SW London Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023 (Part II)

[QuiteAJourney]

Continuation of the thread
SW London Girls' Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4643252-sw-london-girls-private-grammar-applying-for-year-7-in-2023?page=40

Looking forward to continuing the journey with all of you!!

As @QuiteAJourney says, the grammar school offers in early March have such a massive impact on the London private school acceptance rates that there is no rush in trying to get results out. The worse position is to get a WL offer in late Jan and know the WL won't move until early March, it's a really long time to keep your dc in suspense so better to get all the results around Feb 1/2 term and then spend more time out of school / days off work attending the open days for offers for the offers you have. If you get WListed you don't get an invite to the open day for offers. It's a really long process!

Regarding Ibstock’s 1st stage results or for that matter other co-Ed’s in south west London, I believe they are more lenient towards accepting girls as they are surrounded by fantastic girls schools.

@EweCee I think that Ibstock has traditionally fallen in an interesting space - fall back for some, aspirational for others, realistic yet for others. It was more popular this year than previously. I would not see it as the most straightforward school to get into (I know kids that did not got through to second stage and have got through to second stage in other schools and, in some cases, already got an offer from other indies).
I find interesting (and somewhat surprising) that they have opted for taking so many to second stage but I suppose that they may need to factor the fact that their offers to places ratio might need to be higher than for schools that are more likely to be first choice.

I wonder how many Emanuel will actually interview. They're taking a week to do it so imagine quite a few but no idea how many applied. 1400 applied to LU for 440 interviews.

I am not certain - would love to know as I think that we are both in the same position :)
Unfortunately, I did not attend the HM's chat but I have heard mentions of either 300 or 400 called to interview (some others might recall if they attended). I am really hoping for 300 (or close).
On applications, I have been told that in was over 1000 (which makes sense, as they usually get around 1000 and, anecdotally, it seems to have been even more popular than in the past)

A gentle reminder to the worried parents (& myself): The schools being discussed above are all great! A child who does well in Latymer Upper would have done equally well in Emanuel or Ibstock. Love and luck to all.

@Workhar - apparently, the explanation provided by the HM of KGS is that girls applying to KGS tend to (slightly out perform the boys) but, because of the girls schools around, the acceptance rate for girls is lower. So they are not more lenient to the girls, they apply same criteria but, due to the factors outlined above, it works our at the end.

A useful reminder - it is good that we all keep each other in check 😉

@QuiteAJourney I went to that meeting but I don't remember that bit of information because I was so focused on the exam 😸

@KindergartenKop Maybe others will know? I seem to recall that we touched upon in part I of the thread and the key message was that a general interview came with a good chance of offer. I have been holding onto that as we really like the school (and how they have approached the admissions process has made it more of a favourite). It would be great to have something more precise if others have any recollection and/or insights.

@QuiteAJourney and @KindergartenKop I also went to the meeting but don't recall them mentioning figures.

It's ok, it's not important. I should probably stop obsessing about it!

@Daydreamscometrue @KindergartenKop - let me see if I can find where / when it was discussed.

@KindergartenKop - don't worry, I find it difficult not to think about it in those terms (especially when we are in this waiting game!)

In general if the KGS iv goes well (straight forward) you will get an offer. Also you can tell how your dc is progressing with other competitive schools to get an idea of where they sit in the exam cohort this year. Lots and lots of dc will get an offer from every school they sit and lots of dc already know they have already not made the cut at various schools, you do begin to see a pattern.

Here it is! from @BlueTick on 5th December:

”I had a chat with the head of admissions at KGS. She said they interview 300 and offer to 250 with 50 on the waiting list. They double offer so 2 offers to 1 space as they know a lot of children will have offers elsewhere.

sometimes they go deep into their waiting list, sometimes not. She said it was very variable if they went to waiting list ir not.
Her overall message was that if you were invited to interview “you’ve made it” and it was very likely you’d be offered a place.

So those with KGS interviews know they will get a place or a waiting list place.

Of course things may change so I guess things could suddenly be different in some way. But that was from a few weeks ago.“

Sorry to add by offer I mean "WL or offer".

@Trickleg - many thanks (I was having a look but you have beaten me to it - thanks!). And thanks also to @BlueTick for sharing the information

Thank you!

@QuiteAJourney you are most welcome. Thankyou for all your good sense on this thread.

You are too kind, thanks again.

This is going back 7 or 8 years now, but when DS has a general interview at KGS they just asked him his favourite subjects and a few other chatty questions like that. They basically read his reference to him (!?) and asked how he would travel to the school. I think that school is slightly more competitive these days (as they all are), but back then, they would have had to do something very bizarre to not be offered a place after a general interview.

I have had and still have DC at LU, G&L and SPGS and academically, there is nothing between them. The same child will get the same academic results in any of them. So much is unpredictable - ie. whether they hit it off with particular teachers. But mainly, of course, their progress will reflect how happy they are and this will depend on whether they have positive friendships. This is far more important than stats such as 'SPGS 98.9% 9-7, G&L 97.2% 9-7' - or whatever the latest stat may be. These differences translate into absolutely nothing in practical terms once they are in the actual schools. Even in a less competitive school such as Ibstock (mentioned above) the same child will get the same results. Any of these schools will enable a child who is capable of all 9s or A*s to do just that.

Then they get to the other end if the school and you realise that the more A stars a school gets is actually a disadvantage in terms of uni admissions, as students are contextualised against the average performance of their school cohort. So better to get all A stars in a school where only 50% of grades are A star, then one where 90% are.

Sorry to chip in but I just wanted to say that all the schools in this area are excellent and any one will do. Good luck!!!

Thank you Ziad for your warm, extremely wise and comforting advice.

@BlueTick thanks for your message, the sharing and the honesty.
Sorry that it did not work for you for KGS. Rooting for you and your DS (as you say, hard on us but especially on them, especially at this age) and wishing that it does work out.

At our Indy school only about half that applied got the second round and I believe our head was genuinely shocked that more did not get through.