Entrance Exams - am in purgatory with waiting!

Good luck to everyone. A year later and it is all over and both kids (11+ and 13+) are happy and settled in their new schools.

London days schools at 11+ are a real lottery, and produce some strange results. Much of it is a numbers game and not getting a place should not imply rejection, though it is hard to feel otherwise.

We were in the same position as MrsHighandMighty in that no school was a given, so DD tried 5. We were lucky in that we had a fall back of staying on the previous school, so were able to take the approach that every school we applied to was a school my daughter wanted to go to. We therefore tried not to think about which one we preferred until we knew what choice we had. The prospectus cannot tell you where you will find the best-friend-for-life or the inspirational teacher, and every school, including the most academically sought after, will have a few amongst its cohort who find it hard to settle.

We did not try St Bens as it is a bit far for us. However we do know a lovely girl who started in September and who is very happy there. My own daughter is enjoying the switch from a very academic prep school to a less hot house environment with lots of sport and is far happier.

In terms of interview, I was told, by an interviewer, that they are really looking for a child who can talk to adults and who has something to say. What they say is less important! It can be obvious which kids have been coached, and they can come across as very dull.

If a child does not get anything when they should have, and it does happen, you might talk to your Head Teacher, assuming they have good experience of the process. (Or firing off some careful letter to schools at which your child got an interview, or others you failed to consider which might be easier to get into.) Year on year schools go in and out of fashion. In the next few weeks schools will find out whether they will have to add an additional class or whether they will be going through their wait list too quickly. (However don't expect the latter to happen to really competitive schools like CLS. Too many parents will be prepared to ditch their previously accepted school and lose a terms fees.) A Head Teacher may be in a position to ask this question, and also confirm that your child would fit in well within the cohort.

If you are writing I would couch it in the form of an enquiry about an occasional place. These do come up, and can be from the start of Y7, and though they cannot make promises, schools may want to encourage good prospective candidates.

I am so glad it is over. In the end all my daughter's friends got schools they were pleased with. I hope the same is true for everyone here.

How is it going for DS2, Mrs G? I'd forgotten he was doing exams now. I'm so glad to have a year or 2 off .

Yes, it feels extremely harsh especially as the rejection from the latest school was supposed to be our "safe" option. I guess we should have applied to 5 or 6 schools but we were always told that he was a good candidate and it seemed wrong to apply for schools we weren't keen on.

If he doesn't get an interview at cls, then he will be going to a local school. It won't be the end of the world, but I know he will feel like an "almost ran" and having to deal with his friends going to the schools that everyone thought he was a dead cert to get into will be very hard.

I think we have to wait another week for cls. Not sure what I will do in the meantime, or how I should prepare him for another potential rejection.

oh 2010, it's a harsh business for our poor 10 yos isn't it? and pretty stressful for us too. does he have to move schools in september or can he stay on where he is? do you have a plan b? have been through it all once 2 years ago but it's no easier this time. have no idea how ds2 will have done in the exams. do you have any idea when to expect cls i/v letters? fingers crossed.

We got a second rejection today. We only have one left to hear from and am terrified that it will be another No.

After the first rejection, DS was very down and hard on himself and so I haven't told him about today's letter yet. I know two of his friends at school got through and so will be asking him tomorrow so although I think I can put it off for one more day, I really can't think of a way to tell him that won't leave him feeling even less confident about himself.

I hate this whole process and it never occurred to me that he wouldn't get through to interviews. I think he underperforms at exams as he is certainly on a par with the friends that got through. The pressure I feel (and I think he will feel) to get an interview from the next school is immense.

Am very and worried about the longer term effect this sort of rejection will have on him. Especially if he sees all his friends going through to the other schools.

Came to this a bit late... Ds took 10+ @ KGS and got a letter on Monday offering interview, but they haven't yet called to arrange a time.
He did the 10+ CoL on Monday and had a fantastic time there - especially enjoyed the lunch & playing football on the roof naturally couldn't remember anything about the actual exams...
He liked KGS because the snack they were given was a kellogs square that he had never had before... can't imagine what he might say in an interview - he can be a bit off the wall sometimes, but we assume that the interviewer will be familiar with the ways of 10 year old boys and assess him on his suitability for the school and the school's suitability for him...
Good luck to all!

Can't remember how long it was before the phone call, but I think we had about a week from then until the interview - though they gave us a choice of times. The woman who called (not sure if she was the registrar or not) told me on the phone that it would just be a general chat.

Mrshighandmighty - best of luck to your DS at St Bs and with the others. Lucky you having finished the lot - you can build a nice bonfire with those practice papers!

singersgirl - do you know how long KGS normally give you between calling up and interviewing? (Might need a bit of preparation time if DS has a maths/english interview!)

Two of DDs friends have younger sisters who had their KGS interviews at the end of last week. But they do organise the girls first.

My DS said the same thing about the CoL Maths paper being very similar to a practice one he had done previously.

I take my hat off to the school, they clearly know how to run these days. DS said it was a great day, that he really enjoyed it and that the year 7 boys he met were very nice.
I had to ask him if he was talking about the exam day or the open day we attended

DD had a general interview but my friends DD had a maths interview, and they went over some questions with a maths teacher. She was offered a straight place too.

My DDs friend was 5 on the waiting list but I have no idea. ( She went elsewhere.) A girl from DDs school was offered a place in about the June before they went, so she must have been considerably lower on the waiting list. I really don't know where though, sorry.

They don't do anything with the waiting list until after the national offers day in March.

There are 2 types of interview at KGS - a general interview, or an interview focusing on either maths or English; you're told which it is when they call you to arrange it. Apparently (according to SW London lore) no one has been known to not get an offer of a place after a general interview. This is hearsay! DS had a general interview and got an offer.

DS1 said that the CLS Maths paper today was just like the practice one that he did, but that the numbers were different! He thought it went OK.

RatherBeOnThePiste - so if they get an interview, does that definitely mean they atleast get a waiting list place? And do you know how far down the waiting list they normally go (ie what placed person is the last one in?)

KGS interviews sort out those given actual places from those offered waiting list places - that was the case when DD did the interviews. She was offered a straight place, her friend was a certain number on the waiting list. So it's not a given that they are in, although I would imagine that there is a fair bit of movement on the waiting list.

Well done to your ds, stokeytiger, on the KGS interview.

Ds has his interview on Thursday - we still haven't heard from the second school - yikes!

bad luck, mrshighandmighty, StB's interview could be very hopeful, I've been presuming that all these schools only give interviews when they've pretty much decided to give a place, they just want to check out that the kid didn't send someone else in disguise to do the exam, anything else would seem cruel.

Well, at last heard from KGS, and my ds got an interview, big phew, even if it would mean moving to West London.

Controlfreakery - my ds did 10+ City London Boys today.. he thought it was easy (not sure if he's old enough to be a good judge of how well he's done) He did mention lots of boys hadn't had time to finish their maths and verbal reasoning papers, some missing out 2 or more pages of each. I think it's incredibly hard for all of them, I've struggled with answers on previous papers!

So sorry about Hampton, Mrshighandmighty, but at least your ds has the StB's interview to look forward to and the exams this week may produce a better outcome. Good luck!

what did your boys think of the cls exam today?
ds2 said "it was ok... harder than ucs last week" and looked a bit shel shocked when i collected him...
hmmm. hard not to x xamine him for all the details... but he thought the english was hard.

It is devastating I know, but TRY not to communicate that to your lovely boys, (girls too, obv, but you all seem to have boys on here).Sure you know, but it is v hard to hide your own disappointment.

I know in my heart that the school that my DS did not go to required huge self confidence (some would say over confidence )It would have crushed him. He is now very happy, and got a scholarship (proud)!

One more thing, Do not get caught up in that horrid school gate competition thing, it leads to unhappiness for you, I think it was one of the reasons I moved away from West London!

So sorry to hear that. I have heard a lot of boys not getting an interview there, over the years, but getting places at good schools elsewhere, but that's probably no comfort if it's the school you and your DS had your hearts set on. Are you telling him? I'm going to wait until after he's finished his exams because he's feeling confident at the moment and I don't want to spoil that.

skybluewinking - thanks for the comforting words - particularly timely as we've just received a "no" from Hampton. In reality I knew it probably wasn't the right place for DS but still there's always that feeling of "why wouldn't they want my DS?" and I'm guessing they don't like being phoned up and quizzed on how he did on each paper!