Winchester College Entrance

[Winchester2019]

Hello mums,

I am hoping that some of the very knowledgeable mums here will be able to help. My son sat the Winchester entrance exam last week at his prep school. I believe the results will be published on the 22nd. Could anyone who has been through this tell me what to expect. What marks would be considered good or otherwise? Also how did you receive the results?

I think it's going to be a long week !
Many thanks in advance.

My son is at Winchester, he is in his fourth year now so things may have changed but I remember that we got his results by post on the date they said we would.

My son got a mix of marks down to a couple of Ds and no As. I have always understood that it is very unusual for boys to fail the exams, I think only one or two every couple of years or more. The results were used to put the boys in sets then there was a lot of movement after October half term. We have been very happy with Winchester and the progress our DS has made and the pastoral care have both been incredibly impressive. Our DS turned out to have talents we had never known and has excelled in languages when we had thought he had a science brain. He is a boy who entered with very average pass marks but who has gone on to be at the top of his year in many areas.

As I remember it the boys spoke briefly about their pass marks in the first few days and then they were forgotten. I am not sure good or bad really matters or exists, it is more about having the opportunities when you get there.

I will be thinking of you and wish you and your DS every success.

Thank you so much @abear for the detailed response. I feel that we have made the right decision in choosing Winchester for our son, hearing your story helps to confirm this. I am delighted to hear that you are so pleased with the pastoral care your son has received. My son already feels he is going to the best house with the best housemaster ( I"m sure all the boys feel this way).

Wishing your son continued success at Winchester and beyond.

I know three boys there and they all love it.

My DS2 the exam in 2011 our prep school head notified us that he'd passed as both my DH and I were out for the day and he also told us his approximate position in the cohort e..g top 25 and what grades he’d achieved for each subject. At the new boys lunch the boys did briefly discuss their grades some volunteered their results some like my DS who believes these sort of things are private detailed his only when asked. No one seemed to mind how well you did. It appears many boys do get a mixture of grades including a couple of Ds. As abear says they are then set accordingly. I don’t think long term it makes any difference what grades you get DS2 only got As and Bs but friends who got mainly Cs and Ds and were in lower sets the whole time they were at the school often did equally as well in their Pre Us.

Happygardening has a better memory than me! The letter was after pre test - oops, sorry. I now remember that when our head hadn't received a call by about 2pm that I called the registrar at Winchester and I was given the good news over the phone. They were just making their way through the list and my impatience got the better of me. They didn't mind. Apologies again for my bad memory. I am currently trying to sort out DS2 secondary school place and the anxious wait is clearly frying my brain.

Thank you both @abear and @happygardening .
You have been really helpful , best of luck @abear with your school place for your ds. I will be waiting anxiously for the news on Wednesday. x

abear The memory is not 100% because I thought the head called us because we were out and wouldn’t be in for a letter now I think about it Winchester must have rang DSs prep school and then he rang us; we definitely heard before 11am; I know that because I clearly remember what I was doing that day.
Good luck I also understood few if any fail.

@Winchester2019 I do hope you are celebrating this evening.

I have just sent you a PM , I hope you don't mind.

Hi ladies, I was wondering if anybody knows anything about Bramston house in winchester college. Has anybody had any an interview with the new housemaster? Any advice on the interview and type of questions etc? I head they always do poems, what sort of questions are they asking them?