The Trinity Whitgift Dulwich 11+/10+ thread 2014 pt2

[LadyMuck]

Anyone still out there?!

Ah yes,had forgotten about last year's weather.

So if there hasn't been a call yet,then I guess it would be a "no thanks".

All gone a bit quiet on this thread - I guess it's just a waiting game now! I just wanted to ask anyone out there if any DSs have been offered academic scholarships in their offer letters from T without having been told beforehand with a meeting with the HM? It still seems a mystery that some bright boys sitting for this test have not had any indication that this may be offered to them. It makes me wonder if T have raised the bar this year due to a high number of applicants? Any experience of this procedure would be appreciated!

Yes, I keep looking hopefully to see if anyone's posted anything diverting, but I suppose we're all just sitting miserably waiting for February 14th - or certainly I am.

Yep, it is the waiting game now. I think last assessments for ds's classmates were at Reigate on Friday/Saturday, so all over now. I feel for those who did Dulwich and CLSB as it seem like ages between the 2!

Certainly looking at who has and has not been called for interview, the bar for Trinity seems "higher" than at Whitgift at least for those coming from prep schools, as all the full fee payers we know got interviewed at Whitgift, but not all at Trinity. We also know of boys where the interview has gone almost exactly as Marni and Asterisk described - boys taken by interviewer, whilst parents invited by Mr B in for a chat in his office "to answer any questions" and he indicated boys were being considered for scholarship.

Still more waiting as most of ds's classmates have passed for the grammar schools but need to wait until 3 March for the first allocation of spaces, and then there is apparently a 2nd round at the end of March as people give up their grammar places in favour of independents.

Some of my friends with girls have already had Thanks but No Thanks letters. Makes it even more tense for them for 14th Feb.

I have a friend still waiting on KCS interview, but she thinks that ship may have sailed....

This is DS's first full week at school since before Christmas - no interviews, assessments or exams. Feels a bit strange, the calm before the storm.

lady Muck , Interested on your point sometime back on ability to negotiate level of a possible Whitgift scholarship .

I say this because We got great feedback re the high level DS achieved , especially in English from W, he got a rugby call back , he is seen as a good all rounder. He got grammar passes and W know this also , what scope and how hard ball can you play this scholarship conversation with the school.

I have no experience at all in this.

IME it certainly isn't a "hardball" game at all, more of a delicate dance. From the boys schools I've seen movements from initial offers of 10% or so, typically following a post-offer visit to the school to compare schools from which offers have been received. Currently the movement from initial offers amongst the girls schools locally seems to be higher (I've already heard an additional 20% being offered post letter but I think that they are having greater difficulty in filling all of their places).

If you don't have a second independent school offer, then obviously it is harder for Whitgift to justify needing to "sweeten the deal", whereas they are conscious that they are more expensive than Trinity, and would usually match a scholarship at another London school of similar calibre. There's not much they can do re Wilsons etc who are free. The top level of academic award would be around 40% - in general you would need sport and/or music to get to the overall maximum scholarship of 50% (though at this level, were you eligible for a bursary then you would get one).

Others on the thread will have firsthand experience of the process, and may be able to give a better feel for what the schools are hoping for from the current application round.

Don't have experience of scholarship system at W but DS1 got an 11+ scholarship at Dulwich a few years ago with a bursary. Both were quite small so I went back to the school to see if I could squeeze any more out of them. The scholarship was set in stone (dependant on their marks in entrance exam) and they seemed mildly affronted that I was asking for more on this (opinion being that they don't offer many scholarships so we should've been honoured to get anything at all). But they did budge on the bursary giving us a bit more. Don't know if it's still the same there now but for Dulwich at least I think the general rule is you can negotiate a bursary but not a scholarship.

Thanks so much, he sat Dulwich , Alleyns and W . Feeling is he MAY get a W scholarship offer .. Very much doubt the other 2 schools , although DC and As are on our doorstep , which would be lovely.in fact Alleyns ..may not be offered a place .. Competition is fierce. We are above the bursary line but not by much at all..so money is a big issue.

Also passed Wilsons , WCGS ans St Os and they are very much in the mix ...free and superb schools. He does LOVE W though ...sports mad child and they target those boys on all contact that Whitgift has with them . We will see but a chunk off the fees would make everything more realistic at Peacock palace.

Peacock Palace - love it.

To all the experienced /informed MNers out there - does anyone know if the interview letter for the 10+ entry from CLSB mention scholarships? Our letter did not say anything , just the date , time and duration (20 mins) of the interview ...thanks!

Certainly DibbleOfficer it would be worth ringing up for another look round once offer letters are out. But I think that it is worth bearing in mind that most scholarship awards will probably be in the 5-25% range, with I guess up to 10% of wriggle room.

[Love Peacock Palace btw. Must get it out of my brain though, as W is certainly one of our obvious option at 6th form for IB].

lady muck

Am waiting for a meeting at reeds re bursary / foundation place would not have dreamed to question offer but am hearing you can negotiate gently ?! as would ideally hope for 80/90 % bit don't think for a minute we 'll get it but 50/60 % would be impossible as daddy isn't contributing GRrrrr .

Never done a bursary, but I would certainly show a household budget based on your income plus any maintenance/child support, rather than showing both sets of income. At least you have a starting place for any subsequent discussions.

Well keep your fingers crossed for me am terrified what they are going to offer as DS has literally packed his bags already so can't tell him that I can't afford it gonna have to pull the belt in a bit tighter :(

Teddintonmum1 I was shocked at how the fees jump in year 8/9 at Reeds! How do they justify this huge increase?

Or maybe 9/10, going from memory!

Wanttoknow... Ds also got an invitation for an interview at CLSB and it was pretty much like yours. Date, time.
Out of curiosity does anyone know if they would give a breakdown of his scores if I asked?

Thanks.

Hello, I've been following this thread with interest. Lots of great advice.

My DS applied for 11+ at Caterham, he did the interview and exams and was invited to audition for music scholarship. Just wondered, as the audition was a couple of days after the exam, does this mean he passed the exam? We haven't heard from the school thus far.

He is not particularly academic and Caterham is aspirational for us. However, if auditioning means he passed then that is great news!

Dmummyd - well done to your DS. I know that if you don't get invited to interview you get relative rankings. Last year DS had a 10+ interview there and when we asked for feedback after no offer we were told how he did in the test and the interview. So ask away and good luck.

Neverberoyal, Caterham audition everyone for the co curricular scholarships, as the exam isn't the be all and end all (though you would need a reason as to why you've flunked it). They will have marked the exams quickly as I know the call to our prep head was on Tuesday, but it would make no difference to the music auditions I'm afraid (which should have all been sorted out before Christmas along with sport and art, but weren't!).

Out of interest, which type of instrument does your son play?

Ladymuck, many, many thanks for the info. For a moment we had hoped! Fingers still crossed for us then ...

He plays the piano, just this one instrument and recently passed Grade 4 Distinction. He has done his Music Theory to Grade 3 with great marks.

Need to start burning more incense and getting those prayers out louder.

Thank you Dmummyd. Am probably being very optimistic about a scholarship at the 10+ level at CLSB. I am just hoping he gets an offer ! Like others have mentioned in this thread, DS thinks he is already in because he has been called for an interview. No offer would leave him gutted!

Here's wishing your DS the best.

Our DS was a little gutted last year when he didn't get offer following 10+ intereview, but only lasted a day or two and nothing an overly generous present (PS Vita) wouldn't fix. Came back out of it stronger and put us in good stead for this year.

But doesn't come to that for yours.

^But hope doesn't come to that for yours