SW London boys, 11+ grammars and independents

[Jumpalicious]

Hello, I know there’s an excellent thread for the girls. Not sure if there’s one for the boys? Anyone want to come on board? I know we can’t divulge details of round two grammars since there will be late sitters, but was thinking more of a support thread. Any takers?

Hi there. Congratulations everyone! We've got a waiting list for RGS so more tense waiting. Just wondering if we actually have a chance of getting in....

Hi - is anyone still waiting to hear from Hampton?

We're also in the fortunate position of starting to turn down schools after offers from both Hampton and KGS today. Will take a bit of time to choose between those two, but we'll release our other offers now.

Congratulations to all those receiving good news, and best of luck to those on waitlists - I'm sure there will be more movement than normal.

I'm so proud of DS - it's been such a tough couple of months, and he's done so well. Almost makes it all seem worth it...

@Fishingeveryday212 what’s your first choice?

Congrats to everyone! DS got Hampton, St George’s and KGS

Our first choice is Reeds for lots of reason. We know a lot of boys/parents at all three so I have listened to them and my gut feel is he will thrive there as they will feed his passion for certain sports. Academically he will hopefully be fine anywhere although currently he is not very motivated with that side of life!

Good news today for us - offers from KCS, Hampton and RGS (small academic scholarship).

Going to find it hard to choose.

We need to talk about it but I suspect we will release our 2 previous offers straight away

Congrats to everyone!
We've now also received KGS and RGS- good news from both. We've decided on Hampton and so will be releasing our offers from the others.

So, our 11+ journey comes to an end, and it's finishing not quite how I expected, but I don't think I can say we are disappointed in the outcome (although I have to admit every rejection still hurts).

I can only conclude that he hasn't done as well as I thought he did in his ISEB (and his Atom scores predicted), because of the three we applied to with ISEB, the outcomes are:

KCS: no interview;
Hampton: waiting list. Interview didn't go well (I posted about it before);
Trinity: no offer / wl. Interview went brilliantly (I thought).

For those, who set their own exams:

Claremont Fan Court: no offer. Feedback is that done very well in the exam and in an interview, but don't think the school is right for him (whatever that means). Wouldn't give extra time for which he qualifies. We only applied because it used to have reputation for being accommodating of SEN;
Emanuel: no offer. Wouldn't give extra time for which he qualifies;
KGS: offer received. Extra time provided with no qualms.

So KGS lived up to its local reputation of being an inclusive school for those with SEN, but academically capable.

Then, of course, DS also passed two Sutton grammars and Kent Test... I suspect, it will be difficult for us to commit to an independent school, given we can name a grammar in an EHCP.

Thank you to all in this thread and in the PMs, who helped along the way. I wish your children get a place in a school that will be best for them and their success.

@GrammarHopeful , thank you for your update and congrats to your ds on the KGS offer.
Your update shows what a difficult year it has been to make predictions and also in the case of CFC how the school has repositioned itself as a mixed selective school.
Sorry about Trinity too.

I have a ds at Hampton and choose it over KGS for the academics and level of football. If anyone wants to pm me with questions they are most welcome to.

Well done to everyone, you really can't explain this process to people who haven't been through it!

We got the Hampton e-mail for 13+ yesterday also. Less stressful than waiting for the postman two years ago.

I’m sorry to hear about the offers he didn’t get but glad he’s got KGS @GrammarHopeful.
DS has two offers now and we shall be releasing one in the next week.

Congratulations to everyone!
My DS is on the LU( his first choice) reserve list and really hope he will get in.

For those who are the same situation,
good luck.

@GrammarHopeful your journey sounds very stressful. Just discovered this thread I am really please you got KGS. The whole process is stressful. For us it was for our second son and it was no less stressful this time round.

Our eldest is already at Hampton and loving it.

Wishing everyone all the best

New to the thread - interesting read! We’re just weighing up offers, WLs and knock-backs! We’ve got an offer from Reeds. We love the Reed’s head and the general ethos of the school (e.g: the foundation) & location but does anyone know what it’s like for a bit of a geeky boy (he’s very into computing) who hates rugby & hockey!! Would he find a like-minded group of friends?

Offers for DS from both RGS and Hampton, (which were the only two indies we applied to) so we are really pleased. Decisions to make now! Hampton almost certainly the favourite but we need to discuss properly over half term before we make a final decision. Very conscious of the need to release whichever place we decide not to take ASAP, though, to free up a place for a waitlisted child.

Congratulations to everyone on the offers, and will keep fingers crossed that those wait lists move for those who want places. I think we should all be so so proud of our DC (and ourselves for getting them through it ) - it has been an unprecedented year and they have all had to be so resilient.

@GrammarHopeful I think your lovely DS has done incredibly well and I am sure he will flourish in whichever school you pick for him Sadly what you write about Claremont does not surprise me at all but good to hear that KGS was supportive. An amazing achievement to get an offer there, so well done to him.

Anyone else on the wine/gin/beer?!! I feel like I need it

@ GrammarHopeful - thanks for sharing your story
To All, well done to your DS ! amazing results on this thread. go celebrate their results !

I wanted to share a little anecdote for those lurking about for next year's process.

Our DS is in a prep-school in Surbiton, and his Headmaster sung his praise for academic scholarships based on his CATS results etc.... We applied to Tiffin/Sutton states schools with the view to get out of the indie at 11+ rather than 13+.

We only applied to Hampton as a back-up to local states schools but also hoping to get a fat scholarship, based again on the DS results in Maths and his headmaster intimating that we could "negotiate"... well well well.... he only managed to get on their waiting list!

I mean seriously how can one get this SO WRONG !!!! So maybe his interview was not the best, or his ISEB results not as strong as expected etc... but right now, I feel like telling the prep-school that they sold us BS !!! My son is distraught and I feel like we got this all wrong !

So I guess, my lesson learnt on this one - be careful what these prep schools "over-selling" the prowess of your DS. I just hope right now that state schools will come through ok or else it would have been a massive waste of time and effort! #rantover

Talking and swinging between our KCS and RGS offers. We know we are in a great place, with no bad choice possible.

Any thoughts from prospective and current parents on how to choose? There isn’t much in the travel (Esher area).

The scholarship from RGS isn’t a huge monetary significance but might help DS self confidence, but Kings does have a lot to offer.

@Sterou I have no experience of prep schools but that must be really tough, sorry to hear that. I am sure your DS will end up in a school that is right for him, though. The one thing I take from all the threads on here is that, as stressful as the 11+ process is in London and the Home Counties, the DC do all seem to end up in the right place for them eventually. What are your state options?

@Esher2021 fabulous position to be in! I don't think you can go wrong with either school tbh. Does DS have a preference?

@Sterou really sorry to hear, although I’m pretty sure the WL moves so keep the faith!

@GrammarHopeful congratulations on KGS offer. I believe independent schools aren’t all accepting of neurodiverse children!

We’re agonising over KCS and Hampton. Any words of wisdom are very welcome and helpful.

@Iffiyas We had the tough choice of those two last year. Really not easy, but in the end it mostly came down to ease of travel. One has a coach route stop almost outside , the other didn’t.

@Iffiyas - KCS and Hampton are in my view very different schools? Is your DS sporty? If so I’d choose Hampton. Is he very into academia - choose KCS. Have you visited both schools? The facilities and grounds are very different. KCS was never in the running for us - I’ve never chosen it for either of my DSs even though we are very local to the school. But don’t let me sway you ;) Do consider your journey times too - it can make all the difference :)

@Sterou - sorry to hear your prep school experience- my two were both at preps and we usually found the head teachers assessments pretty accurate - again based on CATs. I think the ISEB either worked in the boys’ favour or it didn’t. He may just have had an off day.

@Ripple11 May I ask which one you went for?

@Goingcrazy101 DS is sporty, he loves cricket, tennis and football and plays lots of chess! We feel Hampton is a better fit but are slightly worried about the alpha male type boys as DS is not alpha!

Thank you for helping both

@Iffiyas The Hampton coach route won the day but if all things were equal we would have probably just gone with Kings!

@Iffiyas - I don’t think 11 year olds can be alpha males can they? DS has an offer too from Hampton and I’d just describe as an articulate but sports mad.