Grey Coat language aptitude tests

[al1979]

Hello all. My dd has a cat in hell's chance of getting into Grey Coats in any other category but the language aptitude tests. She's bright, top of the class bright but goes to a state primary so is not learning languages other than Latin which she enjoys. She has as much chance as any other bright girl so I'm going to put her in for the test. Does anyone have any advice to offer as to their format? Is there anything I can do to level the playing field with girls who are learning languages at school? Also, do Grey Coats give you the results BEFORE the submission date for the Pan London Schools Admissions Choices? If she were not successful, I wouldn't put Grey Coats as a place but if she were successful I obviously would! Any advice about the test would be greatly appreciated.

My DD1 is nowYr 9 at GCH -she wasn't offered a language spot we got a letter stating that she was unlikley to secure a space.
We took this to mean she wasn't in top 15 or in line for any of the waitlist spots for them - not sure how many they may have on the language waitlist.

DD2 - Now Yr 7 (Not GCH) did pass the language test and we got a congratulations you have a top 15 spot.

We only speak English at home and other language exposure at primary was limited to a little Spanish on adhoc basis.
DD2 said it they were given words in a made up vocab and then asked to answer questions using the given vocab - She enjoyed doing it and I think she might have answered all the questions.

She is now doing French & Latin in secondary and seems to be doing quite well with them. Will find out next week as first parent/ teacher meeting.

I've seen notes on other posts that some boroughs are allowing amendments to application if you want to change order of schools after results are released for banding etc. up to 10th december because some results may have been delayed due to Covid. Not sure how accurate this is.

We never got told actual scores for either banding test or language test for either

Do we get 2 emails from them? I got one last week stating she is unlikely to be offered one of the 15 places. Does another one get sent out regarding the waiting list?

@cochola

Thanks *@marymonte* I'll keep knocking that door.

good luck!

Hi, I am totally confused, could someone please explain? We did the language aptitude test but didn’t hear anything. Did everyone get an email, or do you only hear from them if you have chased them?

Check your spam folder. You should have got an email.

Everyone gets an answer so you should have too...

Hello, need some advice please, we made an application for secondary school on time but just realised we forgot to attach proof of address. We received text and email that application submitted. What do you think we should do? Thank you for your feedback.

Contact the admissions office of your local council and make sure they have all your info. They normally chase you up when something crucial is missing... but I would double check asap.

I'm not sure of the answer; there are quite a few admission experts who will hopefully pop in.

When we applied we didn't have to provide any proof. Is the LA requesting this?

That’s amazing news!! Did you prepare her somehow? Did you use the website suggested above by a mum? Pls any info could be vital, mine will try the test this autumn coming for a September 2022 start.

My children were offered places and their primary is amongst the top in the country by SAT results. So this is not personal for me.

Linguistic evidence shows that language learning aptitude is influenced by experience, eg. by growing up bilingual. Therefore I find it strange that trilingual children who get top scores in their SATs don't pass that language test.

I got into greycoats via the language test..some years ago now lol but it doesn't seem to have changed. Its based on logic and you given a completely made up language which you basically have to translate to english and vice versa ..in a nutshell.

I pretty much had zero other chance of getting in and wasn't the brightest however at interview stage they recommended my mum put me forward. I knew 2 other girls who also took it however they didn't get in.

I would strongly recommend putting your daughter forward. Its only 15 places but you never know ! I had a great school experience at grey coats and always recommend

Does anyone know if Greycoats interview during the application process? As @indie123 mentioned she did one, but the Head at our primary has never heard of them doing interviews. Has this been phased out?
My DD will be doing the language test on the 22nd and I’m as confused as most people seem to be re admissions. The whole process seems to be as confusing as possible…
Girls from DD’s school do tend to get places (4 last year, 6 the year before), but DD isn’t in the top of her class re SATS marks, so I’m a bit worried about her likelihood of passing this test.
Regarding prep - aside from looking at the links given by previous posters - is there anything I can do to help her prep? The examples given on those links are baffling even for me, never mind a 10 year old 😬

I’m pretty sure interviews are banned for admission to state school. Probably a n the School Admissions Code. I know of schools that used to interview but it’s an unfair form of cherry picking so now banned.

I think those state schools which do language tests try to make them as much about 'talent' rather than learned skills as possible. A key part of this is not putting past tests in the public domain.

My DS did one recently. He reckoned the test was in three sections. His version of events was a little garbled, I did my best to transcribe it.

Picture codes – e.g. stuff like big dog, small dog, big horse, small horse, small pig… if small dog means ‘HY’ then, etc.

English word meanings - testing your vocabulary.

Letter codes – fairly standard in verbal reasoning type tests, e.g. if XY means 'it' then BY means 'at' or whatever...

It's possible that there may be a listening element or a 'looking at the blackboard' type element so the kid's distance sight & hearing may need to be good.

@Camdenish thank you. There’s no mention of it on the school admission policy, so perhaps this has been phased out.

@puffyisgood thanks for the insight.
How many questions did your DS have to do altogether/how long to do each section?

[quote tigerbear]@Camdenish thank you. There’s no mention of it on the school admission policy, so perhaps this has been phased out.

@puffyisgood thanks for the insight.
How many questions did your DS have to do altogether/how long to do each section?[/quote]
The whole thing was an hour but IDK the breakdown, sorry.

There is no interview for GCH. The children can sit a language aptitude test, which is a made up language that they have to decipher. For want of a better word it is an IQ test. They don't have to sit the test though, it is not compulsory. They must however, sit the banding test. There are a few places for the language test so if you've no chance of a church place or live within very close proximity to the school it's worth a shot. Good luck.

Thanks @MrPanks my DD sat the language test yesterday and said it wasn’t too bad, so fingers crossed 🙏