The Trinity-Whitgift-Dulwich-Alleyns 10+/11+ thread 2015

[Firefox1066]

I thought I would take the plunge and start early the 2015 T/W/DC/A 10+/11+ thread that has become an annual staple MN!

This thread has been inspired by the likes of (among others) Ladymuck, Seeline, SoupDragon et al, who have been an amazing resources to people like me in previous years' threads.

Although T & W tend to dominate, I have also included DC and Alleyns as I know a lot of parents these days have DC's sitting for some/all of them.

I hope this thread will continue in the spirit of previous years' thread, with the support, hand-holding and knowledge that has been the hallmark of MN generally but this thread in particular.

Let the fun begin....

Letter arrived today(cautious yay!) Interview next Tuesday. Letter mentions asking DS a variety of questions, some questions based on his exam answers. As I know he didn't finish his Maths paper, am wondering if it will be maths questions. Has anyone else's DS been asked any Maths questions at interview? And if so do they given the DC the questions on paper or is it all oral? Not too worried about English papers as he is pretty good at explaining himself, but although he is normally very quick with Maths, sometimes he needs to see it written down to process. Tried asking when I called to confirm the interview but they didn't have any further guidance than what was in the letter.

We had some mental maths questions (w 11+). Nothing too awful

Whilst I'm here.....

Can I ask are people bringing something to the Trinity interviews or not? They didn't say when they rang but in the prospectus it says yes!

Thanksneenana. Ds's Mental maths are usually pretty good.

Same here, mental maths 10+ at W.

We are bringing something to T interview as mentioned on phone but also the email following the call Neana.

neananananweek1972 we had T interview today, 11+. We were asked to bring something and follow up email said to bring something as well but it said not too big or breakable, something small as it will just be used as an icebreaker.

BitbyBit Congrats! (Told you so!!)

We were told to bring something small to T interview, but it will only be used as an icebreaker and talked about for 1 or 2 mins. The lady stressed that it was important that DS's choose it.

A photo usually fits the bill quite well. 10 year old boys carrying 3foot high statues tend to stand out, not necessarily in a good way.

Yes we brought a photo and they only spent a small amount of time talking about it.

Congrats to all those at the final hurdle! Has anyone had a recall to sports assessment at W for their particular sport?
Ds1 had recall but I thought that it was because it was snowing on the original assessment day! Does anyone know if recalls are standard practice for final assessment I.e. if not recalled then not considered for scholarship?

Thanks Firefox -you did tell me so!!! very glad I'm wrong on this occasion

Anyone else heard from alleyns? They might have called earlier, but DD picked up the phone and when the caller asked for Mr or Mrs Emo said "hello granny" as the lady sounded like her! Apparently she said she'd call back, Dd didn't as who was calling, or take a message. Could have been a cold caller of course!

Burnt. Recalls usually in cricket, rugby, hockey and sometimes footie. Good news to get a recall but doesn't mean no scholarship if not recalled. Can be down to weather, as you said, amount of boys as assessment, difficulty in assessing (cricket with tennis balls at assessments and callbacks are in nets with all the gear!), more serious look at rugby etc. Good luck to your DS and hope your DS1 is loving it there.

Hi Nightmare - Thanks. Just looked back over some old threads and saw recalls sometimes after interviews (time constraints etc). Yes DS1 took a while to settle but is ok now. Hope your DS enjoying W life too .
I'm wondering, with the supposedly low numbers sitting this year and knowing some have Sat for other schools and some just there for practice, wether most interviewed will get offers. But does this also mean that the intake this year will have a wider range of ability than previous years , as the school needs funds but has a smaller pool to select from?

I think that they're already dealing with the wider range of ability through the new pathways assessment at year 9? So lower sets will sit 8 GCSEs, middle sets 9-10, top sets 10-12. And the Btech is back as a formal 6th form option.

Ooh, ladymuck, excuse my ignorance but what's the pathways assessment? Are grades going to drop as a result?

On a separate note - Saturday interviews - school uniform or own clothes?? What's the etiquette - wouldn't want to arrive over/underdressed? DS, of course, not me!

burnt I was at W today to accompany a friend (my DS's interview at W is in Friday) and spoke to a member of the admissions staff. Numbers for 10+ were lower this year but she claimed that they were happy with this because they had to go to 4 forms last year and she didn't think that was sustainable year in year.

However, she did point out that they are looking at around 75 places for 10+ this year. She said that they will interview the majority of the boys.. When pressed for a percentage she said around 75%. She also confirmed that around 180 sat 10+

Generally speaking, around 80-85% of those interviewed will get offers BUT the vast proportion of those are full fees at 10+

As league tables will now just measure the Best 8 GCSEs, I think the logic of the less able pupils only sitting 8 GCSEs is to ensure that those 8 are the highest grades they can manage, rather than sitting 10 but getting lower grades. So the % A/A* grade headline shouldn't go down, in theory.

I think if you read the latest upper school and sixth form curriculum documents, then it gives more information on timing etc. What isn't terribly clear is how many boys are likely to fall into each category - I guess there must be some timetabling constraints which means that it is easier to manage "sets" of boys doing the same number of subjects.

The sixth form booklet indicates that those sitting fewer GCSEs will need fewer points to get into sixth form, but will still need at least A grades in any subject that they want to sit at A level.

Probably best to read the upper school and sixth form curriculum documents on the website, but current year 9 pupils seem to think that they are sitting non-subject exams (so CAT/CEM/Fischer Family Trust assessments), and on the basis of those will be told how many GCSE subjects they can do. As league tables will now measure the best 8 GCSE grades, by ensuring that the less able pupils only sit 8, they should manage to get better grades in those, than if they sat 10. So I don't the %A/A* will go down (whereas it will be interesting to see what the impact is on schools where bright pupils have up to 14 GCSE results currently included in the league tables, but these will be restricted to the Best 8). The number of points needed for 6th form will vary according to the number of GCSEs sat, though boys will still need an A grade to sit the corresponding A level. Btech results are usually excluded form league tables, so no issue if boys sit those (equally I don't think that W gets fair credit for its IB results on league tables, but then I'm not particularly a fan of league tables).

I think the main issue with only sitting 8 GCSEs is that it gives the boys very few options (as a number of subjects are compulsory), but I know some parents who are looking into their sons doing an extra subject out of school.

Double post - sorry, though I'd lost the first response! Too many windows open!

Good luck for those facing interviews over the next few days. We had a Saturday interview at another school, and didn't wear uniform, which was the norm.

Firefox - thanks. That means 3 forms of 25 which is creeping up. Unless adjusted down to 20 at 11+?
With those numbers appprox 114 offers for 75 places , odds seem quite good if W is first choice. I was thinking that with the low numbers they would have to increase scholarships to attract the boys they want from the other schools. Does that make sense? Also may look at academic scholars over sports if heading that way?

Firefox that's very interesting and fits in with the amount of boys I saw when I picked up. I wonder why lower numbers this year? Let's hope that's good news. Our interview is on Friday. Then the agonising wait....

Locally it is a fairly low birth year for boys, and the local prep schools have always seemed to have spaces in this year rather than the years on either side. And there's an increase in grammar school places.

I don't think that W will feel under pressure to have to take 200 boys for the year group. 5 or 6 years ago there were often 170-180 boys in a year group, and it is only in the last few years that numbers of 200+ have been the norm (and that also tied in with bulge classes in prep schools). I think the next 5 or 6 yeargroups coming after this one are all larger yeargroups, especially locally where many schools had to put on extra classes.

Burnt, you may well be right in terms of scholarships. I think the difficulty for W is getting the level of scholarship right, given that there is a finite pot, and also looking at the competition. They have to offer a 20% scholarship just to get the fees below those of Trinity, and would need to offer scholarships of 30%+ to attract boys who have a T scholarship or grammar place. There is only a finite pot, and obviously they have the bursary places too, so they ought to be able to get a class or two who might otherwise have headed to grammars. I got the impression for the last couple of years that as long as they get a good selection of bursary candidates with a preference for W anyway that they've spread the scholarships more thinly but marketed the more academic aspects of the schools (eg the language courses, the new biodomes, the IB offering) so that they continue to appeal and get their share of very bright boys.

Emo76
Alleyn's called us last night about 7.30- it was a very nice sounding lady so sounds promising to me!