Advice on 11+ entrance exams for Radnor House, Farringtons and Beechwood

[Pigwig22]

Does anybody have experience of Radnor House, Farringtons or Beechwood 11+ entrance exams?

I’m wondering how much prep is needed for the tests and if I need a dedicated tutor who understands the tests or could just do a bit of practice through Atom.

My daughter is average academically and dyslexic.

Radnor is by far our top choice school, but I want her to sit entrance exams for other private schools too in case she doesn’t get in to there.

Would I be better sending her in year 6? There’s still a test but is it less competitive / more chance of securing the secondary place?

My DS sat the Radnor entrance a couple of years ago and found it fairly straightforward. But he’d been practicing for the 11+ grammar tests the year prior which he subsequently said were a lot harder! I think some preparation is a good idea but if your DD is average academically and interviews well (do they still interview or is it just tests?) and the school think they can support her dyslexia (make sure you thoroughly investigate how they would do this/if you’d be paying extra for support) she should be fine. Tbh I don’t think many private schools will be turning children down given the additional VAT on fees, they can’t afford to! My DS ultimate went to grammar school but Radnor was our backup, we really liked it.

From what I hear on the grapevine, Beechwood will welcome an average ability girl with open arms. Especially if there are no significant behaviour issues (e.g. suspension from previous school). And assuming that you have not been asked to leave for non payment of fees.

RH and Farmington’s should also be fairly straightforward. Yes to using Atom for some prep.

RH sounds like it would be a very good pick. Depending on your location, don’t forget Bethany down in Goudhurst. It has a very good reputation for working with children who have Dyslexia.

Yes I think it’s 50% on test and 50% interview and current school reference.

I’m confident her school reference will be good as her school reports and teachers are always glowing about her attitude and hard work.

I’m a bit on the fence on how she’ll do in interview. She should have plenty to say as she’s got lots of extra curricular activities and interests she can talk about, but she’s quite shy and is currently at state school, so I’m not sure how she’ll compare to kids who have been at private prep schools. Not sure what type of questions they ask so no idea how to prep her.

Thanks, no behavioural concerns - she’s regularly described as a “model pupil” by teachers. And currently at state school so no non payment of fees.

I’ll check out Bethany might be a bit far.

Do you think Atom is enough or might need a tutor as well? Thanks

honestly I wouldn’t bother with a tutor, Beechwood isn’t selective, Radnor is what you call “gently selective” as in they’re more about whether your DC is a good fit for the school rather than on academics/tests alone. Do a bit of atom and maybe some GL practice papers and I honestly think you’ll be fine. I would second a look at Bethany, my DD is dyslexic and we were very impressed with its offering. However just a bit too a far for us in the end, a real shame.

Radnor House is an excellent local school and if that's your first choice then I wouldn't leave it to chance and would go with some tuition to give your child every chance of success. Supplement that with Atom or younglearners (less expensive option) online study resources

The dyslexia element changes this quite significantly.

Preparation tends to be most effective when it focuses on building strategies for reading under time pressure and structuring written responses with confidence, rather than simply increasing practice volume.

Atom can be useful for maths repetition but does not usually address the English demands of all papers and school entries, which is often where marks are lost.

Having a skilled tutor would definitely help refine gaps that an online platform cannot. Whether you decide on using/continuing to use Atom or not, I would recommend maybe trialling out maybe a tutor or working with your child for the interview prep. It’s better to be over prepared than not :)

Hi - no experience of these schools but my DS applied to a selective school, and I was so worried about the 1:1 interview as he gets nervous, can mumble and say "I don't know" when he knows perfectly well what he thinks! He is a quieter child. I got a friend that he doesn't know to do a mock interview with him a week before and we practised with an 11+ interview book to talk about different things - what did he like about the school, what could he bring to the school, favourite subject, reading book etc. The school asked the kids to bring something to talk about (anything at all) and he chose a poem he had written at school. Apparently he smashed the interview! They said some lovely things about him in the offer letter!