Can anyone 'rank' the SW London selective schools

[FlumePlume]

Inspired by the SW London thread, I was wondering if there's a generally agreed 'ranking' for selective schools in SW London? The usual advice is to go for three - a stretch, a should-get and a banker. But what does this actually mean in terms of schools? Coming from a state primary, the whole thing is very opaque.

have a good look at KGS
very easy journey from wimbledon

sorry am confused - you say you want I'd like to find her an all girls school for 11-16 which suits a serious, quirky, dance and music loving child.

but then talk about co-ed?

nocamping DD would (she thinks) prefer co-ed. I think that's because she just hasn't found any friends amongst the girls at school, and her best friend happens to be a boy. I suspect that she would find girls who shared her interests at a bigger and academically selective school, and in general I think girls do better from 11-16 in single-sex. So girls only is my preference, co-ed is hers.

Flume I'm aware that you're at a state school with no guidance, I mentioned that preps advise late in year 5 by way of explanation that year 4 is possibly a bit early to start figuring out which school suits her.

ps we were state primary too with no advice from school. actually they were a bit annoyed she wasn't going for Tiffin. That would have been a terrible choice for her.
The state heads don't know the schools. They can only advise based on where "children like your's from our school tend to get in".

Please don't ignore your local state schools. There seems to be some common belief on MN that because state school children can also get into good private senior schools prep schools miust be a waste of money. But if you turn the clock forward a few years you will find that the bright children who stayed in the state system have done incredibly well and better than less bright children in private schools and will go onto better Unis. There are some amazing comps in SW London who get DCs into top Unis every year so don't overlook them. Indy schools are a nice to have but not needed to do well in this area.
And having older children I see as the realisation of the huge cost of university fees hits friends who made sacrifices to send their DCs privately, many of them are now questioning whether they should have stuck with state schools as their DCs will have student loans because they have run out of cash.

Museum I may be over-preparing, I agree. But I'd like to get a sense of options to narrow down the open days that we then book to go to in Y5.

cake I'm not, and I'll go and look. We have two realistic options, but having met the Head of one of them I was not impressed, and the other has (accordingly to other parents) had a turnaround Head and its' not yet clear whether it's worked. But it's not primarily about GCSE and A level grades (although I disagree that a bright child will do well anywhere in exam terms, they might well not do well if they're miserable), it's about where dd will be happy, be challenged academically, have friends, have time for music and dance and all the other stuff she enjoys.

But writing a cheque doesn't guarantee a child will be happy, there are unhappy children in both sectors.

We choose the perfect school for DS in Y6 when he pre-tested for a 13+ entry but he changed a lot over the next few years and with hindsight a different school would have suited him better. He thought about moving for 6th form but has lovely friends etc and is very settled and he decided to stay put. Your DD is only Y4 and she will change a lot over the next few years.

There have also been a lot of DCs, surprisingly 7 I know of, who have been moved out of mainstream schools fo dance and drama specialist schools Artsed etc. Even schools who have a huge theatre programme are losing pupils because there just isn't enough drama/dance etc for them. So it may be worth looking at some of these as well if she is passionate about dance in Y6.

cake I do know that paying doesn't guarantee happiness, but it gives more options than the local two schools I mentioned in my last post, and that's what I want to explore. On the dance side, she's not got the build for a classical ballerina and and anyway I have a lot of misgivings about that route at 11 for all sorts of reasons. Arts Ed is an interesting idea, but a fairly long commute. But I would really like to find a school where she could do a lot of dance, drama and music there - it's what makes her happy and where she feels she fits in.

Alleyns sounds like it could be a good fit if the journey is ok from where you are (I know you asked about SW schools so maybe not) but co-ed, very academic and attracts arty children.

Otherwise co-ed options are fairly limited.

I think for SPG/JAGS these days you need CAT scores of 130+ so top 2% nationally .

In terms of music, it's worth bearing in mind that 11+ scholarship candidates need grade 5+ on main instrument plus probably another instrument at grade 3+ (suspect it is actually higher for the some of the schools mentioned). Not sure if you were looking at this route but either way it is quite indicative of just how musical lots of these kids are. There are quite a few kids at grade 4 in yr 4 at my DS' school.

eeyores I think Alleyns would be an impossible commute, but I will check.

I have no idea on CAT scores, her school doesn't do them (or if they do, they haven't told us!).

Her music isn't that good in terms of grades. She'll do G2 next term on her first instrument and isn't doing grades on her second as she's just playing for fun and so she can play in a group. Dance is her main focus, rather than music.

Latymer Upper sounds like a good fit.

Hadn't looked at that as its north of the river, but will add it to the list. Thanks!

The logical one is of course Wimbledon High, as its such an easy journey, but I do at least want to compare it to a few others.

Looking ahead, you could consider KCS for sixth form.

I have no idea on CAT scores, her school doesn't do them (or if they do, they haven't told us!).

INCAS/CAT/whatever are just another version of an IQ test. 130+ is exceptional, 140+ very superior AKA genius. These are the only standardised tests in the private sector, they're analogous to SATS I believe?

G2 is rather good for year 4.

I heard 125 is grammar school material and 135 is on course for Oxbridge.

Museum and Pop That stuff on CAT scores is handy to know, thanks! I wonder if I can ask her school if they've done any without looking like that parent? I'll think about it, as it would be good to have something to gauge where we should be aiming.Though our nearest grammar is super-selective, so I suspect it would be over 125.

On the music, I was just responding to eeyores up-thread, who said G4 in Y4 was the level to be on track for music scholarships, and she's nowhere near that.

re CATS score our state primary didn't do them but they did do PIPS or EPIPS in reception, yr2 and yr4. Apparently they can be good indicators of natural ability, particularly the earlier ones. My dd's school wouldn't give me the scores but gave me some feedback based on them. I only knew about them because a teacher happened to mention them.

FP-DS scored 120,now at Tiffin.

The Whitgift Foundation schools: Trinity, Whitgift and Old Palace in Croydon have a pretty good bursary pot which attracts a lot of applications to the schools esp from those considering grammars or good state schools.

cakes which SW London comps were you referring to please?

Graveney in Tooting is one of the schools that usually gets trotted out on these threads. It does get several Oxbridge places every year however that's from a massive sixth form (>700) and it's not really a normal comp as the combination of 25% super selective intake and their siblings skews the proportion of high achievers.

Well indeed noitsnot but I do want to hear cakes recommendations, particularly as my dc atended one of the Putney primaries and now they are 22 and 18 I am surprised at the universities the very cleverest children from their classes who transferred to Wandsworth schools are now at compared to the number of children who left those primaries at 8/9 who were distinctly more average and who are now at RG universities.

Some of the grammar schools do a poor job.

Tiffin - 51% A* GCSE
Hampton 68%
RGS - 80%

A 125+ CAT score predicts on average with no special schooling whatsoever, a 50% A* rate at GCSE, so basically Tiffin (boys) is providing no value added at all (especially as I suspect their CAT scores are rather higher than 125. They are taking in the very best and giving them what they would expect to get anywhere.

Also the Oxbridge stats for the boys at Tiffin - 9%, Hampton - 12%, RGS 28%

People are totally misguided when they send their children on ridiculous journeys or coach them for years to get in there. The school succeeds because of the children. Not the other way round.