Hampton 11+: words and reasoning paper

[AC7001]

Does anyone know what the paper is about? Is it both VR and NVR or is it just VR? Or something else? Thanks.

@sailingsunshine do you think Tiffin 2nd stage means they have a good chance of getting an interview? What do they look for at interview. Do shy kids stand a chance?

Definitely far less than 300 in each sitting. The crowd was actually not that big. I read in previous years' posts that the numbers varied from 700-800, with some quoting over 1000 which might include 13+.

I heard most kids struggle with the last 5 questions, in particular the last one, even those at the very top of the top set in his prep school didn't know how to do it.

Sorry I can only go on what I know but second stage Tiffin is an indication of a chance of an interview yes.
Re the interview, if you get the call back I'm sure you can ask on MN or read feedback from last year but it seems they like down to earth ds who are interested in current affairs and the world around them for example by reading The Week junior and first news. They may then ask what is the difference between The Week Junior and First news - you can't prepare for this type of interview.

That’s interesting about getting through to round 2 of Tiffin! I wish someone had told me at the time, since it would have calmed my nerves. However, yes, DS got through to second round of Tiffin (& passed to Tiffin) — and was given a place at Hampton.

Fwiw, I was on a large indie/grammars thread that year and, thinking about it, the kids who got to various second rounds did all seem to get interviews, though not necessarily places (I recall one boy not getting an offer, but apparently he had autism, so I wonder if the school biased against him for that reason — plus, I don’t think he got a super high mark, he didn’t get to Tiffin second round, though he did get to Sutton second round, which is still super hard!). So an anecdote of sorts, based on two, but maybe there is a correlation here! Ie: Good sign if they get to Tiffin round 2! As pp said in far fewer words ;-)

Thanks ladies for your inputs. Now it’s waiting game. They emailed today that result will come in December so couple of weeks to wait.

Regarding the Tiffin comparison, does anyone know if it is easier to get into Tiffin or Hampton, based on past experience?

@Missty2021 Re exams - pls remember the 12 and 13+ exams haven’t taken place yet and there may be kids who may sit a deferred 11+ due to illness so posting info about what was in the exams isn’t a great idea. This might be an anonymous forum but personally I wouldn’t be putting my son’s place at risk by discussing content on SM. I don’t work for Hampton but I’m not a million miles distanced from it professionally, keep it high level here and discuss anything else privately.

Also, I wholeheartedly support their efforts to avoid circumstances where people can use “set pieces”. They’re looking for natural talent, not someone who can reel off what the tutor told them which has no bearing on their ability at all.

Re places. They offer around to Hampton prep boys, 30 to 10+ boys (but they know they won’t all take them), so I think there will be less than 100 overall. However they’ll make more than 100 offers because not everyone will accept.

Last week there seemed to be four classrooms for each wave of kids, so around 60 each time not 300. There were also three entrances. At a guess I’d estimate more than 700 through the day but less than 1200. Bear in mind some will be the prep and 10+ boys coming back to try for scholarship.

So you could expect a ratio of at least 7 applicants to one place (but not to one offer), possibly higher.

Good question! Tiffin is widely known to be hugely difficult to get into. But this is partly down to the numbers: thousands apply. However, it’s free to apply, so arguably some take the exam “for the heck of it”. but the numbers to Tiffin are super scary!

Results: In our year, I found that every child that got into kings Wimbledon (the most difficult of alll the indies) also got into Tiffin. However, not every child that got into Hampton also passed to Tiffin.

But honestly, there are sometimes kids who pass to kings but not to Tiffin, and vice versa. As I understand it, Hampton is slightly easier than both kings and Tiffin. I know you weren’t asking about kings, this is just to give a bit more info !

@Soxa , I would agree from the ds I know. You may get a place at Hampton but Waiting List at Tiffin. Plus all the private schools look at all aspects of a pupil so if they are super sporty but borderline academic they may get a place whilst at Tiffin it's exam result only.