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

I’ve loved them! Being able to ask questions from my front room is amazing. Pre-recorded ones are not great and feel staged - I enjoyed Sutton High and Croydon High - live q and a with the girls works well. I felt like I got an impression of the schools from the girls and staff. Clashes have meant I’ve only done those two. The 360 tours are great too and give a better opportunity to view than a rushed and busy tour I think. I’m still worried that we won’t be able to tour some places at all before making decisions though!

I missed the Croydon high one, overslept after a really challenging week, last week.

Alleyns sibling policy is only very notional. Used to be a sure thing but i know plenty of siblings (inc ones who got scholarships elsewhere) be turned down in the last 5 years.

@ChnandlerBong that’s interesting to read!

Does anyone know if croydon high is using ISEB, as well. Most of the GDST schools seem to be.

No, Croydon and Sutton are both doing different online tests and other parts of the day (interviews).

I’m just popping in to wish you all good luck! DD sat the exams last year and we’ve got a respite this year before DS does them next year. These threads are great for support

I’m sure some of you will feel very anxious with the uncertainty and changes to exam format. It will all pan out fine though.

On our thread last year, as far as I remember everyone got a school they were very happy with. Most girls got multiple offers. There were a few surprises and disappointments, but my overwhelming sense at the end of the process was that the “selectiveness” of the process was overplayed by schools.

FWIW, DD sat 6 schools as we were relocating from abroad and I didn’t have a strong sense of her ability relative to the cohort. She had 5 offers including one academic scholarship, which we turned down as it was not our favourite school. She was nervous before the first exam (which was PHS), but came out really happy and confident. She then proceeded to make friends who she kept seeing as they sat exams together.

Most girls on the thread got similar outcomes:

• Very few girls were not offered Surbiton and PHS.
• WHS and LEH were slightly more unpredictable, but again most girls on the thread were offered.
• G&L, SPGS were by far the most selective, but again there were many successes.

It’s also worth noting that not everyone is aiming for the same schools. I know people who have turned down G&L, SPGS in favour of other schools. I’ve also heard of a very selective school scrambling to find students over this summer, having seemingly exhausted their waiting list!

@Yellownotblue that’s such a positive helpful message. Thank you so much. Where did your DD end up and is she happy? Also, I’d love to know the school that was trying to fill places over summer?

@Corblimbea I’ve PM’d you.

@Yellownotblue Would you mind PMing me too? Also curious to know which school it is!
Many thanks for your hopeful message. It's strange because I have exactly the same experience with my previous DD/DS and at the time I promised myself not to be stressed for my last one but I can't help

Lol!!! We all want to know now.

me too please !!! thank you :)

@Oceane11Plus, I’m sure I will be super stressed again next year when DS does his!

So glad this is my last.
Done 2 DC already
DC1 applying to uni this year, that’s another kettle of fish in these covid times
Sigh....

Thank you for the support and insight yellow.

Please PM me the school too! 😁

I’m sad the girls won’t all get to see each other this year.. DD was looking forward to rating the biscuits!

I ‘think’ unless the Covid situation gets vv bad there should be physical ‘offer holders’ tours in the Spring. It’s a big commitment without seeing somewhere.

I’m assuming tier 2 doesn’t prevent the girls meeting their tutors?

Does anyone have an ISEB date yet? We think our school will be late November.

DD will sit her ISEB test in November too.
Pity DC won't get to see the schools from the "inside" when they sit the exams. I remember DD1 got a real feel for the schools she was applying to on exam days. In some schools they were looked after by older pupils and taken to lunch which was a great opportunity to ask questions and feel the atmosphere. As a result she knew after the exams which school she did NOT want to go to (it was actually "my" first choice and I was never able to convince her to accept the offer). She is so happy where she is now, in hindsight I'm glad I let her follow her gut feeling, and I'm sad her sister won't have the same chance

@Oceane11Plus

DD will sit her ISEB test in November too. Pity DC won't get to see the schools from the "inside" when they sit the exams. I remember DD1 got a real feel for the schools she was applying to on exam days. In some schools they were looked after by older pupils and taken to lunch which was a great opportunity to ask questions and feel the atmosphere. As a result she knew after the exams which school she did NOT want to go to (it was actually "my" first choice and I was never able to convince her to accept the offer). She is so happy where she is now, in hindsight I'm glad I let her follow her gut feeling, and I'm sad her sister won't have the same chance

Dd had a similar experience - loved one exam day (they did some singing, which she enjoyed, plus the food was good!) and hated another which involved a lot of waiting around in the cold. It really crystallised her views on those schools.

Good luck to all those going through it this year!

Does anyone think there will be any further changes to the exam formats - some schools like LEH and Guildford high school are still expecting girls to take tests at the schools in November and December....bearing in mins the current lockdown situation what are the chances of this happening?

Hello
would anyone be able to give feedback on Jags versus Alleyn's please ?
and also versus WHS and PHS ? not sure about applying to JAGS, as it seems way more difficult to get into than the others. Also trying to get a feel for it, new Headmistress seems great on pastoral care
thanks !

montlieu from a purely numbers view Alleyn’s will be harder to get into than the other 3 schools you mention as half it’s places will go to boys. Plus, anecdotally I’ve heard they put more of a focus on balancing state and indie admissions (perhaps related to the bursary pot?)

Given they are all ISEB this year, perhaps register for all of them and see where your DD lands in terms of second rounds? Obviously this gets expensive but if you get an offer you should be able to view the school physically.

Hope everyone is doing ok. I can’t believe it’s November tomorrow!

I was wondering if anyone knows which school is the first to offer (Woldingham?) As I’m guessing the only way we’ll know how they got on in the ISEB is when 2nd round interviews and offers start appearing?

We're doing ok - just wondering how the latest lockdown news will affect plans - I guess as this is all educational, the current way the tests are proposed can go ahead?

I'm feeling strangely zen about the whole process now, what will be will be.

Woldingham offers should be going out first/second week in December.

I haven’t heard that Alleyn’s are going to interview, maybe I got this wrong.

JAGS interview and creative writing is happening prior to exams, ( obviously for those who haven’t done the ISEB yet). As far as I know everyone that applied will be offered interview and creative writing.

I’m guessing the latter 2 will offer in February as planned initially

@stellagibbons, yes I’m feeling, what will be will be. All out of our hands. But they all still need students to teach

Thanks warm. Alleyn’s are holding 30 Jan as their small group assessment / interview day. SCHS are not interviewing but there’s the (slightly farcical) self adjudicated creative writing to do. I was wondering if they might make offers before Xmas but thinking about it the marking will probably be too high.

DD has interview and creative writing at JAGs at end of Nov. It’s supposed to be in person but like you say stella not sure how the potential lockdown will impact it.

I’m not a zen person at the best of times but agree it will be nice to get this pre-Xmas bit over. My goodness the weather is grotty today! I’m hoping to motivate DD to do something productive but she is currently still in her PJs!

montlieu I ran out of time this morning to try and answer your question regarding PHS/WHS and hopefully someone with a DD at one of the schools will add their viewpoint.

Having visited both twice y4/5 I came away liking PHS more as it felt busy and buzzy whereas WHS felt a bit more academic and sensible. I also preferred the PHS Head. However.. I really like the new WHS head and have liked the school far more having watched its virtual open events so I’m in a quandary and I guess it demonstrates what a uniquely personal choice it is. I like the GDST ethos and think they are all very good schools.

I visited JAGS thinking I’d hate it and really loved it. The Dulwich schools have far bigger campus’s and feel quite traditional if that makes sense? I was less engaged with their virtual open days but feel the schools are in good hands with their new heads.

I guess the long and short of it is I feel blessed there are so many good schools to choose from and like warm said someone has to go to them! Keeping everything crossed we’ve done enough..