London boys independent schools - year 7 in 2023

No, didn’t ask, he just had them written down and told us them at the end of the interview. I know Halliford and St George’s never told us results when older ds was applying.

Hi!! Our DS was also at St James today for this interview- went well I think - such a lovely school! They didn’t discuss test scores? Did you ask?

Hi! My ds really enjoyed the Halliford exam day, a few of his school friends were on the break at the same time so they were in the same team for football. He also really liked the tuck shop!! We have a Y8 DS at Halliford and really love the school.

He found the English, VR and NVR all quite easy (not sure if that’s a good sign though 😬 he tends to get better marks when he thinks tests are hard). The maths he said was quite hard, but similar to the maths at St. James. The English and VR he thought we’re harder at St James.

He’s just been for his interview at St James this morning and that seemed to go well. They gave us his test results and they all seemed ok. All done now just need to wait!! St James said they post offers Friday 27th Jan, I think Halliford are later in Feb.

Mine is there already. It is indeed great. Good luck!

So lovely!!! Who else’s DS gone for this one? Such a great school

They do this for all boys.. such a nice touch.

Did anyone going up for Halliford get a postcard from the school?

The adaptive tests make it quite hard to tell, she came out happy at Putney and Emmanuel and thought she did terribly at Ibstock. Ibstock isn’t adaptive. She loved the interview day at FHSS, she also did an interview at NHEHS which was 15 minutes. They asked her a maths question a comprehension and then just general get to know you questions. She could see she was marked 4/5 for English and 5/5 for Maths. The experience wasn’t exactly charming, but at least it ran smoothly and not as many girls as FHSS, so less overwhelming as a parent. For my son I think we would aim for LU, Hampton and Kings — plus Emanuel, Ibstock. But I will tour Westminster and City.

@Wlondonmum2022 forgot to mention my dd is also going to interview at Emanuel....I have heard it is hard to tell what they are looking for. DC that got into kings or Godolphin did not get offers from Emanuel! I liked the way Emanuel handled the admissions process and exam day. What do you think of them? What is your first choice? Is it FHSS? What schools are you thinking for your DS? Atm, I am thinking to apply to Westminster (but only if he gets the target scores), LU, Emanuel and maybe kings?

My dd said the Putney high test was quite hard. As for FHSS, it looks like a lovely school. I really like what I have seen so far and the interview experience seemed really good. We have only done two interviews so far, but I liked the way they did it. I am curious if your dd did a taster session? I had a really good feeling after my dd came out and told me about it. Her other interview was at G&L, which I did not get the same feeling after. But it was only 15 mins and basic questions, so I am not sure how they can make a decision that way. At FHSS, I felt like the questions asked gave them an idea of the thought process. Surprisingly, at G&L it was just getting to know you questions.....but then I guess they have certain exam scores required to get there, so they probably did not need to see thought process.....who knows!

My daughter’s atom scores ranged from 100-128. Her prep school recommended Putney High and NHEHS as stretch schools. She didn’t get the second part of Putney but she has an interview at Emanuel and got the second part of Ibstock. She is very keen on FHSS and not sure if 117 is going to be too high a bar for her. My son is also in year 4 and he started doing some learning journeys and loves it, at the moment.

Same here! DS was pleased to get through for all of about 5 minutes, until he found out that his two best buddies didn’t. It’s our only walkable option, and I think he’d had a vision in his head of them going up there as a happy band of three. Ah well. I hope it was good news for you.

I would also like to add, I was really worried, as with adaptive tests I felt they can be all over the place and I was not sure if they would accurately show my dd ability. But that being said, she passed the London Consortium and Putney highs adaptive tests and also the Emanuel exams...so I guess that adaptive tests are able to show their ability? But tbh I much prefer non adaptive!

That is what I think is the tricky part with Atom, as scores can be slightly all over the place. However, the majority of the time she would get for example for math 135-142 range, but English could be the 115-137 range. Verbal and non verbal 115-125 range. So I was not sure how she would do on the actual exams. Though, more often her scores for English would be above 120. I felt that with these scores she would at least pass for Emanuel and FHSS and perhaps Putney....but she also passed the G&L exam. She did say the Emanuel verbal test was really easy and the London consortium exam was easy as well (so perhaps easier then when she was doing atom?). She said Putney was the difficult one. As for my ds, he is in year 4, so we are not really doing much. Just a little learning journey's here and there....for example 15 mins 2-3 times a week. I do not believe in over preparing. But, as they are in state school, I know it is behind by a year. And so when it comes time to apply for my ds, I will see if he is in the target range for the schools. I think it is def helpful to see if your dc has a realistic chance.

Thank you for this! Also, these are the scores your daughter would consistently get on the atom mock exams? My daughter is also doing the 11+ now and her scores were all over the place on atom, but then so has our admissions process. Hopefully my son will be more straightforward.

How did your DS exam go? My DS came out really positive! Halliford made the whole experience enjoyable and it seemed to go well!

Boys scores below:
Westminster School - 125-130
City of London School for Boys 120-125
Latymer Upper School 119-124
Emanuel School 115-120
King's College School - Wimbledon 122-127

I could not find the girls ones in my emails, but remember them give or take a point:
SPGS 130
G&L 125-130
Putney 117+
FHSS 117+
Emanuel 116+

Atom stresses these are an estimate and you should try to get the best SAS score you can. I found it very helpful, as with everyone telling me how hard the schools were to get in, my head also not much help on my dd ability, I was able to get an idea of schools to apply for my dd and she made it to interview round for all 4 schools she applied (G&L, Putney, Emanuel and FHSS - they interview all though).

Would you mind sharing for both?

Yes!!! My DS too!! Last exam and such a lovely school!!! Good luck to yours!! Thought the email yesterday was so thoughtful wishing them luck!

Is that Halliford? My son is there this morning, last exam for him 🎉

Good morning!! DS at last exam today ahhh! Anyone else?

@crazymama123 Yes, that is right. I just contacted Atom the other day to find out the SAS scores for target schools for my ds (he is only in year 4, but I was curious as going through 11+ w my dd now) and as I was so late to it for my dd (end of year %), I wanted to get a head start on researching schools for my ds and what target scores we would need when the time comes for him to start doing mocks etc.

I also was given the scores for the girls schools previously by Atom and they seem to be accurate.