11+ interviews for London schools. What to do??!

[crazymama99]

Hello All,

DS has 11+ interviews over the next couple of weeks at City of London, Hampton and Westminster Under. We received two invitation letters in the past week

Does anyone know what to expect from these or how to prepare? What on earth do they ask 11 year olds these day!

Grateful for any suggestions or advice...

thank you
x

surely the City exam isn't until tomorrow - how do you know you have an interview?

the ones ds has done so far, it has been pretty standard stuff: reading and discussing an English passage, a range of maths questions and then a general chat - what book are you reading? what's your favourite hobby? some current affairs, some general knowledge and a brief discussion of why they want to come to the school. There has also been the opportunity for ds to ask questions so just as well to think about that in advance - without sounding overprepped if that's possible!

I can't answer for the specific schools you're talking about though - you could try calling the schools f you're unsure? Westminster may be altogether more academically focused?

yes City exam is tomorrow so will wait and see about that...but Westminster Under and Hampton interview invitations came out this past week....and not really sure what to do there...would be interested to know really what the interviewers are looking for...yes those are the basic questions, and no doubt they will ask everyone similar questions, i'm just curious as to how they assess students..DD applied for Oxford last year and had an interview but it's quite different when you are 18

thanks for any comments!

It depends on the school to a large extent - in general they're looking for a good mix of pupils with a range of talents who can bring something to the school and who they'd like to teach. If it's a scholarship interview there's likely to be a lot more emphasis on academic questions - a bit like an oral exam as well as the general chitchat. It's best for your son not to go in sounding too prepared - just make sure he can talk about what he enjoys doing both in and out of school, can talk about books he's read and has a nodding acquaintance with the main news stories of the week, but they won't expect an encyclopaedic knowledge of current affairs

crazymama, I'm assuming this interview is for Y7 entry as you mentioned WUS and not the Great School. Is this for the exam your son took on the 9th?
Is he applying for 13+ entry as well?

The interviews will differ slightly depending on which track you're on.

yes this is for Y7 entry at WUS...from what i understand if, following WUS interviews, DS is border line for Y7 entry they will put him on a waiting list so to speak for y9 entry pending results of 13+ common entrance.

Thank you!

My son did the Y7 entry interview at WUS two years ago. it seemed to be more of a detailed conversation around interests and motivations...my younger DS had his eton interview last term and i found the 11+ past interview questions at My Tutor Club a very good source of preparation.

Only one more let to go now. DD has a couple of years to go as she is in Y3! Phew..!