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...

That’s fabulous news OP! I had fingers crossed for him and wish him all good things for his senior school years - and am glad for you you can relax a bit!

Both great schools. Take some time to look at them both and pick the best fit of the two for your DS.

It's a full boarding school though and I'm still not sure that that is right for him

It’s great news that you’ve had a good offer, @Elvisthedonkey. But you hadn’t, as far as I can see here, mentioned any reservations about full boarding before? Looking at the schools in your title …

Anyway … Rest assured that even at the most well known of your original choices full boarding rarely means more than two and a half to three weeks at school in one stretch. (And sometimes annoyingly less.) There are so many exeat weekends, + weird odd Mondays or Fridays for reasons I’ve forgotten, + half terms + the usual holidays. Parents based in the UK spend half their lives thrashing up and down the motorway. And foreign based parents are entirely responsible for all the flight pollution in the world. Plus the fact he’ll probably FaceTime you two or three times a day - until he finds better things to do with his time. Plus the fact you’ll almost certainly be able to see him pretty much every week if you want - there’s always a match, concert, chapel, play, Sunday lunch to attend.

Assuming your son actually wants to board - which is what I’d assumed from your thread - he should be fine. (I’m never quite sure about weekly boarding - it slightly seems to miss the point and seems based on childcare rather than an actual ethos and rationale.)

hi Elvisthedonkey,

First of all don't worry about Radley, Eton and teddies, there are still amazing options that achieve great grades, Have you considered shrewsbury, charterhouse or Monkton combe? also all of the schools i mentioned above are academic schools without being overly selective!

Teddies has a really ambitious (and self-promoting) Headmaster these days who has pulled it up the rankings ladder, so suddenly the school has become much more competitive. (Word is, Headmaster is gunning to become the next Head at Eton, so going above and beyond to show how he can make a great school run well).
Many private schools will have issues if the incoming Labour government changes VAT, and I wouldn't be surprised if many parents who had thought that they would send their DCs to private schools have to change their mind in a few years' time, opening up more spaces for those students whose parents are willing and able to pay.

@cornemuse “Teddies has a really ambitious (and self-promoting) Headmaster these days”

😂

So true. I have never come across a HM more fond of hearing his own voice. They actually had a countdown clock on the screen at the open day, ticking down until he had finished. Every child in the theatre had their eyes fixed on it, praying it would go faster.

How did you get on in the end?

Brilliant news @elvisthedonkey and I wouldn’t be too fazed by the full boarding moniker - most schools seem to be much more relaxed than they claim… Sherborne is full boarding but quite local, so lots of boys go home for Sunday etc. It is a fab school and seems to have a big range, from seriously bright boys to those who definitely didn’t soar in their ISEB. They all just seem to be seriously nice happy boys, which is our top priority. We really liked it and it is in our top two. I do think it is ridiculous that some schools demand boys do assessments in Yr 6, they change so much in the intervening two years! How are you supposed to know what will suit them so early?
Sherborne is one school that also allows ISEB in Year 7, which is a big help.
On another note - I know that it is good to be realistic, but I wouldn’t want to put people off from having a go at the most academic schools. My boys weren’t at traditional feeder preps in Yr 6, didn’t do especially brilliantly in their ISEBs (certainly not 125), they aren’t particularly sporty or musical and one has SEN needs but they both apparently did well in their interviews without any coaching from us (apart from kitchen table questioning a week or so beforehand when we realised the assessment was looming!) both miraculously got into Radley and one got straight into Eton, the other was wait listed. If I had read some of the threads on here, I don’t think we would ever have dared to have a go. Luckily we were blissfully ignorant!
They did have some maths coaching for two terms beforehand as their tiny prep wasn’t preparing them (they hadn’t heard of ISEB before we did it) and we did Atom sporadically for a couple of months. I wonder if there is a possibility these schools have changed and don’t just want the super academics, they are looking for enthusiasm and boys who will get stuck in, as much as anything? Caveat - I do wonder if my boys’ novelty value (not being from Summerfields/Ludgrove/London prep) was a factor and if we will get a rude awakening when they actually start senior school and are faced with amazingly academic boys… 😬
Headmasters opinions are invaluable and we have actually switched them to a bigger prep school for year 7/8 so that we can pull the ripcord if he thinks they won’t cope.

Hi, my kids just sat their ISEB in year 6 for Bradfield. I'm pretty sure they didn't do well so I'm curious whether OPs child got an offer from Bradfield in the end with their 90 average?

Hi, I'm not sure that using language such as 'he just doesn't sound good enough' is helpful or accurate. Perhaps 'not quite the right schools for him academically' would be more appropriate. These schools look for a wide range of skills and personalities, and whilst they will have a minimum academic level requirement, which is perhaps your point, it does not mean that a child is 'not good enough'. That comment is perpetuating all the worst character traits of parents who have children applying to selective senior schools.