Trinity/Whitgift 2020 entry

[Breathe10]

I've read through lots of chat re 2019 but can't see a 2020 10/11+ 2020 thread. How are your DS's getting on?

Best of luck to you all and your DS! We were doing this last year and DS now at T (joined 10+). Lots of them are helping out on exam days - seems surreal to think it was him sitting the exam just a year ago!

iirc T was more competitive than W last year. Smaller intake too. No idea on DC.

Last year T 10+ essay questions were describe an experience when you met a wild animal or write a story where the main character had a pet. DS said for the VR they had a short practice session before the actual paper! They were made to feel very welcome on the day - taken into the hall to watch a Star Wars film to begin with and chocolate breaks in between! They were in small classrooms not all in a big hall so not too intimidating. I remember saying to DH how nice it was all the boys came out grinning, so not too traumatic a day!

Enterparentone thanks for that, it's really helpful and reassuring to hear those sorts of details. The trinity sheet mentions "warm up" time and I was wondering what that was and am really glad to hear it as DS definitely does need a bit of warm up to help him set the pace.

Confirming own clothes for trinity exam. We're an orange sheet/9am start! Wonder how many sittings they have?

Sorry - me again - can anyone clarify how many places there are available at Trinity? And do they ever release how many applications they have?

In jbugs this year there's 3 classes of about 19 boys. I think admissions are fairly open about numbers if you ask.

My understanding from open day is that they take around 50 on the 10+ taking and then another 70 on the 11+. But I guess it is up to them. There are 6 classes of up to 20/21 I was told. So that makes 120/126 in total.... Do the maths...for the 10+, I was told (again not precise) there were around 200. For the 11+ there will be a lot more.... But there are also a lot more schools competing for the boys.... So.. up to our DSs do their best on the day! And fingers crossed. Again they look at the child and all that they bring individually, so the highest scorer might not be necessarily the one they are going to pick... I am sincerely.hoping for that way as my DS is no academic genius but does much more outside school.... Good luck everyone!

@Hopefulmum72 Very useful thank you and yes I agree - mine is smart but not super intellectual and does loads of other stuff. He did an exam today where the odds seem ridiculous and it feels a bit like what was the point in that?!!

Don't forget that most boys will be taking at least one other exam, if not more so the figures can be misleading. Offers are made on the basis that not everyone will accept, but will take up an offer elsewhere.

Good luck everyone.

Good luck to all your boys .

My son is year 7 whitgift so we went thru all this last year. He is very happy at Whitgift and travels from Wimbledon ( about 50mins). There is at least 30 boys travelling from wim , probably more .
Last year he had a waiting list place for Trinity and straight offer from Whitgift and a couple of others.

Trinity provided us with excellent written feedback including results which I thought I’d share with you as I saw so many questions asking about marks . I’m sure it does vary a bit every year though.

English Comprehension 32/50

English Essay 22/50
Mathematics 70%
Verbal Reasoning 112/140
They said At 11+ they would ideally be looking for marks of 55-60% or better, for English and Maths, with a Verbal Reasoning score of 115 or more. we we’re told he was borderline and was put on waiting list due to very good interview. We were also told he would have been next boy to have been offered a place had one come up . We had already accepted Whitgift the week after the offers came out , as very happy with that offer ,so wouldn’t have accepted Trinity had a place come anyway . We really loved both schools and all has worked out well for us .
Hope all goes well for everyone .
I am going thru the same with my daughter this year.

Thank you almost23 that's such interesting insight for us going through it this year. Nerve wracking to just have to wait and see how it will all pan out for them on the day!
Best of luck for your daughter.

At 11plus as far as I remember from DS1's year, they were looking for 65% plus for all papers. Scholars need to get over 70 or 80% in at least one paper.
Having said, if they like the boy, i.e. he is extremely musical/has exceptional sporting ability they seem to make allowances. So DS1 has found that some of the boys are not particularly academic tbh. Can be quite frustrating for boys that are, although there is plenty to keep them occupied and they do push brighter boys. They have now started a proper scholars programme, which may be useful to know if you get a scholarship.
I would say that if you are borderline T is quite strict on academics as the boys go through the school...hence the good results.

JustJuice187 that makes sense as when DS went for rugby camp he was told he needed 70% on the exams. I thought it was for everyone and not just the ones that are applying for scholarships....

Thanks for sharing.

Did I read somewhere that the VR is multiple choice? At T and W? Or was that Comp? Thanks!

So helpful reading everyone’s posts- thank you! We are doing W 10+ on Thursday and DS has his heart set on it and is only doing that one so feels like the stakes are high. He’s really susceptible to nerves and worried he’s going to be overcome by the whole experience, does anyone know how the Whitgift exam day goes or anything they do to make it less stressful? T sounds like they make a real effort to calm them, anyone know if W does the same? I think they merged the VR into the Reading Comp paper last year so that would mean 3 papers in the 6 hours they’re there?! Anyone know what they do with the rest? He won’t know anyone else there so any info I can give him to give him a sense of what to expect would be fab- thanks so much and so much luck to all!

@Anno7 when they arrive there are prefects there to meet them, they are whisked off from the car to their groups. They play in the playground/ have lunch snacks etc between the tests. The previous 2 x we have done it maths and English is in the morning and vr in the afternoon. Lunch is always very good and they sit with their group and a currant pupil who can answer any questions they may have. Neither of my DS knew anyone either and were in the extra time room but met and chatted to the other boys and were fine. Good luck with it, bring on Friday when it's all over!!

Thanks so much, that’s super useful and good to hear, I know he’ll be really nervous in the morning so giving him a sense of what to expect is really helpful, thank you!

Hello everyone : the week is finally here !
Can’t wait till it’s all over .
Does anyone know if there is somewhere safe for the boys to leave coats / bags etc ? It says to bring in writing materials but where does everything get left ?
Good luck to everyone this week !

Good luck everyone this week. My son will be helping tomorrow at Trinity. There will be someone secure for the boys to leave there things so don’t worry x

Somewhere even!

Yes my 6th form DS is helping at T tomorrow too. Coats, bags etc will be fine 🙂

Good luck to all the boys sitting T 11+ tomorrow! - my DS2 is also helping out.

And of course good luck to everyone sitting exams everywhere on other days too.

(If you think this stress is bad, wait until results-letter-day gets closer!)

DS sat DC today. Can't get much out of him. He didn't do all the questions but seems pretty positive about it all, but I've noted from practice exams and state school tests that he seems to be a pretty horrible judge of his performance. No matter. Exciting to have the first one out of the way and the worst of my nerves over. Bring on this weekend!

Is anyone doing anything special to celebrate? Have been trying to think of a treat but after Christmas holidays in town, I'm a bit out of ideas.

Good luck to everyone sitting Trinity tomorrow!

JustJuice187 how do you think boys who are given allowances because of other talents fare overall academically as they go through the school?

We were told by Mr Price that ALL boys, whether they are musically talented or sporty, have to pass the entrance exams to stand a chance of a place. (He also added that this wasn't necessarily the case at some other local schools...)

So I'm not sure that it is right that at "allowances" as such are made for other talents, at least not at T.

Of course it may mean that someone who passed, but with a relatively low score, is given a place over a more academic child, if they are exceptionally musical or sport.

All the boys at T are bright, but there will still be a spread of abilities within a class. And of course some have, shall we say a better attitude towards learning than others, and judging by DS1's class, this is what makes the most difference in terms of achievement.

'Allowances' meaning they may not require as high a pass mark, not that they don't need to pass the exam. I would say the boys that do get in to this ticket do find it harder. That's been our experience. They clearly all have to pass the same state exams at the end of the day, and some find it harder than others to get used to the academic study. I'm sure that's the case everywhere. The Whitgift schools are strict academically and on behaviour. Boys are rewarded for good academic results through commendations etc. My DS is good academically and there are plenty there like him. I would say 70 to 80 per cent are there on strength of academics but a small number who are gifted in some way are not necessarily that strong academically. HTH.