SW London Boys/Co-Ed Independent Schools 2022

@Mominafix my DS did 10+ last year and we were given the stats. From memory, the top third went through each subsequent stage.

About 250 sat the exam, approx 90 were interviewed and 30 were offered. I don’t believe they over offer for 10+ as they can fill those spaces in the 11+
process.

I agree they will have to over offer in 11+ for the reasons FlyingPandas mentions. Good luck to your DS in the interview. He’s done so well already. I do hate this process though. We are still on it, despite having the Hampton place which corroborates FlyingPandas’ comments.

@ FlyingPandas, thank you so much. Your message was very informative and indeed helped ease my nerves for the moment.

Really hope DS finds the school best fit for him.

Well done to your DS, @Mominafix

I have a DS who has just completed his first term at Hampton and loves it. No idea what the numbers are this year, but last year we were quoted the following in terms of stats:

800+ sat the exam (ISEB) and around 400 invited for interview
for 90 places available,

NB there are 140 in the year group but 30 places will have already been allocated via last year's 10+ and a further 20 as 'assured places' for strong Hampton prep candidates, so only 90 places left for the 11+ boys.

I don't know how many offers were made out of those 400 interviews last year but Hampton will always over-offer, as will all of the independent schools, because all DC generally apply for more than one school. Many will have applied for four or five or even more. And they can only go to one school no matter how clever they are!

My guess is that Hampton make at least 250/300 offers for those 90 places (rough ratio of 3 offers per place available?) on the basis that 2 out of every 3 candidates will probably turn them down. I know that sounds crazy to a family who really want the school. But Hampton are very often second choice for families who ideally want places at SPS/WUS/KCS. Other parents will turn down Hampton for a Sutton grammar or Tiffin. Still more will turn it down in favour of a co-ed option like KGS. And some simply don't like the fact that it's suburban and reliant on school coaches (cool London families tend not to like this and might prefer a more central London school...). And so on and so on.

I know it's easy to say now but try not to panic about numbers. The schools know what they are doing and generally DC tend to end up at a school that is right for them.

Hello, hope everyone is doing well. We got the results for Hampton written test yesterday. DS made us super proud and was invited for interview. Anybody have any idea how many children are called for interview and what is the actual intake.

My son sat it on Sat and said it was very fast paced. Lots of reasoning questions and maths questions and left out a few due to timing. I have a son (currently at the school) who managed to finish the paper a few years ago and another who didn't finish the paper at all (came out in tears) but got offered both Hampton and Westminster so I think it is very dependent on the year. It did sound like there were an awful lot of boys sitting the test though.. Good luck all.

Hi! My son sat Hampton on Saturday and hasn't said anything about it. I know he was in a room with 7 other boys but that's it. The communication from the school has been lovely.

For the 1500 number it could be 10+
11+ and 13+ combined. I don't think it could be 1500 for 11 plus, my ds is at Hampton and the site would struggle to accommodate that number on 1 day.

It was a few years ago but my ds got an offer despite missing out the maths questions at the end. My tip would be that the school teaches at a fast pace and if your ds struggled with the depth of the exam papers then it isn't the school for him. It's not a great place to be near the bottom sets for any high achieving school.

@ Blandpedant. 1500 does seem like a big number. Not sure there were so many boys there but anyways just hope and pray the boys find a school correct for them. My DS didn’t have much information other than the VR was very tricky.

Hi @Mominafix, yes definitely in the same boat. Ds found both the maths and the reasoning paper tricky, and missed quite a few Qs, so we are not feeling hopeful! He has since told me that the head chatted to them at the end and said 1500 boys sat - I can’t quite believe this is correct and must be a misunderstanding on ds part??!

Hello, anybody’s son taken the Hampton 11 plus this weekend. My DS found the verbal reasoning tricky and left a few. Don’t know what to make of it. It’s going to be a difficult wait. Anyone in the same boat.

How's everyone getting on? We had Tiffin stage 2 yesterday. It was really well organised. Onwards to Hampton in a couple of weeks.

Wow thanks for the warning Puddletown. I’ll make sure he doesn’t go back after half term.....any schools you can recommend instead?

Controversial but my DB's job involves him meeting boys from many of these schools. The KCS and Hampton boys are by far the most arrogant and misogynistic. He was not remotely surprised by the Everyone's Invited scandal.

Thanks for this thread. We are in the same boat and looking at many of these schools for 2022 entry. I see the girls have a support thread going but not yet one for the boys. As registration deadlines loom, has everyone decided what schools to register for? We have just had up to date CAT scores in and will be finalising our list this week.

@Nearlythattime For us LU has a "cool urban" vibe, and we just didn't think it would suit. Hampton and KCS just felt right (no doubt their grounds/space/facilities helped!)

@Nearlythattime LU is our nearest school and so we were very keen to like it and send DS there, before the 11+ process started. Unfortunately after the open morning and feedback, we felt it wasn't quite the right school for him. We have friends with kids there and they are very happy, so definitely go and see it.
All green space is off site of course.

Following, similar dilemma. It’s just I like the idea of ibstock being close and my DS not having to get a coach so early and back so late etc

@Nearlythattime DS luckily had the choice of Hampton and KCS at 11+.
Really difficult choice , and in the end we with Hampton , mostly due to travel arrangements.
As your son got a Hampton10+ offer, he has an excellent chance of a KCS offer imo, so I would consider that , especially if its an easier commute.
Hampton has large playing fields on site, and a large enclosed 3G pitch ....whereas some of KCS sports fields are off site iirc.

DS had a 10+ Hampton place a couple of years ago. Ended up going to LU which is closer but also much easier to get to via public transport.
He only sat a couple at 11+. Would never have sent him to Ibstock over Hampton for example, despite it being much nearer, so no point in sitting for it. If he hadn't have had the 10+ in the bag we would have sat many more at 11+!

@Nearlythattime , KCS have girls in the 6th form.
I think you would struggle to find a parent who turned down a Hampton 10 plus and went for Ibstock at 11. Your ds is obviously bright and will enjoy Hampton and the teaching, the good preparation for external exams, university guidance and results are hard to beat.
I'm a parent at Hampton, the schools the ds in my ds's class had turned down to go to Hampton at age 11 included Tiffin, Wilson's, KCS, KGS, Epsom, St George's, St John's, RGS, Reeds, Ibstock, Dulwich, Harrodian, whitgift.

For London, it will probably be a good idea to have quite a few schools on your list. KCS and Hampton are notoriously hard to get into. Have you considered Trinity and Whitgift too? What does your Head advise ? Whitgift will cover all your bases in terms of sporting facilities.