Rejected by Eton, Radley and Teddies - Panicking!

[Elvisthedonkey]

DS is in Year 6 and sat his ISEB tests last term. We didn't do much practice at all but his headmaster said that he was around 115 in CAT scores and is in the top half of his year at a well-regarded prep. He gets Bs and Cs in his reports - including Bs in both English and Maths. Whilst he loves sport he is not particularly brilliant at anything - although he's not bad at football and plays for a local team. No musical/art/drama talents to speak of, sadly. His headmaster said he thought he would do very well in interviews though as he's chatty and has interesting things to say for himself.

So far, he has been rejected by Eton (a long shot!), Radley (another long shot) and Teddies - he wasn't even invited for an interview at any of them. He has had interviews at Sherborne and Bradfield (apparently they interview all applicants) - and we await the results.

I am really beginning to panic - how difficult is it to get into Bradfield (his first choice) and Sherborne? If he hasn't been invited for an interview at Teddies, does that mean he must have done pretty badly in the ISEB tests? I'm beginning to wonder if we should be making some last minute applications elsewhere...

I’m sorry you’re feeling panicked. It’s not a nice process for the dcs and parents.

I really do think he’s got a good chance at both Sherborne and Bradfield - and you only need one! What did his headmaster say about those two?

Would you consider Bryanston? I think that is in the same general area and I’m fairly sure they have a year 7 process .

It is slightly terrifying that candidates now need tuition. Only ten years ago I and others were here assuring prospective applicants’ parents that it would be completely pointless to tutor for the Eton pre-test. (And it really would have been.) I gather the process changed soon after that - it’s a shame if entry is now via just another run of the mill exam that depends on tuition.

I am glad, @Elvisthedonkey that your HM didn’t drive your initial application decisions. You’re paying him to make things work - listen to him …

It’s completely changed.

OP I can't advise you but just to say Teddies is much tougher to get into as the school is trying to ramp up on academic performance.

Def look at Bryanston as I was quite impressed by them when initially looking around.

So DS’s headmaster (who is really great), said that he thought DS would get into Bradfield and/or Sherborne. And DS’s prep school sends a lot of children to those schools. He also suggested Bryanston, which I see some posters above have also suggested (thank you). We’ll definitely look at that, although DS is not much of a self-starter and I’ve heard that it is quite a relaxed, liberal school, so worry if he might get away with doing nothing!

Thanks for those who have suggested other schools - Kings Canterbury looks lovely but is a bit far from us, as is Uppingham (we are in West Berks). The Oratory isn’t far from us although the Catholic aspect puts me off a bit.

And Harrow I don’t think he would get into (especially as I know they always ask for copies of school reports, and DS’s generally say he needs to try a bit harder and concentrate less on football and being the class clown, and more on his actual school work…).

What a lot of pressure for these young people, school then private tutoring on top of that. Then sent away from family to a boarding school. Imagine the pressure on them to be a 'success'. I feel sad for them. Many a boarder on the therapist's couch as an adult. You might think you are doing the best but only if you think success is money and jobs

@firesandrivers please see the pinned post at the top of this board. Boarding school is not for everyone but neither is a day school.

You might be surprised about Harrow, I think their process being slightly later means they appreciate that some boys take longer to mature and aren't as put off by the class clown aspect of some small boys!

Teddies is unpredictable right now as it's in flux - I was chatting to our prep school head last year on the touchlines who said that because it suddenly got much more selective when their new head came in, his advice to some parents was somewhat out of date and students that would definitely have got in the year before were unexpectedly out of the running. This does seem to happen with schools that come in or out of fashion though - Canford is suddenly on quite a few families' lists in our Year 7 and a few years ago Brighton had a bit of a moment.

@MuddlerInLaw you still can't prepare at all for the Eton list test (the one you take at interview). But for the ISEB some people are tutoring like mad. We found atom learning was enough but there will always be people who worry and get sucked into the tutoring arms race. I don't think that does kids any favours though for the reasons mentioned by @dancinginthewind .

I think then OP you can relax, I really do. These heads know the schools well if they feed there a lot . You know he is honest with you, as he said Eton and Radley were unlikely to be successful, so there’s no reason to feel he wouldn’t tell you if he thought DS wasn’t well positioned for these two.

And I really do believe that getting the right school for the child is important. Try to ignore the “noise” and out of control tutoring around the process and know that wherever DS lands has taken him as he really is, ready to thrive within his comfort zone with what they know they offer. I mean, we’d hate to give our post visitor a chance to say I told you so! In that sense you haven’t failed DS; you’ve maximised his opportunity for a correct fit.

And don’t rule out Harrow; the other poster is right about them structuring their process to let their maturity ripen and to give boys who fell through the cracks of the process another shot.

@MuddlerInLaw @Calliopespa
I don't think it's changed at all. When my ds c2 went through this horrible process it was absolutely normal for pupils at academic preps to have tutoring

They are now 29 & 31 so it was 20 years ago

Well I can’t comment on 20 years ago. I’m only going by what Muddler said which is that it wasn’t normal 10 years ago, in which case things have changed. It is very normal now in prep schools to undertake heavy preparation for the year 6 tests. In fairness, some parents oversee it rather than engage a tutor, but it is certainly normal that what is done in school gets supplemented.

Just a bit more than 10 years ago - we did no specific preparation for the Eton pre-test, and our prep (which sends loads to Eton) merely did a run through of the computerised test and one practice interview. Nothing more was needed.

(Admittedly child was in the top set, but Eton applicants were almost exclusively so.)

Ugh. Quick update - we have found out from a kind registrar at one of the schools to which he applied (thanks to those who suggested contacting them) that he averaged 90 in his ISEB tests. WAY lower than expected. Apparently, ISEB scores generally come out about 10 points lower than CAT scores but, even accounting for that, it looks like he had a particularly bad day at the office.

I am guessing that an average of 90 would likely rule out Bradfield and Sherborne - does anyone know what their minimum score would be?

sorry to hear that. helpful to have the info though - i'd recommend you ask for another meeting asap with your headmaster and share your new knowledge & ask for suggestions for other options that have a lower ISEB threshold.

Yes speak to him. The iseb is only one part of the things they look at. His cats are still very respectable for those schools and both those schools ( to my knowledge) place an emphasis on the interview. It’s not over till it’s over.

Sorry if this is unhelpful OP but given your location - have you thought or Wellington or even Stowe? I'm not sure if the former might be out of reach with those scores - but someone on here will - and the latter isn't super academically selective i don't think. Best of luck with it all. We're a little way behind you but I'm slightly dreading it for mine!

Ah sounds like he found it tough. Maybe just ran out of time or froze up. You said you didn't do much practice at all, did he ever do any practice tests to time?Or maybe he didn't realise you can't go back, so he skipped questions he wasn't sure about without guessing?

You can take the ISEB again, my cousin has re-sat in Year 7 for the schools that do a Year 7/8 entry process and on the back of that got an offer to Uppingham (having been rejected in Year 6 by Teddies and Radley off his Year 6 ISEBs).

Interested in hearing the answer to this for our own purposes. Our DS is currently in Year 5 and in the low 90s on his CATs. I'm relying on a registrar who places value on strength in sports!!!

Lots of schools haven't finished thier admission process. Contact Pangbourne and Lord Wandsworth and ask them.

He will find somewhere.

Don’t worry! Plenty of other super schools. Bryanston, Stowe, Uppingham, Oundle? Call around and also speak to your prep again for more help.

I really wouldn’t feel bad about not getting an interview at Teddies. I went to their Open Day recently, where they said (if I understood correctly) that in order to do STEM subjects at A level, you’d need to get an 8 at GCSE. It was a 7 for non-STEM subjects, I think. They seem to be pushing the academic side of things quite hard at the moment.

Lots of kids I know who’d once have gone to Teddies seem to be looking at Bloxham. I don’t know much about it, sorry, except that they definitely do a Y7 application process. Good luck finding the right place for your DS - it’s a stressful time.

Oh that’s a good suggestion actually. But don’t give up yet on Bradfield and Sherborne. The iseb was disappointing and out of step with his cats but it’s one part of a handful of aspects including interviews, which also made me think to ask did they do their own assessment as well? Lots of schools do now - which kind of defeats the point of the centralised iseb but in this case might help? I’d also flag his iseb to the prep HM just so he’s prepared if he gets a call to ask if it seems out of character etc. Best to have him looped as ( in theory at least!) the preps don’t get given the results.

Don't beat yourself up, @Elvisthedonkey and don't panic- there will absolutely be a lovely place for your boy and Y6 is not too late except for those schools that subject 10 year olds to their brutal selection processes in order to cream off the most academic as early as possible. A genuinely broad entry school isn't looking for just the academic superstars but those who will flourish in other ways as well. From my DS's prep year I remember that Sherborne took from both the top and bottom of the class- and the latter was not a sportsman or musician either, just a nice kid. Look for a school that commits to 6th form places rather than asking for 7s and above, that has a strong co-curricular offering and that offers BTEC alongside A Levels etc, because (however well they serve their scholars) they aren't relying on those and their Oxbridge/Ivy League destinations to attract new pupils. That's not me judging your lovely son BTW, but the reality is that schools that do trade on destination Unis won't take a chance on a kid and just see what they can help him become.

And this is where your prep school head earns his or her money- their job now is to be the Registrar Whisperer, particularly for pupils who have underperformed at ISEB or CE- flagging up to schools where your DS will do well, that he is a good kid they should seriously consider.