Hampton 10+ 2020

[TriTri82]

Is anyone’s DS doing the Hampton 10+ this Saturday? I’m hoping the new lockdown doesn’t affect it. Be good to hear from others in the same boat.

Interesting‘cos when my DS did it was in January...
Good luck -fab school -in the end we went for Colet Court but DS would have thrived at Hampton as lots of his friends did.

Thank you Susan. How long ago did your son do the 10+ if you don’t mind me asking? I guess a lot of the exams have moved to November this year, although this particular one was always set for November, even pre-COVID. Well done too him for getting into Colet Court, another excellent school no doubt. We are SW London based and CC is actually closer but a bit too much of a stretch for DS.

@TriTri82 , I can't help with the exam as already a parent at Hampton but I hear that for schools hosting 11plus grammar entry exams soon, ie SET on 11th November, they are waiting to hear from Dept for education if they can go ahead.

Assuming it’s the same procedure as the 11+? Hampton have gone to ISEB this year due to COVID. If your DS is at a prep then his current school should be invigilating but not sure how this works if he is at state school.

@After8itsgrownuptime , the 10 plus is this Sat at the school, a 40 min exam.

I knew you would know singing 😄. Weird that they haven’t gone online with it though.

Thank you all. They have 40 mins Maths and 40 mins English. They have reduced the time from the usual format by dropping VR and Comprehension. The school emailed earlier today to say they are awaiting confirmation from DoE but given it’s education related,
I’m hoping there’s no change, now that DS is geared up for it (well, as much as he ever will be).

How did you son get on with the exam? Mine said it went ok...

Hi ER16, pretty similar feedback although this was always a long shot/dry run for us so not holding much hope. I understand it’s a very competitive paper with only 35 places and DS struggled with one or two of the Maths questions. He enjoyed the English paper. Do you know how many sat the exam?

I don't know how many in total but my son said there were 7 boys in his room - 1 absent. He said the Maths was pretty easy for him (I don't think he got them all right though, he has a bit of dyslexia so always wrote the answer backward or read the wrong numbers). He didn't do a lot of Creative Writing so I don't hold my hope up on that.

Hey, Just to say, we had a similar story here. Maths was ok until the questions got hard and he left them out. Writing exercise really NOT his strong point anyway, as feedback from teachers is that he goes off tangent.. So tried to encourage him to stick to the given question/ material. Asked DS how it went and he told me he decided to take a different angle on it to see what he could do !

I’m not holding much hope, any idea when we will be let down gently contacted if successful?

There is a second sitting of the exam on the 21st of Nov, for those children who were self isolating on the the 7th.

After those children's papers have been assessed, invitations to attend an interview will go out the following Monday (23rd) with interviews happening on the 25th and 27th Nov.

Given this, it might be wise to remain silent on the subject of the exam papers until all children have sat them.

@VLCC

Did you get the dates of written results from school?

yes, I spoke to the admissions team this afternoon

@Doc186 , its not fun for any dc to have to SI and miss an exam they have been working towards, Im sure any dc would prefer to take the exam with everyone else rather than either have COVID symptoms and/or be stuck at home for 14 days.

My ds joined Hampton a few years ago and the admissions dept are very clever at selecting the ds that will fit in. 2 weeks revision won't make any difference, they are looking for bright intelligent boys who are equally good at maths and English and have a interest in the world around them as well as a down to earth and kind personality.

Thanks for sharing, very useful to know. Had just assumed DS wasn’t successful.

Though am surprised they would wait, interviews are still selective aren’t they? So no harm in short-listing/ inviting promising candidates from last weekend whilst waiting for those who are SI to sit?

Sorry. Clearly a noob! That was to @VLCC

Its a v young age to be expecting kids to perform under exam conditions.

If the numbers I have heard are right, 300+ kids going for 35 places, then it slightly begs the question what "value-add" does the school bring?

I'm sure Hampton's is a terrific school, but if your kid is good enough to be in the top 10% of children who present at this exam (all clever kids who think they have a chance), then that child is likely to prosper at any school they attend, and is probably already in the top 1% - 2% of kids academically for their age group.

It makes me wonder if as parents we aren't making a "God" out of education - when 3 years after our children graduate nobody will care what degree they got - just whether they are any good at their job and do they have a good attitude. Yet as parents we tie ourselves in knots wondering if school A is marginally better for little Johnny than school B.

Seems slightly bonkers to me.

@VLCC , it's worth bearing in mind that only dc from state primaries and private prep schools that end age 11 take the 10 plus exam. Also some prep schools use it for exam experience so maybe 25% of the year group are sitting Hampton 10 plus with only 1 child expected to get an offer. It's the same for KGS10 plus, many people just use it for exam experience and feedback. Finally a few of the 35 children who get offers won't attend at 11 as they either go to state grammar or other secondary schools that offer larger scholarships than Hampton. It's better to see it as exam practice for those who want it and/or the start of a long game of the top schools in SW London fighting for a tiny pot of exceptional ds.

DS sat the 10+ a couple of years ago. He didn't finish the maths and was offered a place. He had a great interview where I think they definitely got to see the 'real' DS. He was at a state primary so no interview practice whatsover beforehand. He didn't end up going there but we would have been very happy if he had.
Good luck everyone!

@VLCC I believe you’re right... ultimately anyone can be successful at whatever they choose to do, if they want to be.

Interested though as to given you have strong views against the whole system you entered your DS into the process?

For DS it’s the rounded-ness of what’s on offer at the school that appeals compared to our local state.

Like most, the exam at 9 rather than 10 was to give him two bites of the cherry. He’s at a state primary and not had to do exams or selective process before.

Whether he’s naturally bright enough to make it through the first stage in either case, we will see.

Obviously, I’m biased but if it were only assessed on personality and enthusiasm he’d be a shoe-in!

• shoo-in

Genuinely, I’m not “against” any system of education. I spent 50% of my own education in the state system and 50% in the private. I enjoyed both and made lifelong friends in both.

My observation, and that’s all it is, is that kids get pushed v hard to achieve in exams and frankly I’m sceptical that this has much correlation with life success. I personally think education is just a good thing full stop - it makes life far more interesting and satisfying, but if you think getting a first in Maths from Cambridge (just to pick a degree at random) is going to change the life chances of your off-spring, frankly I think you have got it wrong. I have worked with many people who have achieved exactly that and they are not notably happier or more successful than people of similar intelligence who left school at 16. In fact they are usually considerably less successful.

My point is simply that parents seem to feel themselves in some sort of arms race to get their kids to THE school, and then THE university, as if that is going to make everything “happy ever after” - and it really won’t.

Having guts, integrity and a great attitude is about 100x more important, but nobody ever seems to talk about that. It’s just all about SATS.

It feels as if, as parents, we have got it badly wrong and we are misleading our kids - and I say that as someone who is massively into maths as a hobby and who spends a lot of time talking to my kids about maths.

@VLCC How exactly are the kids going to get the guts, integrity and a great attitude for later?

I'm from a state grammar school, I do prefer my kids to go to local state schools, visited many schools here myself. However, the majority of them don't have the platform and are equipped for the very bright children. (They don't know what Maths Competion are, don't have any other languages apart from Spanish/French, only have Football in schools and that's it). So yeah, getting the kids to the places where they can meet like-minded children and can provide them more opportunity are the goals. Cambridge etc isn't the goal.