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.

Kings didn’t confirm how many firm offers they issued. But surely they have over offered.

yes by order, WUS meant no 1 in the list gets the first chance if anything gets available from 22

by not ordered Kings meant the below.
My DS is on waitlist for both WUS and KCS

“That’s correct, our reserve list is not ordered. When making an offer to a candidate our reserve list, we take into account a range of factors including the whole scope of the assessments results, as well as considering the time at which the offer is being made and considering how the candidate would fit into the cohort of new pupils who are already set to join us.”

Ok - so with King's they want to have a decent breadth of candidates, so that for example if a Summer born declines, they have 4-5 Summer born kids on the list to choose from, they want to have a balance. So possibly 5 kids from born in each season.

I assume SPJS will do the same, possibly siblings and alumni kids being preferred.

Those are quite a few very specific assumptions. However, we are allowed to make imaginative guesses in our free time! The reality is that no one knows except the schools, as they do not owe us any truth or explanation, and no one will find out.

@user14809753 Indeed....but hopefully reasonable assumptions :)

Anyone? Perhaps I am on the wrong thread...

@GummyNut I think the North West London parents will get active from next week :) We are down to do UCS, but have no idea on apart from what is on the website.

Too much speculation on this group :-). I agree with the comment that only the schools know and they will never tell us how it all really works…as they shouldn’t. Where would the fun be without some mystery?

Does anyone know what was the cutoff marks for English in KCS exam, or generally how much is considered good enough in English for similar schools?

@San2023 I'm still waiting for feedback! WUS were super quick!

I think the cutoff depends on the cohort. If I were these schools, I would take the top (whatever number they need) regardless of the number of marks.

100% agree. That’s what they did many years ago….now it’s activity days and interviews etc…personally think it’s too much.

Hello @San2023 just joining the group now. May I check how far your DS got with KCS and when/what other feedback did you receive? Please don’t share the detail but just curious re how much they tell you..

Does anyone else also know if all questions in SPJ carry the same mark? There is no way DS can complete all questions.. thoughts? Why do they focus so much on reasoning? Do they provide a snack? Thank you

My DS got to the second stage of Kings, but missed out on an offer and reserve list. I’ve asked for feedback too, as it would be useful if he missed out due to stage 1 or stage 2.

@FutureWestLondonMommy no idea what weightings they give to questions or sections. But reasoning scores will be adjusted with age.

The top 3 schools have Verbal Reasoning in the exam, only Kings doesn’t have Non verbal reasoning.

What I find ridiculous is the emphasis on soft skills, especially for 6 year olds who will change significantly as they get older. Academic testing fine, but soft skills is a step too far at that age,

They said in the email to bring your own snacks.

Anyone giving Habs Boys first round test on Friday? I was reading on the website they only take 20 boys in the 7+ cohort, so assessment would be quite tight, I believe.

I know a few people in our school doing it. It’s probably a level below Kings/WUS/SPJS, different cohort too!

Does anyone know how many questions will be there in 30 mins math test having mental and written math? Is the mental math section online in SPJS?

I think it will be all on paper. Probably 5 mins mental and 25 mins regular maths.

So big advantage if you go to 2nd round and have not ticked Asian / Chinese in the ethnicity box?

Kings are giving feedback out early for those who passed first stage. It's useful if you're sitting for other school too. From their email it was clear how the first round scores play such a big role compared to the interview and activity day. It does seem surprising how St. Paul's say they don't look at the first round scores.

Even though SPJS said this, there is no way that if boys from 51-100 did better in the 2nd stage, they take them….not in a million years.
There will be a big difference between boys, say in the top 10 and those in the last 10…they won’t be giving those up.
This is the line they are using as it gives them more flexibility if they want to balance the cohort.

I guess we will never know the real ins and outs of what they do. We have to go through this process aiming for the top across all domains I guess! It's such a rigorous process now

City Junior School have added Dictation and Mental Maths to the exam list this year. Interestingly no rubbers allowed.

The assessment schedule at CJS sounds quite demanding - a 2.5-hour written exam with only two short breaks in between.

Nonetheless I appreciate how they provide a detailed explanation of the assessment process.