7+ 2024/25

[Caps0218]

I haven't seen another thread similar to previous years, so thought it would be beneficial to start one as exams are now 1 month away.
I think SHHS, UCS, KCJS and WUS are all in October.

Also - Curious to see if number of applicants are down this year, with Labour's VAT raid.

For KCJS interview, they have asked us to go to the main entrance on Southside? Is this the same place we went for the exam on the Saturday, just seems there are so many different entrances! - Thank you.

Yes, our email says Southside as well: am thinking that main gate.
Ive been slightly reliant on the crowds of 6/7yr olds to confirm direction so far! But probably the interview day won’t be as busy with the staggered slots.

Southside is the main entrance - from the side of Wimbledon commons. If you put ‘Kings College School’ in google maps, it should take you to that entrance.

what time are your interviews?

So it's the main KCS entrance, not the junior school entrance. We are due in the late morning.

Yes main school entrance, main reception. At least that’s what ours says. The main reception area is a big one with two lovely ladies always behind the reception so will be difficult to miss :) Good luck!

So it’s a morning of Math + English + Comprehension assessments at WUS today - no 1v1 conversation with the teachers. My DS also said they had a music lesson which was fun.

The number of people attending the written exam did seem quite less compared to last year when my DS gave 7+. Did others feel the same ?

I think it was roughly 300 for 7+ at Kings this year. I believe that is down for 350-400 previous years. So VAT certainly having an impact.
Also no more sponsoring of Visas, means kids are not flying in anymore.

Sounds intense, like a more in-depth version of the stage 1? Were there any curveballs or were they typical classroom-based lessons, like what St Paul‘s say their 2nd round involves? I’ve heard there are sometimes unusual creative writing tasks..

It’s also interesting that the boys didn’t have conversations with the teachers: what are your thoughts on that?

I hope we won’t need to, but a part of me is already bracing for 8+ 😓

DS said the questions were much easier than the first round, and nothing particularly challenging. Seems the children had plenty of interactions with the teachers during classes; perhaps WUS is more interested in knowing their classroom behaviours rather than their family members/hobbies.

Good to hear the pressure eases and they’re interested in observing and interacting with the children in a more relaxed setting that seems to simulate a day at the school.
All the best for Monday’s results 😊

Seems these top schools have different methods, I suppose WUS and SPJS have to do some writing since it wasn’t in the first stage,
All 3 are great schools, very academic but at the same time quite different.

Does anyone know who the pair of children are chosen for the interview at KCJS?

Definitely not the same school. In our case it was totally random boy.

Same in our case

I wonder if it is one place between 2? Or both could be strong?
We went along in school uniform today and he met with another gentleman, not the Head.
One thing I did notice was the sheet the lady had when she asked my DS’s name.
Many kids in green, some in yellow and some in red. Some kind of colour coding. Not sure if anyone else noticed.

Is KCJS interview arranged based on grade in 1st round? Top ones early? On 5th?

I don’t think they’d pick one out of each pair.
did anyone ask when we’ll find out the results? The website says “mid-November” only :(

It’s really hard to tell, not sure what the method is in picking kids in each pair or on which day!
Although the colour coding, I thought, was interesting.
@2minutesplease my guess would be middle of next week.
@sweetcorn11 could be alphabetical, could be rank

Definitely not alphabetical, I know the surname of a boy paired with mine!

I wonder if it’s birth month?

perhaps it’s based on what school the boys go to. I doubt they would colour code based on rankings, they already know where the boys have ranked and have their references etc.

Definitely not based on birth month. I wonder all squirrel boys are all on 5th and 6th. I didn't see any today.

@SWlondonmum123 not sure but there were definitely many boys in green, some yellow and some red. Could be that green are fine, yellow and red some concerns?
@sweetcorn11 It was WUS 2nd round on the 6th, so they probably didn’t do any interviews, maybe 8+ or 9+ was done then.

It‘s based on school, all boys from same school have their interview on the same day. My guess is the colour coding on the sheet also has to do with school. Both boys or none of the boys from a pair can be taken.