Upcoming girls’ independent SW London schools 11+ exams

[Oceane11plus]

Are there any parents on this board with DDs due to sit independent school exams in January? If so where do you stand in terms of shortlisting schools, revisions etc Are you planning to do any work over the summer?

We are still in the process of fine tuning the list of schools... We will probably end up applying to about 4/5 schools, of which 2 are in the same consortium which means 3/4 exams max.
As far as I am aware, our prep has not recommended any specific revisions for the summer, but I was still planning to make her write some maths, English and VR/NVR past papers, as 2 months without doing anything seems too much so close to the exams. I was thinking of making her do one paper a week in each subject, on top of reading and boosting her vocabulary, with two weeks in August without any paper/formal work.

Any tips on what we should be doing at this stage and over summer holidays, notably from parents with past experience, would be super useful!

Thank you

Sadly, our DC did not get offered a G&L interview.

Well done to those moving forward and commiserations to @wagonwheelcoffeetable and @MumsRule20. (Plus any lurkers).

I think the schools have all placed emphasis on different parts of ISEB so try not to worry. xx

Sorry to read that @MumsRule20. Have you told her & if so is she okay?
To be honest I could easily get away with 'vanishing' any schools that we were not going forward with to DD.
It's awful to admit but at this stage I don't think she's got a clear handle on where we've applied. The nature of the process this year and the lack of visits has made it all so anonymous.
Obviously that does not bode well in the actual interview itself as there are children out there who are more than aware of where they've applied, pore over their websites & know every club that being offered. However, I do find a bit of ignorance quite useful for softening any bad news.

@PatoPato big congrats to you and your DC - am thrilled for you both and know you really needed some good news.

Thanks so much for the message and picking up on thoughts incidentally running through my mind. Very intuitive of you as I wasn’t going to tell DC as it was the one quiet sneaky ones I did when they opted for ISEB and I figured we may as well apply. Always knew it was a long-shot for her (like LU - but then having in the back of mind that they have a good state school intake) and actually one school we hadn’t been to see but she did the virtual open day and she really liked it.

But I really am now feeling that it is quite clear she really won’t get offers elsewhere and she knows about the other 3/4 we applied for and still waiting on. But it is clear she obvs didn’t do well enough for ISEB. So disheartening and really not sure how she will feel when that reality hits for the others if nothing else comes through. Being in the state system and with the gaps we have had, we know it is a massive long shot, but nonetheless all the chat of no expectations still doesn’t quite prepare for the reality of hearing one didn’t make the mark. She has also worked hard and is a bright little spark who has great insight and understanding of the world and loads to offer. Interviews would essentially be her strength as she engages and communicates brilliantly and an interesting, articulate viewpoint and mind of her own...

@MumsRule20 I think you are sitting Emanuel? So perhaps this type of exam will play more to her strengths and they have seen her interview already? Try not to feel too disheartened, I remember someone last year got an early knock back but went on to get multiple offers.

Did you do atom? Perhaps your DD did really well in English and maths and those weren’t being scrutinised by G&L?

I’m definitely not telling DD if we get knock backs from PHS or WHS before Emanuel next week. One random benefit from the kids not being at school bus they are not all comparing notes on interview invites...

I totally agree with Stir - given Godolphin were part of the Consortium they may well have just focused on reasoning. I keep scrolling upthread to try and see what your other choices are. We could all do with a cheat sheet on who has applied where but it's a bit outing and leaves no room to change one's mind about going public with updates.
All I'd say is do not take the lack of invitation for interview as an indication of not getting offers elsewhere!
Godolphin, like SPGS is aspirational for absolutely everyone.
Say Godolphin offered interviews to all the kids that were getting 96-100% in the parts of the ISEB that mattered to them (and in London there will be plenty of kids that can achieve that - remember with Godolphin we are talking the north-of-the-river brigade too who are quite a different breed ). I would then imagine that the likes of PHS and WHS might offer to those 90% and above.
What I'm trying to say is they all have their bench marks and not meeting Godolphin's is no indication of not nailing the ISEB & getting offers elsewhere. Stay positive

I've been lurking for some time but now I need to post. Sadly no interview offer from G&L. It's not the end of the world as it wasn't a top choice (we live very far) but I'm stunned she didn't even get an interview given she does very well at her prep school (close to the top) and has very high CAT scores. For what it's worth she was also getting high scores on Atom. She MUST have bombed the ISEB.
I am now extremely defeatist as our top choice is also an ISEB school

To make it worse DD knows we are supposed to hear from them today, she must have asked me 10 times if I got an email so I can't even hide it from her. I can't face telling her

Well done those who have received interviews and commiserations to those who haven't - as others say - we just can't know exactly what the schools are looking for.

@MumsRule20 - I really hope your DD can show her potential somewhere. This year's process has been so difficult - I'm not 100% sure we'd have done it if we'd known how different it was going to be eg one of the reasons we applied for JAGs way back when was for the group pre-selection morning which would definitely have played to DD's strengths and there's been nothing that really replicates that in any of the processes.

@PatoPato - I'm pretty sure I'm fairly identifiable (at least if any of the admissions teams read here!)

@MulledWine20

Sorry to hear about your DD, don't be disheartened. Mine didn't get an interview either for GL but we got one for Latymer which DD did on the 5th.

This goes to show that just because one school rejects you with the same ISEB results it doesn't mean another also will. Not sure what their criteria is but they both used the same results. Hope your other choices have a positive response.

@Brot64 Thank you so much for your reassuring message, that’s all I needed to hear after the bad news. It’s giving me some hope again that all is not lost.
I would have actually thought LU was more selective than G&L given an even higher number of applicants so clearly your DD did very well in the ISEB test - why on earth did not she get an interview for G&L

Congrats to all those who got in and hold on for those who didn't . Im sure there will be a chance just lurking there somewhere
The pattern of Latymer and G&L was just playing on my mind and something convinces me just like this Putney might pick up Maths and English and Wimbledon Reasoning scores.
This year is a mixed bag of expectations !

@MulledWine20

No idea why we got an interview for LU but not G&L. Having received the invite for LU first we had a false sense of comfort and assumed that it would be a yes from G&L too .

I guess it depends on what the particular school looks at. We have 2 more schools on the ISEB so we shall see. I wouldn't lose hope though.

Sorry to hear about the DDs who didn't make it to G&L...such a brutal process and the lack of feedback just leaves unanswered questions. I think the comments of pp make total sense: different schools will prioritize different aspects of the ISEB - LU seems to be a case in point. WHS have been explicit about prioritizing NVR and VR, but it's possible PHS might look at English and maths only...? Not sure about others as not applying to any additional ISEB schools. I do remember reading one time that LU (in 'normal' years) sets a really difficult maths exam.

Good luck for next Friday for those who got through. I wonder how much can be deduced from a 10-minute conversation though! Is the order of interview random, or does earlier/later time connote anything? Now I'm overthinking this!!

For us we will hear from three more schools in the next week about interview/rejection so the fun never stops...

Does anyone know when LEH are sending out interview invitations? I can't seem to find any information on their website or from any of the other information they sent us?

I can’t help with LEH I’m afraid.. there seems a bunch communicating next week though?

How was ISEB @stellagibbons?

@Stircrazyschoolmum She seemed to think it went ok - I can’t second guess any more what that actually means - just so relieved it’s all over!

Next step offers (or not) for us. Just wondering how offers will be sent this year - I see the schools we have applied to say first class post - but we’ve had erratic deliveries for a few months now thanks to covid, and only one in the last 3 weeks.

@Iateallthesmarties894 I believe LEH website (or perhaps it was an email) said "mid-January". So perhaps middle/ end of next week?

@stellagibbons well done to your DD for getting over the ISEB hurdle. Must be such a relief and you can walk lighter. I wouldn't worry too much about the post. I think they actually let the primary/prep schools know by email!

Congratulations to those with G&L interviews, and commiserations to those who missed out. It does feel a real lottery this year.

Is anyone else waiting for CLSG tomorrow? I’m not feeling very hopeful on that one, DD came out quite despondent. We only applied for two (the state option for us is pretty good), so we’ll be out of our misery soon.

LU says offers by email in mid February. I assumed interview date was probably alphabetical order of surname plus school, but that’s only because DD’s surname and her school’s name are both early in the alphabet.

CLSG for us tomorrow (we only applied to this) , state option for us really good too.

@Pantomine

Also waiting for CLSG tomorrow. Our first choice so really hope it's positive news. Good luck to your DD.

Congratulations to those who have interviews, really a weight off to know ISEB went well.

@wagonwheelcoffeetable, I echo what @Oceane11Plus has said. Different schools will be looking at different aspects of the test. It’s tough but as you say time will tell. Wishing your DD all the best with her other schools

@MulledWine20 and @MumsRule20
Commiserations. But as it’s said, it’s not over until it’s over. I know it’s easier said than done, but don’t give up hope. It’s just a challenging year and what we’ve known as the norm is not the norm anymore.

For those waiting on CLSG, all the best for tomorrow.

We have a long wait till offers day for one and an interview call for the other, I can’t remember the date now. I honestly just want to fast forward to offers day.

We got through to interview. DD v happy! I hope you all get good news too.

DD didn't get through CLSG, but I'm happy that she passed one - I would have felt rotten putting her through all the prep if she'd failed both. On the bright side, we don't now have to do anything else, just wait to see if she gets an offer from LU.