Hampton 11+: words and reasoning paper

@Soxa , I would agree from the ds I know. You may get a place at Hampton but Waiting List at Tiffin. Plus all the private schools look at all aspects of a pupil so if they are super sporty but borderline academic they may get a place whilst at Tiffin it's exam result only.

Good question! Tiffin is widely known to be hugely difficult to get into. But this is partly down to the numbers: thousands apply. However, it’s free to apply, so arguably some take the exam “for the heck of it”. but the numbers to Tiffin are super scary!

Results: In our year, I found that every child that got into kings Wimbledon (the most difficult of alll the indies) also got into Tiffin. However, not every child that got into Hampton also passed to Tiffin.

But honestly, there are sometimes kids who pass to kings but not to Tiffin, and vice versa. As I understand it, Hampton is slightly easier than both kings and Tiffin. I know you weren’t asking about kings, this is just to give a bit more info !

@Missty2021 Re exams - pls remember the 12 and 13+ exams haven’t taken place yet and there may be kids who may sit a deferred 11+ due to illness so posting info about what was in the exams isn’t a great idea. This might be an anonymous forum but personally I wouldn’t be putting my son’s place at risk by discussing content on SM. I don’t work for Hampton but I’m not a million miles distanced from it professionally, keep it high level here and discuss anything else privately.

Also, I wholeheartedly support their efforts to avoid circumstances where people can use “set pieces”. They’re looking for natural talent, not someone who can reel off what the tutor told them which has no bearing on their ability at all.

Re places. They offer around to Hampton prep boys, 30 to 10+ boys (but they know they won’t all take them), so I think there will be less than 100 overall. However they’ll make more than 100 offers because not everyone will accept.

Last week there seemed to be four classrooms for each wave of kids, so around 60 each time not 300. There were also three entrances. At a guess I’d estimate more than 700 through the day but less than 1200. Bear in mind some will be the prep and 10+ boys coming back to try for scholarship.

So you could expect a ratio of at least 7 applicants to one place (but not to one offer), possibly higher.

Regarding the Tiffin comparison, does anyone know if it is easier to get into Tiffin or Hampton, based on past experience?

Thanks ladies for your inputs. Now it’s waiting game. They emailed today that result will come in December so couple of weeks to wait.

That’s interesting about getting through to round 2 of Tiffin! I wish someone had told me at the time, since it would have calmed my nerves. However, yes, DS got through to second round of Tiffin (& passed to Tiffin) — and was given a place at Hampton.

Fwiw, I was on a large indie/grammars thread that year and, thinking about it, the kids who got to various second rounds did all seem to get interviews, though not necessarily places (I recall one boy not getting an offer, but apparently he had autism, so I wonder if the school biased against him for that reason — plus, I don’t think he got a super high mark, he didn’t get to Tiffin second round, though he did get to Sutton second round, which is still super hard!). So an anecdote of sorts, based on two, but maybe there is a correlation here! Ie: Good sign if they get to Tiffin round 2! As pp said in far fewer words ;-)

Sorry I can only go on what I know but second stage Tiffin is an indication of a chance of an interview yes.
Re the interview, if you get the call back I'm sure you can ask on MN or read feedback from last year but it seems they like down to earth ds who are interested in current affairs and the world around them for example by reading The Week junior and first news. They may then ask what is the difference between The Week Junior and First news - you can't prepare for this type of interview.

@sailingsunshine do you think Tiffin 2nd stage means they have a good chance of getting an interview? What do they look for at interview. Do shy kids stand a chance?

@11plus20221, it's less than 120 places as they have the assured places at hampton prep and 10plus pupils who already have offers. But it must be less than 1200 sitting, in the past it's more like 700. Yes you need to do well in all papers and it's fine to miss questions. The level needed to get an interview can be indicated by how your dc has done in the grammar school exams, ie getting to second stage Tiffin etc and if he sits in the top cohort of his year group at school.

I saw lot of groups (different drop off/ pick up time) during exam. They had 8 am, 8:25 am, 8:45 am, 9 am drop off groups definitely. Not sure if any afternoon groups. There we 3 drop off points. So around 300 kids in one drop off time, so roughly around 1200 kids. I am not sure, if they will be calling 600+ for interview for 120+ seats. I think this year number of kids giving exam might be a lot. On another note, do anyone know around how much kid should score for admission. My son struggled in VR last question. Do they have subject level cut off too?

Do anyone know how many kids gave Hampton 11+ this year? How many kids they call back for interview?

To clarify the scholars aren't told their results but are given lots of "you did really well" comments and have proved to be very able mathematicians.

@ it was a long time ago when my ds sat but the last few questions seemed to be for possible scholars as my ds didn't finish the maths but got a place and has had no problems academically at the school with maths or any subject.
I do know that the academic scholars in his class got very good entrance exam results - ie near full marks in the maths exam.

@sailingsunshine DS said the maths got harder at the end and he struggled on the last few questions.

Think maths was 27 questions and similar progressively more difficult similar to primary maths challenge if that is familiar.

Hampton use to use an image for the story/essay before the pandemic so looks like they are continuing. For anyone reading this in the future the take away tips are timetable, picture image and read the classic novels for language and vocabulary!
Was the maths difficult with the last few questions aimed at scholarship level as also pre 2020?

Wish I’d read this on Friday!!! My son sat this yesterday and I can confirm the VR did indeed use a timetable!!! Which having seen his attempts at timetable questions in maths I can imagine he didn’t ace! It’s not an intuitive thing so I do think you’d have needed to seen a few to do well I. That question. The VR was different from any he’s done before, but I clearly didn’t read the provided material 🤦‍♀️

The English was different from all practise papers because it was a one paragraph comprehension (from Great Expectations) and two questions. The balance was a composition using an image prompt with no choice. It means they can’t easily use any “set pieces” they have!

Personally, I think they are trying really hard to weed out the over-tutored. I also think that it’s a huge expectation from a 10 year old boy….well my 10 year old anyway!! But we were very late applicants and we live quite far from the school so he’s not got his heart set on it or anything!

My terrible prep aside, fwiw I do think it’s a lovely, friendly school which is great for academic all-rounders.

Well done to all the boys who took it and to all the parent going through this circus!

I know boys sitting at 1pm today.
Next weekend is 12 and 13 plus - in the past it's a different but similar level paper for the 12/13 plus.

Are the exam start times staggered today or is everyone sitting at the same time from 9am-12pm?

Good luck to everyone sitting this weekend and next!

When my son sat Hampton, during covid, when they sat the Iseb, the interview involved a comprehension which he had to read out and then answer questions. The text was not a famous piece of writing, I didn’t recognise the author, but the interviewer did ask what a certain word meant. DS took a wild guess (a wrong guess — I heard), so that was a bit unfortunate and it’s luck of the draw if you get a word to define that you do/don’t exactly know. Anyway: He got a place. With 130 your DS should be more than fine! The schools often don’t mind odd spikes if other highs balance out the “lows” (116 is still pretty good, in the great scheme of things!)

Thanks. Good luck to your boys.

@Christmascactu
This thread could be helpful!