Kings College Wimbledon - So Disappointed

[Iamnotsoexcited]

My son did incredibly well in his CAT scores (average of 131) so we decided to look at Kings in Wimbledon given its incredible reputation.

We were so disappointed in the school on the tour that we actually left before the Deputy Head could speak. Our overall impression was that:

1. There were no displays/artwork/celebrations of the kids in the corridors. As a result the school felt like a functional building not a celebration of the individuals, almost factory like.

2. The Design Technology Lab resembled that of an underfunded 1970s comprehensive. Engineering and technology are the future, to deny this just seems ignorant. It feels like they are creating children for the finance jobs of today which will not be the roles of the future.

3)An almost claustrophobic air in the classrooms up to GCSE, kids tightly bunched in with no space between desks which were arranged haphazardly. It would not be working environment an adult would thrive in, so I am not sure a child would.

Overall, it had an aggressive feel about the place which I was so surprised about. The sixth form centre, with its low ceilings and lack of space, was the worst. The bell went and shutters went down on the cafe loudly, straight away, as though the staff had had enough and were done. This is at odds with other schools which are creating open coffee shops all day to allow for kids to collaborate together in a positive environment.

I put emphasis on academic achievement, but I was shocked at how negatively I felt about the school. From my son's prep school I know other parents are feeling the same way as me. I am wondering if Kings will be a bit like Blockbuster the video store, riding high until one day because it fails to keep pace with the times, will just lose its shine completely?

What do you think?

@SandyBayley

I believe the desirable combo for Cambridge Engineering is Maths plus Physics and then FM if taught. Something in addition to that would be positive but substituting one of those for computing or DT would probably put you at a disadvantage to other candidates.

Agreed, but the candidate would be just as disadvantaged surely if they had Latin instead of maths or physics?

@Comefromaway who do you think you are coming onto an emotive thread with reasoned logic.

I get it - I took my daughter to Wimbledon High School open day (for sixth form). Great rep etc, but we were so turned off. They made the mistake of having a whole school open day, it was jammed packed, the girl showing us and another family around was not taking any of the seven A levels my DD and the other girl wanted to take. It also didn't help that they were in the early stage of constructing a building which would house many of the sixth form classes. But some people love it! We didn't apply.
I used to go to the Kings College Christmas Fair as we lived opposite. It was always amazing. The hall was ginormous. My kids went to summer camp there (separate to the school but in the grounds). The playing fields right there and they have a pool.
But impressions count and if it wasn't for you so be it.

I find that comment about the Aston really odd. All the parents I know at KCS are pretty unostentatious and their kids are if anything very bookish. The school is really academic and you won't just get in with money.
The private schools aren't all the same. Do look around OP.
There is an academic pecking order based on the league tables which have a lot to answer for IMO.

Hi there,

Are there other families who went to the 8+ exam at Kings College. From the info I gathered, the exam was particularly different from other years and quite difficult. I know that the bar is quite high but it seems like this time they used the surprise factor to balance the over tutored kids with the rest.
Also I had the impression that there were many many kids, but I believe that we are not allowed to know how many candidates apply for it.

Any parents out there that are now also waiting for the results or parents that went through this same process last year and have any advice?

Thank you,
K.

@laren try posting on Primary not Secondary for 8+ you'll get a better response.

My son got into KCS. It turned it down because he didn’t like it . Much more important to like where you go than attend the most prestigious school. Beware Hampton however, looks can be deceiving and it’s desire to compete with schools like KCS means that it does some funny things. DM for specifics. We have friends there who are happy but we were appalled by their attitudes and practices.

Maybe be less concerned with traditionally ‘academic schools’ and broaden your horizons. My DS is very happy at a less well known school .

131 is an ok score, not incredible by any stretch

@fabricaabandonada if it’s a genuine 131 (rather than after extensive tutoring in VR and NVR) it would put ops DS in the top 2% ability wise. Only on MN could that be described as an “ok score”.

@Wobblypig can I ask where did you go in the end? I'm not keen on KCS or Hampton for various reasons.

I don’t think CAT scores are very useful in predicting academic excellence. But since they are reported quite widely (by predominantly private schools) it makes sense to differentiate between incredible/very strong/strong/etc scores: 139-141 would be considered ‘incredible’. Surprisingly, they are not even that rare in the ultra competitive London prep school environment.

DS went to Trinity in Croydon in the end. His choice not ours at that point but very impressed with it now.

@Wobblypig thank you. Lovely that your DS is happy there by the sounds of things and you are happy too!

KCS is the top boys school (& top coed school) in the UK according to the Times.

They are extremely academic (see above) & it’s ok not to like it. I found the boys showing us around to be sweet/polite, if a bit intellectually intense (one started talking about Difficult Physics to me 😆).

But to say things like “dreary facilities” when they have RIBA award winning sports block, music centre, etc is just odd to my mind. Or maybe posters are thinking of what it was like some years ago.

As to Blockbusters analogy, brilliant! Maybe they’ll fall from grace and end up in position 11 (currently held by Eton - also not everyone’s cup of tea). Or drop off the top 20 independent school list altogether, like several schools mentioned here, but that are clearly loved. Someone earlier said, you defend your own school & bad mouth the others! Is it also tall poppy syndrome? I’m from the US, and I notice a lot of this in the UK.

@fabricaabandonada

131 is an ok score, not incredible by any stretch

60 places in year 7. Probably looking for a minimum of mid 130s to stand a chance. So the decision may be made for you already.

@Jumpalicious, I’m sorry, but I simply don’t agree that a boy has to have an ability level equivalent to mid 130s CATs to have a chance of getting in to Kings. It’s statistically impossible:

There are around 100,000 pupils in each year group in the whole of London, about half of whom are boys. To be in the “mid 130s” for CATs you’d have to be in the top 1% of that group. In all London, there are therefore on average 500 boys that fall into that group. Westminster, St Pauls and KCS have say 400 to 500 places between them. So if they all only took pupils in the top 1%, that would be close to every such boy in the whole of London; that is clearly absurd - especially when you take into account the places available at the super selective boys grammar schools too.

I’ve seen comments like yours on here before, and the only way I can explain the myths about these schools is tutoring - if a boy in the top 5% of the ability range is heavily tutored, he may, post tutoring, score in the 130s on a CAT test. But at that point the CAT score becomes rather less meaningful as a guide.

I have a lot of experience of another school that has consistently been in the top 10 in the Times tables for many years. I know from direct discussions with a previous head that their aim is to have pupils in the top 10% of the ability range. They therefore only have a few pupils in each year group who would score mid 130s or higher on a CAT test.

@11plus2022 some of your assumptions about places on offer for 11+ aren’t really correct. In each of those 3 schools you’ll have a significant number of places already taken by boys from the respective junior schools. So the true number of places up at 11+ is far less than you are suggesting. Also are you including all the boys who travel in from Surrey and other home counties to your London numbers?

I just thought I’d say my son goes there and does not have a tutor. Personally, I can’t see the point of paying school fees and then paying for a tutor on top!
I think it’s important that they learn to do the work/revise for exams themselves. They’re meant to be bright and if they can’t do it by themselves now they never will!

Sorry my random comment above was in response to a comment saying everyone has tutors who goes there!
I just thought I’d add that not all parents are loaded and driving expensive cars! Some are from pretty normal backgrounds.

@Sunshine6363, sorry, I definitely do not think, and did not mean to imply, that all the boys who got into Kings are heavily tutored, or continue to be once there. Indeed I sincerely expect the vast majority are not. My understanding is that the whole KCS entry process is instead designed to identify true potential. The point I was making above is that a boy with true potential in the top 3% of his age group (so a CAT score of “only” 130) should have a good chance of getting into Kings.

The other comment I was making was an attempt to explain the belief that seems prevalent in some London preps that you need an even higher CAT score. It doesn’t make statistical sense, unless the CAT scores at those preps have been inflated by tutoring (which I am using loosely to describe a lot of VR and NVR training and practice, whether at home, school, or with a tutor)

@abricotine, the entry point is not that relevant. It’s very competitive at 7+ too, and I was looking across the whole year group. Yes, some boys come from the SE. But some in London will choose to board at eg Eton or Winchester so should we count those places too?

For info, there are around another 50 000 boys in each year group in the South East (data is from government key stage 2 publications) Then you would also need to factor in the numbers of those SE boys who will instead go to closer schools for them like Habs, Brighton college, Tonbridge, RGS Guildford etc.

Whichever way you look at it, the numbers don’t work.

@11Plus2022 but your numbers don’t add up either. You say

“Westminster, St Pauls and KCS have say 400 to 500 places between them.” No they don’t. KCS has 60 places at year 7. Westminster & St. Paul’s have similar. KCS is the number one boys school in the uk, so the scores will be freakishly high. Absolutely 500 boys may score that mark in the cohort, and only 200 places between the top 3 schools.

133 and up I’d say, as a minimum.

@Jumpalicious, but what about the boys already there (who also went through a very competitive 7+ process). Are you saying they are less bright than the ones who come in at 11 or 13? My calculations are about the numbers and distribution of boys across all schools in London in year 9 in total, regardless of whether they joined at 7, 11 or 13.

Also, KCS (while undoubtedly excellent, which is why my DS has applied this year) is not the only great boys school in London. Indeed, there is another thread at the moment about the much lower Oxbridge success rate of KCS when compared with Westminster, that gives a different picture.

I was told the average CAT score of the boys who entered KCS Year 7 was 137.
That was a few years ago. It might change yearly. Obviously there will be some variation in the scores of the boys gaining places. Of the boys offered places in my son’s cohort, I knew some with higher scores than 137 and some with lower scores. I think the most important thing is passing the entrance exam, but the scores are an indication of their innate ability. If a boy is able to pass the exam it follows that their score should be high anyway, though there will always be some outliers.

The average CAT is most certainly not 137. That's just a case of Old wives tales being bandied about.

As someone noted earlier it is statistically impossible for that to be the case unless you are telling me every single one of the 1-2 percenters(that's where a score of 137 and above firmly puts you)attend the same 3 or so academic schools.

We all know that's know that's not the case as Kids with High CAT scores can be found at other Public Schools and Independent schools alike. And we are yet to even talk about Grammar Schools(SuperSelectives and just Selective) and partially selective ones like London Oratory, Cardinal Vaughan, DAO et al.

The only way It is remotely possible is if CAT scores of 137 upwards now accounts for 10% of the population and not the 1% it is pre-assumed to be.