7+ Failure

[phoneisoff]

Just a bit of a moan, but for those of us that didn't pass the 7+, I do find it frustrating the school don't give a breakdown , especially if you plan for 8+ or are keen to work on 'weak' areas looking forward to 11+

We applied for a big name school, didn't get past entrance exam, despite scoring 70%+ on many various test papers.

I just wish we could be given the score -, DS exam results were X% and we only selected pass of Y%. Or even DS exam results were X% but standards in interview blew him out of the race. Something like that would be so useful.

We put our tiny children through all this and have nothing to show for it, not even an indication how close or far we came !

I'm not going to mention the school except it's a big name in London/South East area , just a little p'd after registration fees, time, prepping DC and letting DC know its 'not the school for them, right now' a bit more than standard rejection would have been nice.

I'm assuming asking for test results is a big no no??

This post is just a moan, we only applied to 1 school which was silly of us, but we didn't want the pressure on DS.

I know I'm lucky to even contemplate private education in these hard times, and DS is currently in a decent school and has good friends, we live in SW London, so DS has so many options state, private , moan over....

You could ask if they can give you an indication of how he scored on the exams for example what quartile he was in? Are you coming from state? Many coming from prep prepare like crazy out of the prep (even though the prep helps prepare too!). We never did 7+ but know people that did. We did the 11+ and it was fine, so don't worry. Most important thing is knowing how to prepare (depends which school you aim for and how academic your dc is).

From state and started too late I think, no tutoring (apart from us). At least we know the task ahead for 11+!

7plus for a boy in sw London for a big name school without tutoring is a big ask to get past the exam stage. It’s a brutal race, the dc in pre preps go into reception being able to read and write so they can finish the KS1 curriculum by start of year 2. Have you followed the 4 plus thread? It gives you an idea of what pace these dc work at.

Just to add they can’t give out too much feedback because there are various reasons why they take dc thru to the next stage, for example if a dc comes from a pre prep where they will have been prepared for the exam the benchmark may be different to those coming from state. Private schools can do what they want when it comes to admissions.

Must be so disheartening but I think most kids are tutored heavily for the 7+ so the competition is so fierce and these big schools are so oversubscribed. 11+ will be much better!

I think many from state don't realise about the amount of prep many others are doing (esp from prep schools!). I was shocked. I was warned ahead of 11+ and even I felt I took it easy compared to others. If you know you will do it I would start light prep mid year 4 and pick it up more in year 5 (some even start doing loads from year 4). You will know how much prep your dc needs depending how they are doing with the mocks. Good luck

Thanks for the advice everyone, thanks Sampoodle , that schedule is useful to know.

To be honest I've really enjoyed tutoring DS, the downfall was starting too late, but DS seems keen for us to continue, it's been lovely working together , I'll think about a pro tutor come Y5.

Sorry to hear that it didn't go the way you were expecting, but the one point I can add is you are most definitely within your rights to ask for feedback from the schools. Most schools (even the top ranked ones) will provide feedback once their admission process closes down as they understand that people will want to reapply, whether that's at 8+, 11+ or 13+.

Yes, just keep up the extra work you are doing. Most kids enjoy it. I was always laid back with my older two and they were fine, but we never thought about 11+ until last minute for eldest. Once I knew we would do it, for the second I started his preb mid year 4...whereas eldest did not start until end of year 5! She still got her first choice school, so it worked out thankfully. But would not chance it if you want an academic school. My youngest enjoys doing some extra work, so I get her to do some extra math or practice writing.

If you’re going for the competitive london schools year 5 is too late and you won’t even get a good tutor. You need to start by middle of year 4 and start sniffing for names now of the tutors with a good track record.

This is very useful info, thank you.

Thanks. I do need to sit down and plan 'a route' , now our dream of all through school is over.

Well done for getting all your kids through this!

Thanks, but just 2 out of 3. My youngest is 6 so most likely we will go through it again with her. But, we are happy to at least have 2 out of 3 done and good results. Older dc are very happy at their schools.

Tutor here.
You need get a tutor for 11+ from mid year 4 and your DS needs to comfortably working at least one school year ahead. Another way of looking at it, they need to be working at the top end of greater depth.
Test scores need to be in the high 90s.
Sorry if that sounds brutal but that’s the way it is in my experience.

I agree with @dogsbowl you do need to start from about year 4. It doesn't have to be intense but a slow and steady build up is best.

@phoneisoff Regarding calling for feedback -I think it's worth a try. At my school our party line was that we don't give feedback, but if I got a message from admissions saying a parent would like feedback - I always obliged. It just gets a bit out of hand if hundreds start asking. You could sandwich in to an email by saying how you loved the school and feel it would be an idea fit for your son.

Good luck!

@Macaroni46 Thanks, I mean we were nowhere near the high 90s in our mock tests, I need that brutal reality check for my targeting for 11+

You can definitely ask – it’s not a strict no. I know of a case where a child didn’t get through at a very competitive school, and the parents were actually given some feedback with scores. Apparently the child did very well in Maths, VR and NVR, but the comprehension wasn’t as strong, which is what held them back.
So it can be worth asking politely – not all schools will share details, but some do, and it can be really helpful if you’re planning next steps.

Thanks for all the feedback.

We managed to get a place at a non-selective Prep, and will see how it goes from Sep!

I didn't chase up the selective big name school, water under the bridge now.

There is no big name school in SE London

My original post said 'I'm not going to mention the school except it's a big name in London/South East area , '

By South East I meant SE England. I should have written, 'it's a big-name school in London', that would have been enough, or simply in the South-East.

I think you should have written 'There are no big-name schools in SE London'
But although a cleaner sentence, you are still wrong.

Jags, Dulwich and Alleyn's are hardly minor, (I guess it's boils down to what your definition of 'big' is) and they are all in SE London, are they not? The clues in the post codes, SE...😒

You don’t actually have to put tiny children through this, you know.

Ignore that poster. They usually like to write things to get a reaction out of people. Look up their name and you can see they like to post a lot of nonsense like Kings is easy school to get into.

If you wanted all through school why didn’t you send him at 4? Also, there is no such thing anymore as parents can be asked to remove their children in yr 6 if they are expected to struggle in senior school.

Well nothing is certain, is it?

Our route was state till eight, that's all really.

Thanks @SamPoodle123 !