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7+ exams at Westminster, Habs, St. Paul's

135 replies

Biw · 02/01/2017 22:54

I haven't noticed a 7+ thread for the ultra competitive schools this year and thought I'd start one - rather late, I know!! My son is a very clever but unassuming little fellow, comfortably in the top 5 of children in his year group despite being A relatively young June baby. Our head suggested he sits the 7+. I have been supporting him myself with Bond books and recently having a go at past papers online from the schools who publish them!

My biggest concern is Westminster. As we've never hired a tutor and they don't publish sample papers I have no idea what the exams entail and what level it is pitched. At this point I am hoping some mums who have been through the exams can come to my rescue and share any information just so my son knows what to expect on the day! E.g. For the composition and comprehension paper how much time is given? I heard Kings College (unfortunately too far south for us) gave them only 20 minutes to write a whole story! Any other info on the maths and reasoning paper would be very gratefully received. Also is there some kind of activity e.g. Art they do on exam day?

For habs my son found the sample papers very easy. Is it really representative of the real thing?

Thank you so much for your help.

OP posts:
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Swift16 · 20/01/2017 10:40

TRL - thanks for the info! Its good to know there won't be days of waiting. But yes our feeling is these exams will be pretty extreme - especially coming from overseas for us. Good luck to everyone!

mam3xs · 20/01/2017 11:17

v useful info, ta.
saw some similar faces at habs, latymer and wus... tough competition, just can't believe the boys are actually just 6/7.
how was kcs this yr?
good luck to all boys!

Isabella1881 · 20/01/2017 16:20

Yes,thank god finished all exams finally...
DS said more challenge than WMU except comprehension and spelling.
How is he feel about the interview the other day? My one said can hear some boy's voice quite nevous.

Isabella1881 · 20/01/2017 16:25

Not that bad actually for each of them still will choose one of school finally anyway dont too worryO
I feel myself back to normal again and not worry that much any more ...before getting any result and have to change school strangely...

Dixie2010 · 20/01/2017 16:39

So it's finally over today! Hooray! Hope you guys and your boys have a fabulous weekend relaxing!

mam3xs · 20/01/2017 17:27

DS did mention comprehension was good, math was different but as difficult as wus....didn't ask him further, just want him to relax!
I'm sure will be anxious again next mon....tonightWine
Wish all have a great weekend!

Dixie2010 · 20/01/2017 18:06

Comp was hard for my boy - timing wise. He didn't finish the questions. But rest he said was fine. Gosh, waiting to hear yet again is painful. Wish our surname started with an A now! But I agree mam3xs, for now it is wine time! 😉

Biw · 20/01/2017 21:06

Sorry I have been offline after starting this thread in the first place! Did any of your boys manage to finish the maths paper at St. Paul's today? My son is a little unsettled after today as he's always on top of Maths even at Westminster. St Paul's seem to have thrown in a few nasties! He managed to finish the comprehension which I am surprised about as none of his friends did so I am wondering how good his answers were.

Also wondered if any of you have offers or been waitlisted at Westminster? Does the waitlist actually ever move?

OP posts:
Isabella1881 · 20/01/2017 21:47

My biy finish everything today but do mention maths and non verbal challenge.

Isabella1881 · 20/01/2017 21:51

Biw I remember westminster send iffer bext friday?? Or im wrong...

Dixie2010 · 20/01/2017 23:03

Drunk right now.....but Westminster post Friday and we receive by Saturday. Big love 😘

Isabella1881 · 21/01/2017 00:55

Yes,hate them not using email but royal email officially.... next Friday is far away, at least boys can back to school as normal snd I may rest for a while .......

Dixie2010 · 21/01/2017 02:15

Mine finished maths, but comprehension was abt seals... easy and only 12 multiple choice questions apparently, but mine still only did half questions?! 😩 Left the rest blank!

Dixie2010 · 21/01/2017 02:16

Yes I agree why no bloody email?!

Infopls · 21/01/2017 15:18

Biw
My DS finished Maths paper but not the Reasoning. Does anyone know how much weightage does SP give to Reasoning?
I heard from many of my friends that many boys found Reasoning difficult. They got like 8 mins to do 20+ ques for both VR and NVR.

mamioma · 22/01/2017 11:00

Did anyone hear about SP yesterday ?

Swift16 · 22/01/2017 11:10

We have. We are in the "overseas" bucket so were in the first batch. Received an email around noon.

Biw · 22/01/2017 15:28

St. Paul's - I am not convinced the reasoning paper was designed to be finished. I think they just wanted to test how much boys could complete in a short period of time and with what accuracy. My son didn't finish reasoning but he did not find the questions challenging. He finished comprehension but not maths. I am trying to keep positive as quality of answers is so much more important than finishing.
Now the wait!

OP posts:
Dixie2010 · 22/01/2017 20:45

Infopls, I have now spoken to a few ppl who got thro to interview stage/got offers at st P 7plus last year. Apparently, they mark all 9 papers and work out one score, then give interview to the top 50/60 scores. The remaining interview spots are given to those who achieved an extremely high standard in maths or English but perhaps didn't score highly across the board or had an area of weakness. Hope that helps. Good luck everyone. Praying there's no issue with Royal Mail tmrw - I know my mail comes super late, so the morning isn't going to be much fun!

Isabella1881 · 22/01/2017 23:13

Fog here.....HmmConfused

Clueless23 · 23/01/2017 11:30

Good luck everyone! X

Isabella1881 · 23/01/2017 12:02

Good luck I will get it tomorrow anyway....mailman came this morning with nothing....

njshore · 23/01/2017 14:49

Anyone else received positive interview letters? It's a yes for us and very relieved.

Infopls · 23/01/2017 23:02

We got a yes letter from ST PAULs, so relieved!
How to prep for interview???
Dixie2010-- your input really helps! Now i got to figure out which category does DS fall into. Any insight into interview process or expectation?

Dixie2010 · 24/01/2017 00:06

Hey, congrats to all the kids who got interview! Glad it worked out for you infopls. I've been pretty upset all day as unfortunately my DS didn't get interview and it was by far our fave school. Fingers crossed for the others now. Re st P intrvw I've heard from last year that they will quiz you on weak areas of exam performance, giving opportunity for you to respond. Parents interview counts for a lot apparently. General good behaviour and participation wanted by the boys, group exercise includes maths games and drawing games. Good luck to you all! X

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