online.

The reason Gove was so resolute this morning about primaries going back is because if primaries were to close it would have a massive impact on the ability of working parents to actually work which could have huge knock on effects on their job security and the economy. Secondary school children can work unsupervised.
I'm thinking unless we go into a full national lockdown á la April/May, the primaries will probably stay open and the exams due to be sat in the empty secondaries next week will still go ahead. That might be (very selfish) wishful thinking on my part!

I'm guessing they're waiting for some sort of update from the DfE on what's happening with primary and secondary schools next week. On the face of it the govt's already announced what's happening (primary schools in as usual, secondaries staggered start with testing put in place), but I wouldn't blame the schools for doubting whether this will still be the narrative in a week's time.

That whole “breaking the seal on camera” and then driving the results to the school sound a bit of a drama - but doable. I would be happy to do that - not so comfortable doing something online at home though due to having pretty poor wifi...hope they decided pretty soon and let us know.

Schools may hope that their 11+ exam schedule won't be interrupted ( a la SPGS) but surely none of them can know yet?

It looks like this new strain might cause the general return to school to be delayed - I can't see how any 11+ exams would escape that?

Radnor House Twickenham have recently switched to 'exams at home with remote invigilatio' on the 9th Jan. I was sceptical until the email with the instructions arrived complete with video links on how to set up the camera (child side view on, paper, hands & head showing), how to break the 2 seals on each of the two papers in front of the invigilator, then how to seal them back up again with 2 new enveloped and 4 new seals, then get in the car (not forgetting the sealed papers) and whizz them over to the school in a 90 minute window - I kid you not.

Looks good and relatively cheat proof but must have taken a lot of organisation on their part - kudos to them.

Schools that guard their unique papers zealously like SPGS just would not be able to do this without compromising the bank of material that's in circulation for future tutors to use.
It will be so interesting to see what happens come January. Just wish I was not part of it all!

Not sure I like the idea of remote invigilation? St. John’s have said they may have to do this which is all fine and well if you are sitting a 2 hour written exam but by all accounts the St. John’s test is part online ability, part written - so short with lots of bits. Could be a bit of a nightmare to manage at home.

DD did a remote sixth form entrance exam using exam.net, it worked very well with invigilators and camera checking her work area. She still had to work on paper then upload the work. Possibly more suited to older children than 11 year olds but I do wonder if some schools might employ this approach???? Good luck alll.

Agree with a PP that I hope they have a Plan C! Obviously nothing is certain yet, but I wouldn't be remotely surprised if neither secondaries nor primaries are back for the first couple of weeks of term in Tier 4 (quite apart from the issues around persuading primaries to devote staff resource to facilitating private school entrance exams). A bit concerning if they move to online testing given we haven't done any preparation for that - but hey, I guess we'll have to take it in our stride like so many things this year. There are more important worries right now.

St. John’s in Leatherhead have just sent an email to say it’s on-site still but if we are still tier 4 by 11th jan, then it’s remote test and remote invigoration

We have 3 exams in the first two weeks back, one school has advised if govt policy remains for lockdown, exams will be held at primary school.
Also, there is the option of signing up to ISEB data pool.

The problem is that the situation is so fluid, they (the gov) change their mind or implement rules with little to no notice, or when the 'science evolves'... just look at the car crash announcement about schools testing kids, with some taught remotely, some back and a staggered return..... on the last afternoon of term, when a lot of independents have already broken up.

The review of the 'rules' is on the 29th December, who knows what's next.

The 'current plan' that junior kids will be back in school simply cannot be relied upon, who knows where the country will be after xmas (after all we were supposed to be having a 'normal xmas' right? I expect by January it will be a lot worse than it is now.

The schools that haven't yet run their entrance exams (and we have a close friend who is affected by this) now need a sold 'Plan C' in place in case it all goes remote again, as sadly I fear they missed their opportunity at a decent 'Plan B' when they chose not to bring them forward (and make allowances) to November/December like many (in my mind) sensible schools did. Fingers crossed for everyone.