Highgate school 9+

[Zarian]

Anyone's DC do the Highgate 9+ yesterday? Curious to know how the kids thought it went. My DS' overall comment was "Not too easy and not too hard" - so basically that could be anything :)

Hi Zarian, yes, my DS did it and came out saying it was quite easy but then he said he didn't answer 3 of the maths questions as on things we/he had never covered and thinks he made a silly mistake on another question. Agree that it really could be anything! Must depend largely on how everyone else did and if there are some kids who got 100%. It also didn't sound like there was much of an interview or attempt to find out about DS's sporting/other interests which I thought there would be. Very nervous about the results and assuming he didn't get in. How much prep did your DS do?

Hi W&S, thanks so much for that. You're right - all down to how other kids did on the day. For my DS, maths is usually his strong point; he said most of the questions were straightforward, but there were two that he didn't know (one was a question on dividing up a hexagon, other was the last question, but he doesn't remember clearly what it was) - he says he gave both of those a go, but is pretty sure he got them wrong.
English - he found the first comprehension easy, and struggled more with the second one.
Interview - DS was in a group with 2 other boys, and any questions they were asked were based around the tasks/exercises given to them; no discussion of personal interests, etc. This sounded much more like a group activity to assess their problem solving and team working skills, so I am assuming that's what they were looking to assess?
In terms of prep, we focused a lot more on English, as his maths was solid. For the last 4-5 months we increased the amount of reading he was doing, and worked through comprehension exercises and essays in workbooks and past papers. Initially about 3 hours per week, and towards the end about 5 hrs per week, and the last few days nothing at all (other than free reading) to give him a break. He made a lot of progress in that time, which greatly helped his school work. But whether that was enough for Highgate, I really don't know - feeling like it may not be :( . Not looking forward to the agonising 20 days coming up!
How much prep did your DS do?

Hi Zarian, DS didn't do that much prep. He has had a tutor for around a year to extend him in English and Maths, both of which were already strong. We only decided to do the exam at the last minute so only had time to do one past paper from another school which DS did well in. His tutor has been doing maths/comprehension, essay writing etc with him. Feel bad that I didn't prep him more though who knows if it would have helped. Is your DS at private school? DS is at a state primary so school does not do any sort of prep for entrance exams.

Just to add, DS only did 1 hour per week tuition. Probably not nearly enough!

My DS is also in a state primary, and has so far had no prep for exams in school. So I did get a tutor for him, for 2 hours per week (which was included in the total prep time I mentioned in my previous message), mainly to focus on strengthening his comprehension and writing, and in the last month, more focus on practice tests.
If your DS has had tutoring for a year in English and Maths, and really strengthened his skills, I'm sure he was in great shape for the exam (even if he didn't explicitly prepare for it). The real advantage to doing practice tests is learning to do it within the set time - and if he was able to complete the tests on time, then he was p'bly fine without needing the extra prep. It's hard to get the right balance, and like me, you'll probably keep wondering if you did enough, until you get the results, but I'm sure you did the best you could.

Zarian, I wonder how many of the kids were from independent schools which had helped prep them for the exam and whether the school take this into account. You just don't know what they are looking for. Do they just take the top scorers or do they take into account the other parts of the assessment (e.g. the team building exercise etc)? Presumably the latter as why bother doing it otherwise. Am bracing myself for disappointment! Need to come up with a positive spin on it for DS although he is fairly upbeat about it all.

No school wants to lose a child at that age, so they won’t age helped them prepare. By all accounts the local prep schools are quite pissed off with Highgate for taking their best kids at 9!

Hi Pretending, where did you hear that? Think this if the first year that Highgate have a 9+ entry point. I was hoping it might be easier to get in at 9 as maybe people are less willing to move. We almost didn't do the test for this reason. Even if the local prep schools don't help prepare for entrance exams, presumably the kids there have covered more stuff so would have an advantage anyway? I know Highgate do take kids from state schools but maybe those kids make up the difference by a lot of tutoring.

It's the second and last year of the 9+ which is only to fill up their new building, its not a standard entry point. Prep schools will lose their brightest kids, probably not fill those spaces and have a hole in their 11+ results two years later.

Is it really pretending? I had no idea. I thought this was the first year and that it would be a standard entry point going forward. I can't really feel sorry for any of the snooty Hampstead prep schools for losing pupils. I find the whole idea of prep schools at primary level very odd.

Yes, they went up from three to five classes and rather than waiting four years for them all to fill up from year 3 they did a 9+ for two years, I'm pretty sure this is the second year.

Yes, to reiterate what Pretending said, the 9+ was only for last year and this year. However, I think they were/are looking to fill only one extra class, as they are taking just ~20 kids.

Yes, sorry my mistake, one extra class not two.

Zarian, did you get the letter?

We did. Unfortunately DS did not make it. Better news for you I hope?

Sorry to hear that Zarian. DS didn't get in either. Feel a bit dejected. Not told him yet. Have you?

From what I understand, a lot of candidates were kids of current HGS parents having a second go, so with that in mind (assuming everyone did equally well and giving a slight preference to current student families), there were probably only 10 places up for grabs. The supply and demand dynamics will be better for 11+. Never give up!

Hi W&S - we just told him today. Slowly eased him into it and told him more definitively today. Naturally he was very disappointed. But we also got him a small present to let him know how proud we are of the hard work he has put in and his positive attitude towards the whole process (and we really are!).
HoverParent - thank you for that insight; it is very encouraging to hear.
Moving on - 11+ will be here before we know it!