Reeds School 11+ exam

[somekindofmagic]

Hello, Does anyone have any experience or advice to offer on the 11 plus exam at Reeds? ie level of difficulty, insights into maths/English papers, relevant level of practice papers etc.

Particularly interested to hear from anyone with a DS who has sat the exam in recent years.

Thanks in advance.

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Lots of views but no comments 🤔 Does anyone at least want to chat about Reeds if you’re considering it?

Hi OP, my son took the exam (and various other ones) this year. I've had a quick look at the 11+ section of the Reeds' website and I think the exam might be a bit different from last year. Apparently there's a mostly multiple choice paper with a mix of maths, english, VR and non-VR then a creative writing task and an interview. They'll publish a sample nearer the time.
Last year, I went through the various school admissions sites and made a list of who tested what (most that time didn't test non-VR), which did multiple choice English/proper sentence answer papers etc. My son's feedback was that the papers weren't as hard as some he sat for which strangely didn't really suit him - he's absolutely no genius but is better at some of the more conceptual stuff, rubbish at basic times tables!
Where else are you looking at?

Hi GU24mum, thx so much for responding! And thx for taking the time to look at the website... I really appreciate your feedback. 😊
Yes I saw from the website it’s a fairly long 75 min test on maths/English/VR/NVR! Comparatively, that’s quite an unusual format. Most don’t test NVR and most break the English and Maths into separate tests.
Anyhow, I was interested in the comparative difficulty level I guess. From what little I can glean anecdotally Reeds may not be as hard as Hampton, which we are also looking at. DS is bright and in top of 3 of his class but still, they’re only 10! It all depends on the day really.
Must say we all loved Reeds! We are looking at Claremont too.
It’s interesting and good to hear that your DS didn’t find Reeds as hard. Do you mind me asking where he chose in the end?

It’s a pretty brutal process isn’t it! I’ll be glad when it’s over.

@somekindofmagic best of luck for the coming months,
yes it looks like Reeds have revised their entrance exam for 2019 so at least everyone will be in the same boat.
Hampton are looking for bright all rounders, your ds needs to be equally strong in English and maths. Carefully study the reading list for pre-admission on the school website admissions section for ideas of books for your son to read in the run up to the exam period.

You might want to consider St Johns or Epsom College too unless you have a state school back up option.

HI OP, I'll PM you and let you know where we ended up!

Hampton, Reeds and Claremont is a very wide range in terms of what you're likely to get into. It's probably quite unusual to have Hampton and Claremont in the same set of exams though either with Reeds is more usual.

Thx for the PM GU24!

Yes I agree we are looking at a wide range of schools academically. But with valid reasons. Having sat the 10+ last year at H and receiving great feedback, though unsuccessful, we are keeping Hampton in the mix... for a long while it was our first choice. But we are beginning to swing away from it due to feeling DS will suit a less fast-paced environment, academically.

CFC was never on my radar but my perception did a 180 after attending an open day. I think it’s an exciting time for the school and most definitely on the up in terms of academics.

Let’s face it... the demand for places, at least in Surrey and SW London, these days far outstrips the supply so naturally DCs who would’ve previously gone to Hampton/KCS/KGS etc are spilling into the Reeds/St Johns etc and therefore now Claremont. It’s a lovely school with fabulous grounds and I think there’ll be a surprising number sitting for it this year.

I’m trying to trust the process and hope that the right school picks the right child!

Thx too Gingercat! Yes we have a state school back up. We’re under no illusions about the Hampton exam 😊 but we think it’s worth a good shot.

@somekindofmagic if you sat the Hampton 10plus last year your ds is ahead of the game and the experience will greatly benefit him come January in terms of the exam experience & expected content.

Hi there somekind

We are a year behind you but having the same thoughts. DS is down to sit the Hampton 10 + this year and Reeds/KGS are our other choices. We are obviously hoping for a pass at 10 plus but not getting our hopes up. We live between the two schools and not too far from KGS either.

3 friends had DSs that sat for both schools last year (and 2 were successful at Reeds (1of those got a Reeds scholarship) but neither got Hampton, then 1 got Hampton and Reeds but no scholarship) they all said the maths exam was considerably easier at Reeds ... the English harder to differentiate. Timing at Reeds was important because there were different sections so making sure you knew what time for what etc

Good luck to your son. It's all a bit of a minefield!

Thanks v much @TWmum28 - that info is really appreciated!

Yes, you sound in about the same boat as us! My DS found the Hampton 10+ quite tough. Despite that though he got great feedback and they are helpful in giving you information on what they need to focus and work on if you give them a call after the results are out. We treated it as a dry run for the 11+ with low stakes.

I do hear that the maths is particularly tough at Hampton. So here's hoping that DS will find it comparatively easier at Reeds. I appreciate what you're saying about the timed paper at Reeds - something we're working on now.

Good luck to your son too - it is a crazy merrygoround and I'll be glad when it's all done at the end of Jan!

Hi my son sat for the Reeds 11+ last year and he found the maths element the hardest. Part of the process also involves an interview with two members of staff. My DS was asked by them who he chose to be stranded on an deserted Island with! I think he made some comment about Trump (😳) which stirred a laugh. I think other boys from his school who went were asked similar style questions. My DS got offered a place but we chose elsewhere in the end. Hope it goes well for your DS - its a stressful process

Sorry forgot to add that the timing for the maths paper is tight, lots of boys according to my DS didn't finish the paper so if they get stuck they need to move on quickly to next Q!

OP, if you liked CFC I'd give it a serious consideration. I don't know how much movement at 16 there is, but if you look at the official government stats for CFC and Reeds at A-Level, the first one is seriously impressive and the latter the opposite. A-Level attainment is actually higher at CFC with consistently impressive progress scores. Reeds looks consistently quite poor for sixth form progress. Obvs that the sixth form and not the main school but I think that there's a good chance that CFC might have excellent teaching otherwise too.

Btw, if co-ed schools set in beautiful grounds are of interest, have you looked at Epsom College? It's very academic (not Hampton, though) and has a very useful coach service.

@JoJoSM2 , Reeds has a intake of girls into Sixth Form, it's really popular especially with the girls at single sex schools around Guildford like GHS , Tormead & Notre Dame in Cobham.

Thanks @Magicmum2, that's really helpful! Lord knows what my DS would say to that one :) We'll do a bit of interview practice closer to the time - I don't want to overly labour it - they're supposed to be themselves after all, but it's super helpful to understand the type of questions Reeds might ask.

Thanks too @JoJoSM2. That's an interesting point you make. I should dig deeper into results. We did consider Epsom College but aside from the travel being too much, I wasn't keen on the very long days and compulsory Sat School. Shame as it looks like a fabulous school.

Hi All
We’ve just applied to Reeds too. Thanks for the thread. The 75 min exam scares me silly, not sure how my DS will cope!
We are new to this process, as DS currently at a state school, however, feel he would be better at a private school, so going to apply for 3. Quite concerned about the sheer volume of kids applying for a limited number of places. Do the schools/Reeds tend to over offer and have a waiting list (just in case more places turned down than expected?) Are you told if you are on a waiting list, and if so roughly how long do you have to wait to find out? Any advice much appreciated.
We are also applying for St Johns - is this similar in terms of the academic ability they are looking for compared to Reeds do you think? Thank you !

@Frazzledmumofboys , it's a long process. Yes all schools over offer, generally 1:3 so 3 offers for every place but sometime tighter like 1:2, schools like Kingston Grammar are constrained by size & can't afford to over offer too much. (I'm guessing, I don't know these ratios, it's not something a school reveals).

For many ds sitting Reeds it's a back up for Hampton & RGS & whilst the ds will get offers they won't accept.
All offers have to be accepted around the same day as national state school offers come out - 2nd March 2020. If you are offered a waiting list place in Feb you may then get offered a place from March onwards but if you have paid a deposit at another private school you may not have it returned.

St Johns is similar to Reeds but with half the places going to dd it's harder to get into. The risk is your ds may be rejected by both. Have you got a state school option or private back up like Claremont Fan or Halliford?

St Ed's is a good back up.
Make sure you pay attention to the exam practice advice on St J's website - try out the sample papers. The interview takes place in a busy room, practice interview questions at home with background noise at the same time. Ensure your ds reads a good book he really loves in the next 8 weeks that he can talk about with passion, ie Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig. Finally make sure at all interviews he can explain why he wants to go to that particular school ie, "I love hockey and can't wait to play on your amazing hockey pitches".

Sorry "King Edwards"

Hello, OP here. Welcome @Frazzledmumofboys. It's great to have someone else going through the process, and at Reeds.
And thanks @Gingercat1223 for the info and advice.

How is the prep for Reeds and other exams going?