What makes a super-selective school?

[user149799568]

As opposed to a merely selective school?

I've seen the term bandied about a fair bit on these boards and am not clear on the meaning.

Superselectives have more than one stage to the 11+.

Isn't it picking those who pass a rigorous academic test based on score order, with no regard whatsoever as to where they live - catchment or distance?
Usually only possible in areas of dense population with good public transport.

I thought it was that super selectives didn’t have distance criteria or catchments? So if you get 100% in the test and live 20 miles away you’ll be offered a place over somebody who lives next door to the school and gets 99%. I may be wrong though as I don’t live in a grammar area.

A grammar school that only takes pupils who pass the 11+ with high scores. They usually set their own score

Yes - its the lack of catchment that makes them super selective. Only those with the highest scores will be offered places, regardless of where they live.
I don't think it's the 2 stage thing - that just narrows the field in terms of numbers.

They have no catchment, no pass or fail mark, no sibling policy

posted too soon...

no distance criteria etc. It's really London and its surrounds that dominate this area. Having said that Latymer in Edmonton is considered a super selective and that does select on postcode.

Super selectives have no catchment, my dd friends come from all over the world.
They are chosen on ability, and as pp said no sibling priority.
Mine had no academic testing but 2 auditions as selective in musical ability.

Is superselective a technical term?
In the London Borough of Bromley there are two schools which parents have historically regarded as super selective, although I don't believe the schools would call themselves anything other than grammar. One, St Olave's (boys) has no catchment area. The other, Newstead Wood (girls) has a catchment area of 9 miles. The boys' school has a two tier test. You must achieve a pass to move on to the the second test which is held on a separate day. For the girls' school there is one entrance exam. Both schools take from the top of the results list down, until places are filled (although Newstead has just changed its admission criteria for 2019 to give preference to Pupil Premium/Service Premium applicants who score in the top 350).

Super-selective go off score only, it doesn't matter where you live. DD has peers that came from 30, 40, and 300 miles away (grammar, not specialist school!)

Thanks for all the responses. Given the diversity of responses, I'm apparently the not the only one who's not clear what's meant when the term is used.

I've also seen the term used in describing independent schools, e.g., Westminster or SPGS. Would anyone who has done so care to offer a definition? Or is it just a (debatable) list?

In the private sector it really just refers to the competition to get into the schools. The schools are very selective because they can be. Their educational results and reputation ensure top class applicants in large numbers so they can afford to be “super selective”.

Privates are definitely not super selectives. Just a range of selection difficulty from super tough tests to if you can pay you can go.

They vary across the country

In my part of the country, which is a grammar county, the term super selective is used to denote a school that you can’t get into by just passing the 11+, you need a high score

Some SSs in our county have a proper toon of places reserved for catchment and then the remainder can live anywhere. Both require a higher score than just a pass

Proper toon = proportion

Obvs

Unlikely that there is a precise definition. I always took it to mean a school that was selecting the top 2-5%.

Selective schools, select but nothing like to the same extent. Hence the ‘super’.

user149799568

I would say it is a school that selects on score only, has no catchment, has no sibling priority and the number of applicants far exceeds the number of places available, like QEB, for example.

Hmm. DS's school does have a (massive) catchment area. Within catchment, places are allocated based on 11+ score. However some places are also allocated to out of catchment students - they have to get a higher score on the 11+. There are also boarders (state boarding) who also get places based on 11+ score - but graded as they would be within catchment, not as they would be as extra-catchment pupils. If that makes sense. You cannot apply for a boarding place then change your mind and apply as a day pupil, wherever you live.

So, what on earth is his school? A semi-super selective?

To me, it's a school that isn't in a grammar area, chooses what exam to give, has no catchment and no sibling policy. It purely selects on results.

Most in the big cities I think..

The Birmingham Grammars don't have a catchment, it's purely on who gets the best score. Their intake is something like the top 5%, not the 25-30% you get in some counties.

My son is at a superselective. Grammars and other selectives generally admit children scoring in the top 20% of their cohort whereas superselecrives admit those generally scoring in the top 5%

Generally on MN The ‘no distance criteria’ and ‘places allocated in order of score’ factors make a school ‘super selective ‘, In a typical Grammar, the 11+ is pass/fail, and if there is oversubscription those who live closest will get the place . Even if a further away person got a higher score. OR there is a catchment or distance limit, which limits the number of eligible applicants, and places are offered in order of score.

Super selective as a term doesn’t really apply to private schools. ‘Very competitive’ perhaps?

Interesting to consider where vocational schools would fit in this debate. By the criteria definitions here, they are super-selective.
And of course the term G&T relates to talent as well as academic ability.