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Original poster

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

999 replies

Firefox1066 · 13/12/2014 08:29

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....

OP posts:
Original poster
Firefox1066 · 02/01/2015 18:51

Didnt they go to 4 forms at 10+? So I assume they must have quite a broad range of boys in terms of abilities and characters in the 80 or so that joined

OP posts:
omnishambles · 02/01/2015 18:55

Yes thats a good way of putting it, bright boys, quirky boys, sporty boys, none of them were of a type iyswim. They took a very broad range. We didnt know anyone that didnt get in for a full fee place either.

Original poster
Firefox1066 · 03/01/2015 12:37

Stressful morning in the Firefox household.....Firefox Junior did an English 10+ sample paper this morning in which he decided to not attempt the two questions on the comprehension that added up to HALF the total marks and then wrote one of the most meandering, half-witted, babyish stories I've ever read! I lost my rag...cue floods of tears from DS.

One of us isnt going to make it through this process alive at this rate!!

OP posts:
a2b3c4 · 03/01/2015 21:30

Does anyone know if for 11+ W and T, the VR paper is online or on paper?

Ladymuck · 03/01/2015 21:45

Paper, standard form rather than multiple choice. I think Trinity uses someone like Athey House?

Montagueterrace · 04/01/2015 21:22

Like to wish all sitting the DC test tomorrow the very best of luck. It's a big ask have all that revising and exam worry over the Xmas period but reassure them that they're all in the same boat, the school really does want them to do well, they aren't trying to trip them up and by lunchtime it will all be over. DS was very, very nervous before he went and very, very enthusiastic about the lunch and some top lads he'd met by the time he got home.

Seeline · 05/01/2015 08:59

Firefox - try not to stress too much. As I kept being told when we were going through this - the schools know 10/11 year old boys. They will be used to seeing all sorts of essays etc, and will still be able to see potential!! Having now got a DS at T, I can see that the staff really do know how boys work - the approach to everything is formed on this basis Grin

Original poster
Firefox1066 · 05/01/2015 16:50

Thanks Seeline... Definitely what I need to hear now we are coming down the final strait! As I said up thread, we forget sometimes that these are 9 (in our case), 10 or 11 year old boys sometimes! The schools, I have been told, are excellent at understanding boys, so I guess I'll just need to have lots of wine patience in the meantime.

OP posts:
Cloe489 · 05/01/2015 17:07

Hi! Just wondering how your DS found the Dulwich College 11+ exam today? Mine came out pretty confident and thought it was better than expected. But who knows with him! 1 down, 3 more to go!
Good luck to everyone.

omnishambles · 05/01/2015 21:30

Another big tantrum tonight. Like Firefox, am truly losing the will. Whats more I am inclined to think that if they cant be arsed to study then they dont deserve to go to a feepaying school. Grr.

I always said that I would either send him to a school I/he really wanted and not private for the sake of it but if it looks like the local comp is the only choice do I have the courage of my convictions or would I buckle and try for Emanuel at 13?

Ladymuck · 05/01/2015 21:56

I think that it is a hard time of year to study. Let's face it, most of us aren't exactly skipping back to work after Christmas. At the same time, from next September your child will have to cope with daily homework in a number of subjects, especially if you choose an academic school. If it is unbearable at this stage, beyond the winter/end of holiday feeling, then you might want to be careful what you wish for.

Whether it is worth paying will in a large part depend on the local comp. I'm inside our one regularly, and am aware of the budgetary constraints. I am very aware of what I am paying for. But we're outside the inner London weighting zone, and that appears to be a significant factor in teacher recruitment. With a lower than average sized yeargroup, and with most LAs having already commissioned new schools/extra classes to deal with next year's bulge, you have a better than usual chance of getting a place at a good comp, provided you have one near you.

On the positive side, because it is a smaller yeargroup, with more grammar spaces than before, schools are likely to err on the side of over-offering rather than under offering. Every school needs to be able to pay its staff etc, and they would rather work with a broader ability range than fewer children. In some respects this will be a very difficult year in which to make a choice: I think that the offers will be there, but it maybe harder to assess what the rest of the cohort will be like.

omnishambles · 05/01/2015 22:08

Thanks Ladymuck. Thats a very helpful summation of the situation. The trouble is that all of his friends who have passed all 3 of the grammars are still going for trinity even though they wont take up an offered place if they get Wilsons etc in March. For us though its the only show in town.

And the local comp is ok but can I admit that all the fees from 4-11 have been a total waste of money? He is fine with the normal school homework ( an hour a night) and music lessons etc btw, just cant cope with extra papers on top.

This whole thing is why so many of his yeargroup jumped at 10+

Ladymuck · 05/01/2015 22:36

"This whole thing is why so many of his yeargroup jumped at 10+"

And we can see the over-offering even last year at 10+. I guess that T may be cautious and operate a longer waitlist than usual (T really doesn't like going over its numbers). I wonder with the supposed scarcity of scholarships at 10/11+ last year whether the number will increase this year in order to be more competitive against grammars.

But that is a few weeks off yet, and there are this week's hurdles to overcome first. Good luck for the rest of the exams, and may the waiting period be a brief one!

Original poster
Firefox1066 · 06/01/2015 15:51

Best of luck to everyone and their DCs sitting this week and beyond!

For those who sat DC this week or just in general, what is the "etiquette" regarding clothes on exam day? (for DS, not me!!). T is on Saturday for 10+ so DS will wear his own clothes, but W is on Thursday... School uniform?

OP posts:
neanananaweek1972 · 06/01/2015 16:26

On the form for Whitgift it says school uniform. Shame because my DS looks really scruffy!! Hmm

Ladymuck · 06/01/2015 16:42

It varies by school. DC and W are uniform, T has always been mufti to this point. A couple of preps seem to believe that being in uniform induces the right approach (as well as being a useful marketing tool!)

Cloe489 · 06/01/2015 16:42

My DS wrote the DC exam on Monday and most were in school uniform as it stated that on the info letter. But those not in school uniform were VERY casual. Jeans, joggers etc.
My DS also writing Whitgift and Trinity this week! Ugh! So stressful...for me mostly!
DC says that interviews will be next week (he wrote exam yesterday). If interviews are next week it must mean that they will call (write??) this week? Would I be looking at a Friday call maybe if he gets to that stage? Surely they will need time to mark all those exams! Anyone gone through the Dulwich process in previous years?

Ladymuck · 06/01/2015 17:00

Most of the marking will have been done yesterday. VR and maths are relatively quick to mark and English won't be marked if the other scores are too low. It isn't an exact ranking exercise, more a case of putting the boys in certain piles (potential scholar, certain place, borderline place, not for us).

Montagueterrace · 06/01/2015 17:08

Cloe489, from what I remember you should hear by Saturday if he has an interview or not. An interview is a very good sign at DC, as they only interview boys they intend to offer to plus about 20 extra for a waiting list.

Cloe489 · 06/01/2015 17:25

Montagueterrace, thanks for the info. Let's hope for the phone call then! Do they start calling early in the week and finish the calls by Saturday? Or do most of the calls at the end of the week? If my son is not considered for an interview will it be a letter in the post? I'm so nervous for him!
Ladymuck, thanks for your input too! You have seriously contributed so much to these threads. Thx!! Do you think they only mark the English if the scores on other subjects were good? My son and a couple of other boys seemed to think that the Dulwich verbal and non verbal reasoning tests were not too difficult at all. Surprised me!

Montagueterrace · 06/01/2015 17:57

Hi, they post rather than ring at DC (just found interview offer letter from last year and it is dated 10 Jan). My DS thought the verbal and non verbal tests were very easy last year too. There were surprises in his year though, many boys who were thought to be very intelligent and dead certs for DC didn't even get interviews there (did at the other usual suspect schools – Alleyn's, Trinity, Whitgift etc). It seems they were looking for an aptitude for English last year but not sure if that will apply this year.

Ladymuck · 06/01/2015 18:34

Tbh don't know specifically for DC, but in general VR and Maths can be marked by any teacher, English only by the English dept usually, so there is a form of "triage" system operating. Most teachers want to clear their marking as fast as possible, so they'll have started marking papers as soon as the exam finishes. I have noticed a trend for schools to have their maths and VR papers earlier in the day, but would have to look up school by school.

Cloe489 · 06/01/2015 18:44

Montagueterrace, uh oh! My son is strong in Maths. Good in English but definitely stronger in Maths. He said he didn't find any of the Maths questions tricky at all but on the English paper he said he did "ok". There was a writing question on it worth 40 marks (!) which I thought was quite a lot of marks. In past practise papers the highest mark for a question has been 26.
We are doing Whitgift, Trinity and Kings (LONG shot this one!!!)

Montagueterrace · 06/01/2015 19:02

If he's aced the other three and did ok (and he's probably done better than he thinks) with the fourth I'd honestly be very surprised if he didn't show enough promise to get an interview :)

Montagueterrace · 06/01/2015 19:05

pretty sure that the verbal and non verbal tests at DC are done on the computer so should imagine they don't have a person marking and rather get an instant answer from the programme.