Academic assessment 8+ for choir school

[MollieO]

Ds will be doing this in a couple of weeks, along with his audition. Does anyone know how extensive the assessment is? Should I be doing any prep with him? I assume they are more interested in his voice potential than his academic ability? I'm also not sure whether to mention to him in advance that he will be doing an academic test as well as his audition.

Hopeful bump.

My son went to St Paul's last May or June and took their academic test. It was exactly the same standard test as he had taken at his state primary school the previous week. So we had stressed about nothing.
IMO choir schools are not going to put up any serious academic hurdles for a child who has the musical talent to join the choir.
Good luck!

Thanks, that's what I'm hoping!

Is your ds a chorister at St Paul's? I looked at it for ds but we don't live in London so I thought I wouldn't see much of him if he went there.

Mollie, no, my son did not get in to St Paul's. They turned him down after the second audition. This may have had something to do with the fact that he applied late, at the end of year 4.
Good luck to your child!

That's a shame. When I requested a brochure from them I got a personal letter from the head inviting ds to audition. He was in year 2 and I just thought that he was too young to be doing something like that! I was rather surprised that they would be keen to audition what was then a 6 yr old.

Well, I think they are far more likely to be keen on a younger child, for this reason: Six year olds don't tend to be too questioning, whereas my eight-year-old did had doubts about boarding away from home and it showed. The school rightly surmised that he might unsettle the others, coming in at such a late stage and with some doubts.
The slight shame is that my DS is now nine and a half, is said to have substantial talent, is desperate to sing in a cathedral choir, but we never found the right fit.

Actually I should add that if you are anywhere near Oxford, do visit Christ Church. We went to an open day, but met the headmaster, choir director and others and I was incredibly impressed by their warmth and kindness. I was so sorry that we could not apply there because it is too far from home.

That's a shame. Ds sings in a very good church boys choir (admission by audition) so if he didn't get into the choir school he would stay in the church choir. I'm keen to encourage him but reluctant to seek out places that would have a huge impact on our lives if he got a place. The choir school he'll audition for is 15 mins from home and seems to have a good balance of home/school life.