What kinds of pupils tend to get into Dulwich College at 11+?

[Meforthree]

Anybody have any thoughts on who does and doesn’t get into Dulwich College at 11+? I know it’s technically 6 applicants for every place but just curious about what grades and personalities are really getting in (and not)…? Thanks!

I wonder any drug test .
Esply for boarders
like most boarding schools doing

Mostly boys

Rich ones?

Rich, clever boys.

I am so fed up with Rich kids party and drug culture . Wondering whether should go to CV or oratory catholic schools instead .

Clever not necessarily rich boys.

poor stupid boys take drugs too.

Dulwich makes a big deal of the fact that a third of its boys have bursaries of at least 75% of fees. They go up to 110% of fees to cover trips, uniform etc.

So anyone giving a knee jerk response of ‘rich boys’ isn’t terribly well informed.

From the boys there I know, they’re clever (obviously), and they tend to be sporty. Lots of swimmers but that might be an unrepresentative sample!

I’ve heard that the interviews are lots of lateral thinking - big and interesting questions not just ‘do you know the curriculum well’.

I don't claim to be well informed on public boys' schools. But since 2/3 of the pupils' parents pay 22k per term if boarding and 10k per term if not, it is accurate to say that the majority of pupils are rich. Therefore that the kind of pupil who 'tends to get in' is indeed rich. I don't know why anyone would claim otherwise.

Farage

Why shall I cough out £ to contribute to other peoples kids bursary . I am not farage and neither do I have a big heart / wallet

Smart, hard-working, sporty.
That being said, I have a geeky, non-sporty DS and he has found his tribe.

Clever children do much better in school if they have a clever cohort. Kids tend to match their peers. You are paying to give your child a higher quality cohort. Without those bursaries the average quality decreases, as the children are replaced with wealthy kids who otherwise wouldn’t make the cut.

This is why schools like Eton offer bursaries.

Pretty frustrated by the general responses on here - this is the private school section! No one is making you read the queries here. Just absolutely no need to so many snarky comments.

Sorry this wasn’t meant as a response to your particular comment @VikingLady ! Yours is fine. Not sure why it’s come out like that!

Thanks! What sorts of grades were your DS and his cohort getting to get in? 120+? Or higher? And was there anything obvious about how the ones that got in got on at interview stage? (Compared to ones that didn’t get in?? But maybe impossible to know that one…)

They’re not that clever (although there will be super bright boys). Most of the boys we knew who gained places failed the 11+ for the super selectives and other Grammar school tests (they weren’t ever going to go to the grammars but used it as pre practice). So DC does well by those boys for added value at GCSE and A level.

There are all sorts there but my impression was that it attracted alpha male sporting types the most. We know some boys who were sadly quite unhappy there and didn’t fit in.

We were in a tiny school so he was the only one to get in, 135+ but that got him an academic scholarship so I reckon at 120+ a place should be achievable.

Come on @Henriettina if you have any knowledge of that school you know the vast majority of those 'bursaries' are really just 'staff discounts'. The number of actual bursaries which go to actual poor-smart kids is vanishingly small.

They look for scores of 120+ across everything or at least high teens. They want boys who are well rounded - so at least one strong skill / interest outside of the academics, ie: strong in an instrument, or drama or art and at least one sport. But the academics are a must. Interview they're looking for eloquent, confident, eye contact - all the usual job interview type stuff.

But poor boys can't afford to go to the school the OP asked about.

You mean for the rich . They need to pay to get the high IQ from the less rich like contagious airborne diease ?
Or
like a chicken pot party ?

If you don't like private education that's totally fine. But the comment you're responding on is totally clear what she means.

Thank you! I read the comment and was briefly shocked until I read your next!

I speak whereof I know, btw. I did attend a super selective private school and it was blissful compared to the comprehensive I had to attend when our money ran out. I wish there had been bursaries available at that stage. The school did try but they simply didn’t have any spare bursaries for my age. I can definitely attest to how much easier it is to do well when it’s the aim of your whole cohort.

Quite. My experience of it is also that, whether it’s a current pupil of 8 or an alumnus of 48, they speak to intelligent women who would’ve wiped the floor with them at school like we’re really just not as clever as they are.

Whatsver rationalisation you choose to tell yourself just to make you feel better .
how charitable You are doing the rich kiddos a favour . However I heard in some west London inde school . The bursary kids are still feeling very small and low self esteem and in anxiety of being found out they r on bursary .

everything in life has a price tag