Entrance exams and current grades

[pinky1000]

Our DD is in yr 8 and we are worried about her progress. We are considering sending her to the local private school. Before starting the process we wondered what sort of grades she should be getting in order to do well in the entrance exam. We understand they all differ but just wanted a guide initially

You need to ask the school you are thinking of.

Thanks but just wanted an indication. Our DD is at 6a in eng, math and science

Depending on the school, Y9 can be a main entry point, but all the entrance exam rounds for Y9 admission next September are now completed (CE or school's own).

I think you'll need to approach your candidate school/s individually as entrance in non-standard points is likely to be by reference and interview.

It depends if, or how selective, the school is. They may be more interested in VR/NVR scores.

You need to find out what kind of entrance exam they have, as Year 9 is an entry point in some schools. They may also have allocated their places already, if they do Common Entrance.

If they do the common entrance exam do you think 6a would be a good enough level to be accepted.

We do not want her to be out of her depth but also we do not think her school is providing all of the motivation she needs

Common Entrance is a qualifying exam not a competitive one. All CE candidates sit the same papers, but then each school marks the CE papers of those pupils on its provisional list and all those who make the grade get in. Each school sets its own "pass mark".

Agree Year 9 entry tests took place in December/January around here then CE 2 weeks ago. There may be some places come up now if CE candidates haven't met the minimum level and 6a sounds ok but prep schools tend not to use NC levels so hard to cross reference. Very much down to individual schools as to whether they have spaces at this late stage and what criteria would be applied to an entrant from a state school. Proabbly woudl need to sit specific English, Maths and VR/NVR papers .

Schools that use the Common Entrance do pretests in Y6 or 7, where they will assess the academic potential of the student. They will confirm this via CE in June of Y8, which is an attainment test.

If you are going for an unusual entry point, they may do an English and Maths test, interview and a review of recent school reports.

Level 6a is fine for end-of-year 8, and bodes well for entrance to most moderately selective schools, although there will be plenty of cleverer girls, I would imagine.

I would imagine that any school with spaces to fill will be happy to take your daughter. They need to have as many bums on seats as possible.

Thanks. last post most helpful

Not every school pretests in year 6 for year 9 entry (though it is becoming the norm). Schools sometimes take a dim view of applicants after the examinations round - they won't run ad hoc exams and may suspect you had a reason to try to avoid the normal entry procedure.

That said, there's always wriggle room. A friend moved back to UK on short notice and secured places for September entry for both her children in well regarded schools even though her first approach was in July. The schools have the independence to be flexible, and are likely to know by now if they have spaces.

I'd suggest you crack on with it - if the school has a y7-8, one of the things they may want to do for assessment is a "taster day", and there isn't much term left to fit it in to.