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.

Honestly, if a WUS parent thinks they’re feeling the same stresses as families going through the London 11+ process, they might be out of touch with what those families really experience. The London 11+ for top schools is a whole different ball game. Kids are preparing for all sorts of different exams, including some grammar school tests that can be tougher than those for the top independent schools. Most kids kick off their prep way earlier, like at the beginning of Year 5 or even before, rather than just waiting until the end of Year 5. They’re not just aiming to hit a certain score on certain type of papers written by their own school. They are competing with hundreds of highly capable kids for a limited number of spots. Plus, with all the changes in exam formats, parents and tutors often find themselves guessing a lot. The competition is fierce, with many more candidates than available spots—sometimes it’s like 10 candidates for every 1 spot, not 1 candidate for every 1 spot! Sure, WUS parents are totally within their rights to feel stressed about the additional workload, but I wouldn’t exactly feel very sorry for them compared to what I went through with the regular London 11+. Without the additional hurdle, would they be still producing the many senior school scholars? Hard to tell.

Sampoodle123's comments on the reality of the new entrants are pretty spot on. A lot of bright and motivated kids enter top schools at 11, 13, and 16. Many of these students come in from scholarship programs at prep schools after doing some lightweight GCSE level work, or they’re talented kids from state schools who might have had a bit of tutoring. Surprisingly high number transfer from other 4-18 or 7-18 schools too. Nowadays, more families are opting for a state (+ tutoring) to 11 instead of state to 7, partly due to costs. Bursary students are often incredibly smart too, and as kids grow older, the areas these schools attract from expand since teens can travel further on their own—sometimes even by train, plus there’s the boarding option for international students. Etc etc.

If your child has gotten through the 7+ exams, it shows they’re bright, well-prepared, live relatively close to these schools, and you’re able to handle the junior school fees. That means they’re set to receive a great education in a junior school, and that’s awesome! But honestly, it doesn’t mean a whole lot more than that. Talent keeps getting recalibrated, especially once they hit senior school (and don’t even get me started on university). If junior schools had a magic formula, they could take 200 kids at 7 and send half of them to Oxbridge.

It’s an endless cycle if you focus on academic achievement and where your child sits in his cohort, so I think it's much better just focusing on what makes your child happiest and letting them find their own pace and level. Be open to putting in some extra work if they’re struggling or if the school pushes them at times. They’re likely to do really well academically, but if they don’t keep up as they grow and the pool changes, that’s totally okay as they are likely to be still very happy —unless you later think they’d be happier at a less competitive school where they can shine more academically. But that's for the future...

Parents often say that they opt to do the 7+, to avoid the madness of the 11+. But there is no perfect route. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The downside of 7+ is that often children are too young to tell if a particular school is right for them. Their preparation, though often intense, does not necessarily teach them skills of self-discipline and ‘ownership’ of exam preparation and educational outcomes. By contrast, the kids who do the 11+ are more likely to have matured because of the experience and to have learned to work independently. But of course 11+ is more competitive and a kid may fail to enter a top school. In general, the best schools care mainly about the end-results (GCSEs and A-levels), not where a child is at age 7 or 11. And that is what parents care too when targeting schools. The thought “I will get my child into a top through-school early, at 7+, so as to avoid pressure down the line” is self-contradictory.

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are enjoying the leftovers with your families!

Do the exemplar papers provided by the schools upon registration mirror the difficulty/level of the actual exams papers? Just wondering as I’m not sure if I should go beyond what topics we’ve covered (basically all of year 2 and a bit of year 3)

Anyone here sitting the SPJ 8+ exam next week? Couldn't find a separate thread for 8+

We are yes, Although kings will be our priority but we wanted to attempt st pauls too.

Anyone going for Dulwich stage 2 tomorrow? Good luck 🤞

I'm actually really looking forward to seeing the back of the 8+ exams!!

Happy New Year! Some messaged me asking about our preparations for the 7+ exam.

Our DS attended a state school before joining a local independent school in September 2024. Both schools lack preparation for the 7+, so it’s all home-grown effort. He loves solving puzzles and reading books, and is about to finish the entire Harry Potter series. I believe it has helped in some ways.

We began our 7+ journey in January 2024, primarily using Atom Learning at the Year 3 level and Mathletics from school. To limit his screen time, we set a daily limit of 45 minutes during term time. Before his first 7+ assessment, he completed approximately 800 learning islands (covering Math, English, VR, NVR, and Science) and was rated Master in all subjects, plus 150+ mock tests on Atom Learning, scoring the top 12% on average.

In addition to online materials, we also worked on 10+ Scofield&Sims / CGP booklets to enhance his handwriting skills, covering Maths, Reasoning, English, Comprehension, and Word Puzzles. These are mostly done during the summer holiday.

Begin from early September, we’ve been giving him daily mock exams in Maths, English, and Creative Writing using only free sample papers available online. The goal was to help him grasp exam skills and work under timed conditions. He’s completed approximately 30 papers, with an average score around 80% before the 7+ assessment.

Since none of us are native English speakers, we hired an English tutor in December 2023 to help him improve his general English verbal and writing skills every week. While she didn’t specifically focus on 7+ content, she did conduct a mock interview session with him before his KCJS second round.

In general we adhered to these guiding principles:

1. Begin the preparation early, making it an integral part of our daily routine, eliminating the need for last-minute stress.
2. Our DS has maintained his commitment to music lessons, video game and football training sessions throughout the entire process.
3. We collaborate all the time to ensure that he comprehends the questions and answers thoroughly.
4. Lastly and most importantly, we emphasise that it’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t receive an offer. We encourage him to relax and find enjoyable ways to complete the exams.

I hope this helps. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any other questions.

Does anyone know what Highgate asks during 7+ interviews? Thanks

How did children find assessments today? Dulwich second round today. DS said it was ‘good’!

Same! Our son said he thought it was good. Said there were 8 maths questions to solve, some reading and then a general chat. They played tic tac toe for group activity it seems?

I would be interested to hear about the Highgate and City second round.
Any takers?

Did anyone have a second round at UCS today? My DS said that it was trickier than other schools and struggled to finish.

Can’t wait for this process to be over.

@familyguy83 DS found comprehension trickier, but other sections were ok. We have Highgate 2nd round this week, and City next.

Can't wait for it to be over also!

Anyone else at Latymer today? Just glad exams are all done with phew! Proud of these kids <3 and parents, too!

Our daughter did. She came out buzzing saying she made two new friends! So at least the process wasn't stressful for her. In terms of actual exam, she said she left 2-3 Qs in each. We did mild prep, a late August baby and are at a bog standard state school, so not really expecting to progress - especially when I see the very intense approaches on here. She's nowhere near reading whole of Harry Potter on her own! But we're super proud of how positive and cheerful she was, a real achievement to sit a formal exam at barely six years old! <3

That’s wonderful! As DH and I work a lot we also did what we could at home which was little and often so I agree fully with your thinking. If my DC doesn’t get any offers it’s been a good experience so we’re not going into the 11+ process blind, you know? Best of luck to your girl <3

Just to say I really do think prep varies and without any intended criticism of anyone else’s approach it’s not the case that only intensive prep (or fluent Harry Potter readers!) will succeed. Of course it’s each to their own, it depends on the child and what they’re up for doing, and if a kid hasn’t learnt a subject, eg column maths, they’re not going to be able to answer on it. But I have a sneaking suspicion that lots of those kids would also have done super well on less prep. And I totally agree with the massive congratulations to all of the children: to go in and sit those exams and come out cheerful is a huge achievement. They should be so proud of themselves!

Anyone sat the 8+ at SJP today?? How did your DS find it? Mine said it was a tough exam!!

Fingers crossed @SWlondonmum123 I wonder if the 2nd round will be similar to 7+ with no creative writing and no head interview for parents. Seems the new head is changing things.

The head was the same last year and we had parent interviews with him as well as creative writing, perhaps they're changing things around this year

My child found 8+ SJP verbal reasoning section really hard, really looking forward for all this to be over!

Any idea on number of boys who sat the exam?