Top Set boys for top schools day or boarding only? St Pauls/KCW/Eton/Westminister etc?

[CatherineNichols]

Hi all,
We are looking at schools for 11+ /13+ and wanted to find out from those parents whose children got into the league table top schools were your sons in the top set in their year group? trying to work out if your child isn't in the top set or most clever in their school if it is even worth applying. My son is middle set on maths and English so wondering if these schools are a waste of time for us to even considering applying.

@CatherineNichols Yes. Waste of time! What does your school think? Ours had a scholarship steam. If you were not in it, you absolutely would not be aiming for the type of school you mention! However there are plenty of others! Boarding is easier to get into than day. So many great ones to choose from. Where do DC from your school go to who are middle set?

Is yourDS at private school? As they should be guiding you. My DSs went to one of the top flight day schools you list and actually I would say some boys from the middle set did get offers - perhaps on the wait list or later on, rather than in year six. Especially relevant if your DS has something else apart from English and maths that he is good at - eg science or languages, as they are looking for a broad mix. You won’t lose anything by applying except for the registration fee, so if your DS won’t be upset by potentially failing to get an offer, give it a shot.

Kids do change a lot over those years too - some boys who failed to get into these ones waltzed into Oxbridge later on, and lots of boys at these schools fail Oxbridge. Give it a shot, don’t make it be be all and end all, and be confident that wherever your DS ends up he will probably fare well.

Oxbridge from a top school anywhere isn’t so easy now. State school Dc get more consideration. I haven’t seen middle sets get anywhere near competitive high achieving London day schools. I don’t think they overlook academics very much. They have lots of bright DC not getting a place. So ask the school and go for what you will get.

DS was at a state primary school and obviously bored and not stretched. The HT told us to send him to private school if we could.

It depends on if it’s middle set at a very academic school or middle set being near the national average. If the latter then these really aren’t the right school. If the former it might be possible but still fairly unlikely as most come from the top 10 percent of the ability cohort nationally.

All of these have different types of entry selections, so someone getting into W may not get into Eton and vice versa. There's also context involved, with sports, music, national level achievements, interest in certain sports/activities, cat scores, reference letters etc. Eton tends to go for well-rounded students who have lots of different interests alongside their academic capability whereas the day schools are more academic-oriented in their selection. I would say, it needs more context and may be helpful to ask the school for specific advice.

Thank you he is at a independent school in chiswick and probably mid/top of middle set. I appreciate everyone feedback. I think after reading your comments I think we will pass and look at other schools for him as these probably arent right in the long run.

@CatherineNichols , if you are serious about the boarding g schools you listed you would be advised to move your ds to Tower House prep in Sheen. You could always enquire about an assessment for a place.

Surely your current school would be the best source of advice on his likely prospects? (Or are they ‘all through’ and not interested in helping?) Really it’s part of what you’re paying them for.

DS is at one of those schools and he was top of the top set at junior school. But they still stream and have 8 sets in some subjects so a fairly wide range of abilities despite being top flight school.

Ds was in the top set but not the very top boy. He was offered W but was also quite sporty and played an unusual musical instrument (not musical scholarship level).

One way we found out ds was in with a chance was that he sat the mock exams in yr 5 for a couple of super selective grammar schools. The peer group was fairly large and self selecting ie tutored, motivated kids and their families. He came very close to the top for both and did well in the real 11+ tests so we knew he had a good chance. Also CATS scores were high across the board in yr5 (137-141).