CAT scores for SPGS

[SWLParent]

Does anyone know what sort of Year 6 CAT scores are needed for applying to SPGS or G&L?

@LondonMum20222 They were much more open about numbers in the past. IIRC, SPGS told us that 500 applied and took the pre-test in DD1's year, of whom 400 made it to the second round, of whom 250 received interviews. I believe that 800 applied in DD2's year, of whom 600 passed to the second round, of whom 250 were interviewed. In each case there were about 105 places. But even DD2's experience was a few years ago (pre-Covid).

@user149799568 That's super helpful, thanks. I don't know why some schools are so cagey about it, when others are so open. It seems like a fair enough question for parents to want to know the answer to!

Schools have always been cagey and never entirely honest about applications, places offered etc.

They always want people to think they are much more over-subscribed than they really are. The key thing they don’t like to tell people is exactly how many offers they make. It’s always far more than places available, becaue even at the most sought after schools, a number will decline and take one of the many other places they have applied for and often also been offered. It is often down to distance or siblings, or where has offered a bigger scholarship. Quite often, even the most sought after have to offer 30% more places than actually exist and many of the less popular schools have to over well over 100% more, because often they simply aren’t the top choice.

They don’t want to tell people these figures because it becomes clear than a greater percentage of people get offers than might be thought, and crucially , that any school isn’t the top choice for everyone….all schools get people declining offers, especially in LOndon where many apply to 4 or more schools.

So you can ask, but don’t be surprised if they are vague, or you’re told one number and other people something different and if the figures are not actually quite true anyway. I know people ask to try and gauge the odds of getting a place, and also to gauge popularity. But the honest answer is you probably never really know this stuff. Schools and their marketing departments are skilled in promoting themselves, and dropping vague suggestions of figures into conversations which quickly get spread and become part of a rumour mill, a bit like the stories about ‘required’ CAT levels.

And re CAT levels, I agree that it’s never a requirement….many applicants simply won’t have done them. They simply add to the overall picture for senior schools and can be useful when their own testing makes a candidate marginal. In some ways they are more useful for the Preps in that they help them guide families towards the right type of school and give them some evidence to use to deter those who have unrealistic ambitions. But I fully understand that in the uncertainty of it all, parents are a,ways seeking more information about the school, their child and trying to use it to ensure their child has the best opportunities.

Agree about offers vs acceptances for schools. A good way to get a feel for that data is you can go to the largest prep feeder schools for any particular upper school and reconstruct from their data the number of offers vs acceptances. This is a good place to start is the link below. Depending on the upper school, you can sometimes get data on more than half of the class. It's not complete, but it provides a very good insight.

www.londonpreprep.com/2021/04/st-pauls-girls-school-feeders/

@WombatChocolate @bjmin Thanks both for these responses. I'm sure you're right that it's deliberately elusive! But I do find it interesting that some top tier schools are completely transparent about application / entrance ratios - and as a parent, that does sit much more comfortably. At the end of the day, whether it's 600 or 1000 applying, we all know that they're all very popular schools, and it's tough to get in!

Has anyone had a SPGS interview invite?