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!

At Alleyn's and Dulwich College children already at the school are actively encouraged to try for the 13+ academic scholarships. There is also a 13+ sports scholarship at DC that everyone can try for. I’m not sure about Drama/Music/Art.

A friend's dc was full fees for 2 years at Alleyn's, and then on academic scholarship after that.

Soup dragon, so no scholarship at 10 plus but then reviewed and given one at 11 plus is it?

We didn’t do 10+

@ladydepp - think there is only 1 academic scholarship at 13+ at alleyn's. The dc I knew who got it spent 2 ys tutoring for it.

Out of curiosity does anyone know the full stats for entry points at 10+ and 11+ at w and t
How many wrote, interviewed and offered.

Some old stats looked like this, though I gues the sitting will have more than doubled by now :

W (10+) : c.225 Sat; c.150 Interviewed; c.90 offered (for 60 places)
T (10+): c.200 Sat; c.100 interviewed c75 offered (for 45 places)

W (11+) c 500 Sat; c. 350 interviewed c.220 offered (for 140 places)
T (11+) c 450 Sat; c. 300 interviewed c.170 offered (for 100 places)

The last info I was told for W 10+ was 162 sat, 100 interviewed, 80 offered for 60 places.

Don't know other age groups or T I'm afraid

The only stat I have for this year was 150 sat T 10+

Well those numbers sound rather low for sitting. I would have thought much higher . Granted, the boys were spirited away when we dropped off. When we came to pick them up from W 10+, they put them in this large hall for confusing optical illusion, but I thought way more than 200. It was really hard to tell at T though.

Also, though I know it would be way different for 11+, where we are talking over 1000 for most popular schools, I did not expect such a high gap for 10 +, as there are quite a lot of parents who try to avoid the 11+ nightmare.

Someone who works at KCS Wimbledon, told me they had over 750 sitting for 11+.

When I picked up DS2 from the sports hall at W, I would guesstimate that there were around 15 in each group.

I do know that there were 10 groups... J1 to J8 and groups A1 and A2.

DS1 is at W and helped out on exam day, which is why I know the approximate numbers

Well in that case, it looks like W applicants have gone down rather than up.

I believe they still had over 1000 applicants across 10+, 11+, 12+, 13+ and 14+... so numbers are similar to previous years.

The numbers I am referring to are 10+ only

We have scholarship offers from W and T but DS also has an offer for 13 + entry to Kings which is local for us. KCS has suggested going down the scholarship route for entry but this would mean another 2 years hard work for DS and even with the scholarship KCS would still be 10K more than T.
Really stuck between much cheaper T with a longer commute or local KCS but concerns over money and pressure .
Does anyone have a feeling for how pressurised KCS is and also conversely whether T would provide adequate stretch?

If your DS is capable of a scholarship
then he won't find KCS pressured. KCS is a great school for the right boy and the school is very good at spotting who will thrive there.

The only issue arises where boys have been tutored within an inch of their lives to get in. DS1 is thriving there. DS1 says that the boys that came in at 13+ fitted in quickly.

Definitely go local if you can. It makes early morning starts for sport sessions, trips etc so much easier.

Stourton we were told that 520 sat T this year for 11+, no idea how many offered places etc!

Thanks Sandy. No tutoring here . Do you have experience of the kings scholarship route. It looks overwhelming but Kcs recommended it on basis of performance in exam and interview. As not tutored not really used to hard work

Wobbly - am guessing you would be coming from a Prep. It will be tough. DS1 did a couple of scholarship papers (not the full set) and it was very tough. I'd only recommend it if he has a real joy for learning. Much better to do the standard CE. The scholarship would be nice but its not significant enough to be a deal breaker.

hello joining you very late in the game, congratulations to everyone so far. Question, DS has been offered a place for whitgift 10+ which we are delighted about. However we would like our DS to sit Common Entrance pre-test to give him some options at 13. Does anyone know if it is normal or indeed possible for some boys at W to do CE pre-test or is this really frowned upon? We really love W but equally don't want to feel we have no options for his to sit Common E, should that be the right thing when he is 13. thank you in advance for your advise.

hellllo, I can’t magine that there are many boys that start Whitgift at 10+ with the intention of leaving at 13+.

I wouldn’t think that W would be happy if they knew that was your plan, although of course they couldn’t really stop you sitting it.

If that is your plan, wouldn’t you be better off staying at/going to a prep through until 13+, that will help you prepare for it?

thanks meetie DS not currently in the private system so that's not really an option and we think W is a really fantastic school, but also we will probably move etc etc in a couple of years etc etc Do know if it's possible to do Common E if you haven't sat the pre test? i know they have recently changed everything. thank you again

I have no idea about CE, sorry.

But if you’re planning on moving in a couple of years, then moving to a prep that goes through to 13+ might be better(?) I can’t imagine that you’ll get any help with the pre-test/CE from Whitgift, anyway.

ok thank you meetie. if anyone else has any thoughts on taking common entrance when you are at a london day school, i'd love to know. the whole thing seems so complicated. it's like there are 2 different systems for public schools but they all play each other at sports!

Taking CE would be really, really frowned upon at W and you would get no help to prepare for the exams. I can’t see how you’d do it actually as the curriculum would be quite dioand very specific to CE. If that’s your plan you would be much better off transferring your ds to a prep now for Y6-8. The fact that your ds is not at a prep now is no barrier to moving him

Quite different and very specific..

To do CE route you have to have set pre tests for chosen schools. When you pass the pre tests you then select the one you sit CE for a few months before actual exam. So stay in prep if you want to sit CE. There’s no point moving to W if that’s your chosen route. Prep prepares for CE, W will not and you won’t be able to do it that way. Moving adds another dimension so you’d need to negotiate with potential schools you’d not preregistered with but at least you’d have prepped for the CE exam.

hello why aren't you happy with leaving your DS at W? He will be settled by 13+ and have an established group of friends, engaged in co curricular and he will be working towards GCSEs? You may find that he will be resistive to your attempts to move him elsewhere....why don't you enjoy being offered a great school and see how he gets on before making a decision that could disrupt him.