CE for Eton

[Watermelonsalad]

Wanted to ask If anyone has any recent experience with this. Eton require common entrance to be taken in the summer term of Year 8 prior to entry with a minimum score of 65%. How tough are these exams ? I feel like the pretests and interviews have been enough work for now … and then there seems another hurdle to pass. There seems to be a requirement to do a lot of subjects too.
DS Is at a prep and will remain at one until he leaves at end of y8.
how tough are these exams ? So many end up scoring less than 65% and then lose their offers ?

Do many end up scoring less than 65% and then lose their offers?

No - they don’t!

Stop worrying. The school doesn’t give conditional places to boys unlikely to pass CE. The pre-test is the real entrance exam. CE is a hangover from another time and they really only use it now to assess where a child will be in the academic cohort on arrival.

Is your child at a prep that regularly sends boys there? If so, they know what they’re doing. Even if the prep doesn’t have a well established relationship with the senior school, they should be more than capable of getting a boy through CE - that is, after all the whole point of their existence, to prepare children for that exam.

I don’t understand your complaint about number of subjects? You’ve sent your son to a prep. Presumably you wanted him to have an excellent education, with breadth and depth in curriculum and teaching? That ought to be what you’re getting.

Thanks for your reply … I appreciate it and it was helpful . It’s my first time experiencing this process as I was educated abroad so found the contrast from 4 subjects for pretest to a whole load more for the common entrance a revelation. Should have done more reading about it I guess !

It is helpful to read as much as possible, yes. And to ensure that your headmaster / mistress is someone who will speak frankly to you.

Also - this isn’t the 1950s … I’d guess the majority of people going through the application process don’t come from families who have any prior direct experience of the school. That’s why they make the registration / application / open day / pre-test / interview / etc process so thorough. There’s every opportunity to learn everything you need to know.

What the pp said about the fact that Eton will not offer conditional places to those who are unlikely to do well enough at common entrance is true.

The only exception to that rule is the example of boys taking it this year, as many were offered places without doing the list test, as when these boys were in yr 6 it was the second lockdown and so they made offers based on Iseb and headmaster's recommendations only.

However in a standard year it really is just for to keep the boys working till the end of year 8.

There is talk of them removing the requirement for common entrance like so many other schools are doing, although anecdotally this is proving to backfire as there is no push to keep working up to the end of the year (except for those going for academic scholarships) and so standards of new entrants in September is much lower than they had been previously. So Eton may actually decide to keep it, and other schools may reintroduce it.

@twilightsleepiness - most schools, including grammar, give kids a little breather in Year 7 and 8. To develop socially and emotionally, extra curricularly etc. It might actually mean better performance in GCSEs in the long run.

They should all scrap additional tests where they are already insisting on tests in Year 6. I think it is too much for a child in the long run.

As all the kids are now doing Year 6 exams for all selective independents having an additional hurdle in Year 8 is somewhat pointless. Unless they still think it leads to accurate setting for Year 9. However, I doubt it.

I have friends who are teachers in two main independent boarding schools and both have said that standards on entry have slipped since common entrance is being phased out. And that at the end of year 9, those that had done common entrance or scholarship exams in year 8 were better prepared for how to deal with exams.

Some schools are now doing the Prep Schools Baccalaureate instead of CE, it's a good way to provide a record of what they've achieved through to yr 8, and many of the senior schools will accept it as an alternative to CE.

Hi, my son will be taking the CE for entry to Eton in 2024. He goes to a non-prep independent school. We are clueless about whether or not to look for a tutor who can help us assess how different CE is to KS3 curriculum. He is a good student and self motivated and doesnt require a tutor. However we are considering arranging a tutor who can assess him and find the gaps that he needs to bridge for CE. Does our plan seem sensible? Any thoughts?

Many thanks in advance

Hi Mostlymom,
From what I have researched, ( I am no expert here ) the CE curriculum doesn’t completely align with the KS3 curriculum. Does the school DS is in help prepare for the CE?
It is worth looking at the galore park CE 13 plus texts as well to have a look at the content tested.
Tutoring is a tricky one as there are several subjects being tested.