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

Thanks for popping in @volpemum. That's great insight about PH and I'd love to know what in your experience make it stand out so much? I don't know the school well but keep hearing positive feedback about it these days so I'm glad we've added it to the list.

@Stircrazyschoolmum

It’s just a well done on doing your interview thing.. generic but sweet for her..

It’s wise for schools to do that. Right now, you are in a position where you feel the schools hold all the leverage, and you’re being made to feel like you’re begging for a school place.

But in a few months’ time, the roles are going to be reversed: each of you will likely have a handful of offers, and for many parents and girls, the decision-making process is not going to be dictated only by rational factors - you will go for the school that made your DD feel special, where you feel she is going to be recognised and welcomed, and her great potential will be fully fostered.

I remember when we got offers in February/March, and schools started sending weekly emails asking us if we had made a decision, whether we needed any more information, etc. All of a sudden, it was like “oh, NOW you want us!” 🙂 Any school that had made us feel like a number in the application process, or where things had not run smoothly, was immediately discarded.

That's very true @Yellownotblue. I remember DD1 rejected straight away a couple of schools where she didn't feel welcome on exam/interview day and felt like a number in a cold exam factory. There was nothing I could do to convince her to have another look.

Thanks for the encouraging words @Yellownotblue and @volpemum it’s always reassuring to hear from those who survived the process!

Hello @dazedandconfused11plus that’s a good list of schools you have!

Are most of them doing ISEB? I remember several posters saying nice things about LEH last year. It’s not on our list due to distance but it sounded like a lovely school.

Does anyone know if all the application deadlines have passed now? I think WHS was one of the last?

WHS deadline today and I think most have closed now. @Stircrazyschoolmum

@Stircrazyschoolmum - 3 of them do ISEB so actually only 4 exam processes in total, and most done by Xmas hols

How much weight is normally given to the interview? Is it to determine borderline cases and/or the disruptive kids, or is it genuinely another stage of the sifting process?

Interviews just seem so subjective! I think my DD is going to find that part difficult as she's quite shy and I can see monosyllabic answers not going down so well... which would be a shame having reached that far.

Hi, I'm in. We're doing Surbiton, Wimbledon, Epsom, grammar schools, KGS, St Cats Twickenham. I wish I could fast forward a few months and see that it would all work out ok! DD seems quite relaxed so far but sorting all of this out seems like another job with all the additional disruption of covid etc. Am also curious about interviews as we have a few via zoom. I'm hoping that telling her to smile and be friendly will get her most of the way!

@dazedandconfused11plus I think the weighting on interview depends very much on the school and whether they interview all applicants or only a selected few after a first filter.

Emanuel has always interviewed everyone and has a form you fill in to structure the interview / encourage longer answers. I believe JAGS would usually only interview after their online VR/NVR test but could be wrong. They are interviewing everyone this year so they must put some weight on it! (My guess is it’s the tie breaker though?)

I think it’s worth doing a practice one over zoom (or whichever platform) so you can see how they come across, although most schools say not to over rehearse answers as it can trip them up. Another OP suggested listening outside the door to the first one so you could see how they were coming across.

I’m betting half the time the kids are more acclimatised/comfortable with the technology than the teachers!

@Gladtidings1 you are right.. it’s a whole extra job! We are lucky our school is hosting the ISEB which cuts down on both travel and exams. I’m glad your DD is keeping her cool, mine has up and down days.. a bit like her mother!!

JAGS stopped interviewing applicants 4 years ago. In lieu they would organise a pre selection morning including online VR/NVR, an interactive lesson on a very random (but fun) topic and some games/puzzles with a partner. From experience, the vast majority of applicants (80%?) got through that stage. I think the purpose was 1) to weed out those with very low VR/NVR scores and/or bad behaviour and 2) to provide additional information to help the decision making for borderline candidates.

I believe the interview and the essay will serve the same purpose as the above, i.e. they will not have a major weighting in the final decision (the essay will furthermore help to decide who to invite for academic scholarship assessments).

We finally heard re ISEB date but still waiting on the time

One down!! DD just sat GHS exam. She seemed happy when she came out and we have a rule not to dissect the exam so I have no idea how it went.....just glad to have one finished....ISEB next!

Does anyone know what sort of scores Surbiton and Kingston Grammar would be looking for (CATS)? Last year we didn’t know anyone who didn’t get Surbiton at our prep - they seem to be so big now that most get in, but is KGS more selective?

@Corblimbea, sorry I don’t have an answer for your query, someone else might be able to give you an answer.

DD has done her JAGS interview, I was listening from the room next door. The tea he who interviewed her was amazing. Interview lasted around 20 mins or so. She has also done her creative writing task.
We also now have an ISEB date confirmed. Slowly getting through the process.

That was meant to say the teacher who interviewed her was amazing.

I feel like we are starting really late compared, nothing until early Dec

@WarmAndco3y Glad the interview went well - DD's is later this week. Was the Zoom time the same as the time they were supposed to be there when it was going to be in person?

I'm stressed about ISEB again - we had parents evening last week and DD's teacher confirmed that, because of the way they teach maths at her school (they teach the whole school broadly the same topic at the same time, but at different levels) they won't be covering the areas missed in the summer term until later in the year - which is fine for SATs but a massive PITA for us. She'll effectively not have been taught some areas since Year 4. Obviously, we can cover these areas at home, but it feels quite stressful!

@stellagibbons, her interview was within the time slot she was given for drop off and pick up, if you see what I mean. She did her creative writing straight after the interview, while she was in the exam frame off mind. And we dropped her off to school afterwards.

Sorry to hear about the maths situation. If it’s any consolation I think number of people will be in similar boats across the subjects tested in one way or another. I just want February to come, so I know the outcome of all of this.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

@MarshaBradyo hang in there.. the end of the month is fast approaching! I think ISEB takes about 2.5 hours to do so with comfort breaks I reckon it will take pretty much the whole morning?

@Corblimbea I’m sorry I can’t help you either.. the schools you mention are too far away to be on our radar. It may’ve come up on the ISEB thread as I remember there being discussion around CAT scores. Someone on the boys indie thread might know for Kingston?

@WarmAndco3y wow!! So glad she had a good experience, I think they are quite adept at choosing teachers who know how to interact with kids. Ours is next week, it will be nice to have it done with.

@stellagibbons I feel for you. I have days where I’m perfectly fine and others where I feel like I’m going to start hyperventilating! DD’s school seem to have given up on work this term.. she’s having a lovely time making Christmas Cards, tea towels, calendars etc but very little work and no homework at all?!?

I’m going to be doing a little happy dance after 3rd Dec!

@Tabitha957 I sorry, I missed you off! Well done to DD, it must be nice to have a different exam process to ISEB to balance things out a bit. Not dissecting the exam is very sensible!

Hi @Corblimbea Surbiton is also one of our schools but have no idea, sorry. From anecdotal knowledge maybe average CAT scores for the girls they select are slightly lower than ultra-selective central London schools. But still it's a top choice for lots of local families and I guess also a backup for others, therefore I can imagine overall numbers of applicants will be quite high?

ISEB for us is being done over two days, towards the end of November - which is about as late as school can push it, given the various cut offs.

@corblimbea I thought average CAT for KGS was 120+. But also a bit random because of the fact it's mixed, and likes to have a decent proportion of state schools. We've prepared DD for the fact she's unlikely to get in, despite being academically pretty reasonable - I just think there are a few things that will work against her.

ISEB for us is being done over two days, towards the end of November - which is about as late as school can push it, given the various cut offs.

Do you mean there are two different sittings for different groups at your school, @BookShark, or that the content is being split across two days for the same children? If the latter, didn't know that was possible!

Each child will sit the same two exams at the same time, but they will do four exams, split over two days (see attached screenshot from the ISEB website). Probably helps that DD is at an independent primary, so while the current entrance exams are unusual, they're used to accommodating the various whims of the secondaries.

DD's school is also hosting the KGS exam, rather than the girls going in to sit it onsite. Which will clearly make her more comfortable, but I do worry that it won't put her in the right mindset.

Thanks for clarifying. I must have missed it when I was reviewing ISEB's website a while ago.

My DS (I know this is a girls tread ;) is doing his pre-test this Saturday, but his is in one sitting, as he is at state primary, and will be doing his at KCS. Hopefully, there is some sort of recognition by schools that having two sittings vs. one isn't quite the same thing!