St Dunstan's / Colfe's 11+ - do I need a tutor?!

[maincrop]

We're considering St Dunstan's or Colfe's for our dd, who is bright and articulate, but not yet super-motivated academically. She's in year 5 in our local (wonderful) state primary.

I was a bit thrown when I heard one of her classmates was "going to" St Dunstan's and was "being tutored".

I'd perhaps naively thought tutoring was only a thing if you were aiming for a super-selective school, or you were really behind. I know St Dunstan's and Colfe's say they're selective-but-not-all-that-selective, but I don't know how that really translates to admissions.

So erm... who might get refused a place, and why? And what would you do then? It all feels very opaque. How do I know if I need to panic?

[ChnandlerBong]

Don’t know about St D’s but I don’t know anyone who’s applied to Colfes and been rejected so can’t see that tutoring would be needed to get in?

both schools are v generous with scholarships- so maybe people tutor with the aim of getting a discount?

[Lightsabre]

I think these two schools are getting more applicants than they used to so therefore are getting more competitive. No harm in getting a tutor if you can afford it but you could also Diy using the elevenplusexams forum.

[viewsoftheshard]

They are getting more competitive to get into though not crazy like the other schools. I know of people that didn’t progress to interview stage at Colfe’s/St D. St D now has the ISEB test now as well but they also do 3 Saturday mornings of exam practice in November (that you pay for!) The majority of people completely downplay the amount of tutoring that is done, but there are things like atom learning that can help prepare. Private schools will do a lot of prep for the students, including interview practice and exam technique but may not in the state system.

[Winkydink]

For those schools I wouldn’t get a tutor but I would definitely practise past papers (Colfes put theirs online). See how your DD does with those. There are some low key group exam prep sessions around - your DD could do a few days over summer and you’ll get feedback about how she’s doing. I’m sorry I can’t remember the name of the group exam prep place but google should help! Not too expensive (and much cheaper than a tutor).

[isa2]

St Dunstan's uses the ISEB exam which is supposed to be tutor-proof, as well as a group interview. My son was successful in getting an academic scholarship without any specific ISEB-oriented practice and it seems very aptitude-oriented, so hopefully it is the case that tutoring doesn't make a lot of difference - that's their intention, anyway. As people say, St Dunstan's seems to be somewhat, but not highly competitive, these days. They still give decent-sized academic scholarships which I think are pretty competitive and obviously nice to get. Pre-pandemic they had some practice assessment days which seemed helpful - not sure if that still happens.

[BoroughSE]

We applied to both - and took advantage of the St D practice / assessment days - they have limited places so book early - also a great way for them to experience the school, get a feel for it too and help take away some of the nerves / stress around it. We know people that have received rejections from both, so they are selective - although not as competitive as some, so as long as they can cover confidently the basics and some of the stretch type questions they should be OK. Cofle's said they're getting more applicants now too. We didn't have a tutor, but did practice session at St D, Practice past papers and online (ATOM is good) - esp for the ISEB. Our primary also did practice sessions in exam conditions, and the term in run up was 100% focused on what was going to be tested! - so take that in to account if a tutor would help with that focus if the school isn't.

Worth preparing them for the the test though and how they work - Colfe's is the 'traditional' type - english maths comprehension, the ISEB is online / adaptive, covers english maths and also verbal / non-verbal reasoning - so gets harder and you can't go back and check - so if never done before can be a bit off putting, and you can practice and improve your score what every they say! The test prep we did focused on technique / timing, rather than the content - and helping ours with being confident and less stressed - can you do that, or would it help get a tutor, and get one with the experience to help with that.

FYI - We got offers from both, and chose Colfe's.

[Stopsnowing]

It is worth asking the schools how many applicants they had for how many places (and within that how many are ringfenced coming up from juniors) to get an idea of how competitive. We got a no from st dunstans and a yes from colfes.

[maincrop]

We got a no from both in the end. DD was getting high teens on Atom mocks, so I have no idea what went wrong. Very odd.

[Stopsnowing]

Sorry to hear that. I tried Atom but found it frustrating.

[Urlyburly]

@maincrop

We're considering St Dunstan's or Colfe's for our dd, who is bright and articulate, but not yet super-motivated academically. She's in year 5 in our local (wonderful) state primary.

I was a bit thrown when I heard one of her classmates was "going to" St Dunstan's and was "being tutored".

I'd perhaps naively thought tutoring was only a thing if you were aiming for a super-selective school, or you were really behind. I know St Dunstan's and Colfe's say they're selective-but-not-all-that-selective, but I don't know how that really translates to admissions.

So erm... who might get refused a place, and why? And what would you do then? It all feels very opaque. How do I know if I need to panic?

Colfe's: You definitely want a tutor and a good one too (there are plenty of terrible tutors out there).

People who write that everybody gets into Colfe's, may be talking about 20 years ago. Nowadays, the school gets ~4.5x applications for every seat available. So, you do your math...