George Watson assessment P7

[Dianaparent]

Hi there,
I have applied for George Watson assessment for my son for P7, entering 25/26. I started to worry that P7 entry will be very difficult, and maybe there will be no spaces. My son is on waiting list for ADHD and I am concern about his assessment. Does anyone know more about the assessment process for P7 and if Watson are neurodivergent friendly? I heard about verbal and non verbal reasoning as part of the test, is that correct?
And the last thing, do you think P6 entry more likely than P7?
I am sorry for my long post. Thank you in advance.

I wonder if my post visible, because there are no comments. I will post it again below.
Hi there,
I have applied for George Watson assessment for my son for P7, entering 25/26. I started to worry that P7 entry will be very difficult, and maybe there will be no spaces. My son is on waiting list for ADHD and I am concern about his assessment. Does anyone know more about the assessment process for P7 and if Watson are neurodivergent friendly? I heard about verbal and non verbal reasoning as part of the test, is that correct?
And the last thing, do you think P6 entry more likely than P7?
I am sorry for my long post. Thank you in advance.

Hi. My DD3 started S1 at GWC and did the assessment in P7 when she was in state school. She's not ND but I have heard they are pretty good with ND. My DD was one of the top in Maths and pretty good in English in primary school so I was pretty surprised when she was waitlisted. She did get a place eventually. I was also surprised that she is second to bottom set in Maths now when she was top in her primary school so I guess their primary school standards are higher than ours were. She said that they are doing things that she hadn't seen before. Maybe there is a gap because lockdown was P3-P4 for her and they missed some stuff. I'm not sure about whether it's easier to get in at P6 but I wish I had done the P6 route. They didn't do much in P7 in my DD's school and I feel it was a bit of a wasted year. What I've found in the past (my DD1 is ADHD) is that if you have any concerns, tell the school first, call or email their admissions team. It's also worth going to see the school first. Good luck!

Don't go to GWC they socially transed a child behind the parents back then told the sibling to lie!

I think it is easier on the whole to get in in the later stages of primary. Trying to get in for S1 is much more competitive. And these schools are genuinely hard to get into.

Hi there. One of my children entered Watson’s in p7. He is on the waiting list for adhd assessment and they are already dealing with him as if he has a diagnosis. They’re fantastic with him. He also has multiple anaphylactic allergies. He got on really well going into p7. His assessment was online though as it was during Covid so I’m not sure exactly how it works.
I have another child who applied at the same time for entry into first year. There were not enough spaces and so he didn’t get a place until he started third year so definitely apply earlier rather than later. P7 usually has plenty of spaces x
He is absolutely thriving at Watsons.

Fees at GWC have gone up a lot in recent years. Way above inflation. And if/ when VAT comes in I think a lot of families may be priced out (at least three different friends have talked about this to me).

So I wouldn't be overly stressed about their being places.

Can't help with the ND/ additional needs stuff. Broad brush strokes of the Edinburgh private schools is it tends to depend on how able the kid is and how much adaptation they need to "fit" into the school. Most of the kids I know in this category are academically very able but struggle with organisation/ social stuff and the schools were keen to keep them/ make minor adaptations because of league tables and stuff.

The only one who wasn't so strong academically ended up back in the state sector as they better met his needs.

GWC has an excellent ND reputation. I think this comes from the groundbreaking world renowned work a former teacher did on teaching children with dyslexia, and neurodiversity is often seen in those with dyslexia.