Private school 11 plus entrance

[sittinginthesun]

Never though I would be considering private, and have no experience of it at all, but our local secondaries are massively oversubscribed, and there are horror stories about possibly sending children miles across the county on buses etc, so I am finding myself looking at all options.

Anyway, I just wondered just how hard it is to get into a private senior school? Is it just a question of what you are prepared to pay?

DS is only year 3, so ages off yet, but I've had a quick look at the entrance papers for Habs, and they dont look too bad.

just how hard it is to get into a private senior school?

How long is a piece of string? Some are highly selective; others will pretty much take anyone so long as the kid can write its name on the exam paper and the parent sign theirs on the cheques. Some have different styles of exam - from the trad 11+ IQ test type thing to open-ended creative writing where they are looking for interesting children.

FWIW, my DD went to a private primary; most of the children did one or more exam; no child failed any of the exams they took (though I think there was some tactful 'steering' towards appropriate schools); the only children who didn't get their first choice of schools were some of the ones trying for out-of-catchment state grammar places. These children had been familiarised with typical papers over the preceding term, not really intensively.

Really you need to look at the websites for your local private schools. That will tell you whether they are very academic or not and what kind of child they might be looking for.

"I've had a quick look at the entrance papers for Habs, and they dont look too bad."

But you are an adult with (I assume!) the benefit of many more years of education. You can't tell what the papers are like for a 10/11 year old.

Fair point, Soup, it's just that I've never looked at one before, and tbh, I thought it would be harder. It is mostly stuff that DS is covering at school now.

I think I'm a bit caught in the panic around here. A lot of parents are starting to talk about tutors etc, and it's really just considering options.

The school mine are in has 20 new places available for year 7 entry, maybe speak with your current school to find out where your child is academically and approach your chosen school also. (My primary school head gave me some extra tuition in my maths before my entrance exam)

In our schools case, those places are offered to to the top 20 children, (anything up to about 50 children sit the paper) it has nothing to do with what you are prepared to pay.

At the school my DS1 is at, over 600 sat for 100 places this year and my DS2 didn't make it (no sibling policy) so that shows how competitive it can be. Although they do all take more than one exam, so they offer more than 100 places.

At other schools, though, it's much less competitive and entry is based on the interview with the parents and the child and a report from the primary school as much as the exam result. (My DS2 is trying for a couple of these, so fingers crossed!).

By the beginning of yr 5 you'll have a better idea of where your child sits academically - go by the NC levels - if your DS is a good way higher than average, a competitive academic school would be an option, if he's bang on average, then obviously one of the less academic schools. Then get a tutor (I did this for the yr before the exams which are beginning of Spring term of yr 6) just to brush up on exam technique (or do it at home if you and he are able to do that without screaming at each other too much!) Until then, enjoy life and pity those over-tutored children!

It really is a local case of supply and demand to some extent. Some parents who could pay opt for free grammars if they can get them, some parents with children who get into grammar go for private with scholarship/bursary. Some papers are deliberately straightforward to allow as many untutored state school pupils a fair shot, others are designed to separate the wheat from the chaff quite convincingly (St Pauls Girls School has sample papers on its site - I reckon that there are a fair number of GCSE candidates who wouldn't manage the last few maths questions).

Habs is a sought after academic school so there is a lot of competition. Most 11+ papers start off with straightforward questions, and end with trickier ones, so yes, many Year 3 and 4 children could have a good stab at the first page, but the last 10 questions are far more difficult, and bear in mind that the majority of children will simply not manage to finish the paper, let alone get it all correct.

That said, tutoring from year 3 is madness unless the teaching at your school is very poor/non-existent.

Thank you, puts my mind at rest. I assumed we wouldn't even need to consider tutors until at least year 5 - he is thriving at primary, and also has lots of outside school sports, so I have intention of exhausting him with extra work.

I am just considering what options are open to us, and I have no experience at all of private education (both DH and I come from families of state school teachers).

Thanks again.