So where's this years Trinity/Whitgift/Dulwich/Alleyns thread

[soooooooknowwhat]

And any other schools you may wish to add... Have used threads from the previous few years as part of my research and ds sat Trinity today! I'm more of a lurker than a thread starter but decided to bite the bullet and offer a hand to hold. Good luck to all dc's sitting exams over the next few weeks!

Just back from interview at W. Very interesting actually and a very different experience to DS1. DS2 was asked about his essay and a also asked one (easy) mental Maths question. He was then asked about the usual "why Whitgift?" And hobbies etc.

Then it was my turn to go in and we were told that he had done well in Maths, VR and Essay with a slight dip in Comprehension. We were asked if we thought he was ready etc.

That was it. On balance, I came out a lot less sure that he'd get an offer. It that's probably because the interviewer didn't give much away.

Now the nervous 3 week wait!

Thank you soooowhat and chocolate W very valid points and it's only 10+ so we could potentially do it all again next year or maybe we will just stick with state schools as a lot less stressful!

W 10+ interview for us today. DS first choice.
Upon arrival I noticed that all Student appointment times were colour coded. DS was purple. Does it mean anything, or just identifying the person interviewing them? If so, who is interviewing which kind of students.
The teacher did not want to go into details about how he did in exams. He was super friendly though. DS not sporty or anything, we are not looking for scholarships.

The letter said he would be asked about his exam answers, but he was not. All just general usual questions about favourite subjects, sports, activities etc. - typically he forgot to mention some of the ones he quite enjoys, and I managed to fill the teacher in. All in all, I left feeling happy.
DS had another interview at a highly selective school and they asked him a few very difficult maths questions and read and comprehension poem, fortunately he seems to have known all the answers, so I was a bit surprised he did not get the same at W.

T 10+ interview tomorrow .

Hi - I think it's to group them easily for the interviewer. I think it's interesting how upfront people are about asking how their DS performed in exam. I accepted the generic response of 'very well'.
I never know how much to probe incase it's noted that they have a 'nosey Mum'...'could be a nightmare'....'no manners'!!!

Does anyone know if the schools standardise all their results like Grammars do? I am assuming some form of stack ranking is done and W did actually ask for years and months age on the candidate card.

Chocolate Wombat - I agree with you and thanks for being voice of truth and reason.

Really appreciate the warmth, openness and camaraderie on this thread.

inthe I know that T standardise the VR paper (as probably do all the other schools as well) as the papers come supplied with the mark scheme to work that out.

But I was told that T don’t age-adjust for the maths or English papers.

Heard from St Dunstan's at last with an academic scholarship interview invite for 27th- cheering news after having failed to get a DC interview! Trinity tomorrow - really is a roller coaster!

Wow that's great news Isa really happy for you and your ds!

And welcome Inthe! We're all in the same boat and it's one of those things that's not really appropriate to raise in rl as it's so stressful for everyone, so the mumsnetters really are a lifeline!

Delurking because this thread has been so helpful. ds also in the middle of 11+ and it’s been v stressful.

I don’t believe the schools do adjust much for age, according to his very experienced teacher. ds is very young for his year and has always been the baby of the class. He’s more than capable but doesn’t have the same focus and poise the older boys have. That could just be him but I am not sure. dd is at a very academic selective independent and is the youngest in her form despite being a February birthday, and one of the younger in her year, which I find interesting.

It’s such a challenge for them to stay on top of it all and I think some inconsistency in performance is to be expected. ds didn’t get an interview at DC but we know he did really well in two other exams, and well enough to be considered for a scholarship in one case. And that’s a very competitive and academic school. I suspect they don’t have random isolated days of brilliance, but do have random days of poor performance. So the occasional disappointment is to be expected.

ds was disappointed about DC, but I suspect that the standard is sky high, given they take boarders (and therefore have overseas applicants as well) plus it seems to attract a much more geographically diverse group than - say - JAGS. We were shown round at open day by a boy who came from Islington every morning. So it seems to be drawing from a large pool in that regard.

Welcome Pepe!

Thanks for warm welcome all and info about age adjustment. I totally forgot to ask at interviews I attended.

Pepe yes the catchment for most of the schools mentioned on this thread are wide, correlates with flexi boarding being a popular choice (on top of full boarding for overseas and countryside students).

Keen to know how much info sharing goes on between senior and prep schools when deciding offers. Do they engage if a child is borderline, either for a regular full fee offer or for a scholarship? Or is all decided in isolation with existing pupil report?
Our Prep Head hasn't been asking how the process is going and I've not offered any updates as yet. Not sure if this typifies others' experience?

Pepe you inspired me to post too. I stumbled across this thread and wanted to say thank you. What a wonderful group of mums, your posts have been so helpful and informative. My DS is aiming for Trinity, Dulwich, Alleyns, Kings and Emanuel. To be honest they all seem good and am pretty sure any of them will make sure he can read and write enough to hold down a job by time he gets to 18.
So happy to connect with other mums going through the same process!

Welcome Skelo! We have an almost identical set of school's to you. We dropped Kings in favour of another academic school although we are not holding our breath as ds found the exam v tough. We have heard back so far from Trinity, Dulwich and Alleyn's - interviews at all and scholarship interview at Trinity which was great news and a huge relief! We heard from Alleyn's early as ds applied for an art scholarship, was wondering if other people had started to hear yet from Alleyn's.

Inthe I haven't spoken to ds's prep about how we are doing either - I thought the input was more in terms of the head's report and then if your dc doesn't get an offer then the prep head gets on the phone to try and persuade the schools that a bad academic performance was just your dc having a bad day. May be that they are involved earlier on but tbh I doubt it, interesting to hear what others may know!

Well done and good luck to everyone with their interviews. For those with DS's who have T interviews tomorrow... Just wanted to say that my DS had a Saturday interview last year and, after what I read on here, was very disheartened as there was no meeting with the HM etc. However, on results day DS was offered an all rounder scholarship which was a complete surprise. So please don't read too much into the day of interview.

Well done and good luck to everyone with their interviews. For those with DS's who have T interviews tomorrow... Just wanted to say that my DS had a Saturday interview last year and, after what I read on here, was very disheartened as there was no meeting with the HM etc. However, on results day DS was offered an all rounder scholarship which was a complete surprise. So please don't read too much into the day of interview.

Thank you soooonowwhat and how exciting, wonder if we'll bump into each other without realising. We've not heard from Alleyn's, going to be an interesting week next week

Thanks nogoing that's a nice story to share as it's easy to over think interview. Got to the point where my DH and I had two separate recollections of the interview. Analysis paralysis!!
Did you apply for an all rounder scholarship?

Thanks soooooonowhat - I think you're right. Someone told me ages ago Prep Heads might only know the day before you do, whether your child is getting an offer.
Is there an admissions expert lurking that can shed light on the interaction between Senior-Prep schools? I think LadyMuck used to be a good source if she's still around?

inthemotherhood my DS applied for a co-curricular scholarship which he wasn't too confident about but we went for it anyway! He really enjoyed that process in the end though and also loved the interview (!)

We also waiting on Alleyns, letters to be sent by first class post on 23rd jan I think, fingers crossed 🤞🏻

isa2 thats great news. St D have been slow but my DS did the sports scholar assessment yesterday and we are expecting new about interview via email today!

We have our Dulwich College interview Monday - any tips very much appreciated!

Us too sooooooonowwhat!
Well from what they've said they have to read a composition and answers questions plus I suspect a maths question as well. General hobbies, sports questions too I would imagine. Just going to let my DS get on with it....so hard to prep for these things other than to be prepared for the inevitable is this your first choice school etc.

Good luck Tolacar! Yes, I think you're right, just want to get through this all asap and get to offers!

notgoingbacktothefuture - hope you don't mind me asking re the co-curricular scholarship? Is this at T? My DS1 has a small academic scholarship and a music award there, but didn't know they did all-rounder scholarships...
Would be interested in learning about it for DS2 as it doesn't mention them on the website...you can message me if it's easier.

Good luck for all those with interviews today!
School was very busy this morning when I dropped DS for a rehearsal...

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