Page 15 | SW London Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023 (Part II)

QuiteAJourney · 2022-12-14T12:12:39+00:00

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

momomamiko · 01/01/2023 23:21

We were there for a sports assessment day where the Headteacher said 960 children were signed up to take the test.

BlueTick · 01/01/2023 23:22

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momomamiko · 01/01/2023 23:24

Daydreamscometrue · 01/01/2023 21:23

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.

We were there for the sports scholarship assessment where the Headteacher said 960 children were signed up to take the Emanuel exam.

BlueTick · 01/01/2023 23:36

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Wlondonmum2022 · 02/01/2023 00:25

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Imagine it depends on where you live - but Hampton over this group but the rest of them fairly even?

LondonMum20222 · 02/01/2023 06:21

@SamPoodle123 Re your earlier query as regards schools giving feedback on exam performance. A very helpful parent on here told me that once offers come out, if you call the Admissions office, some schools will tell you where you child was in the offers cohort (ie top 25%, top 50% etc). For parents who don't want their child at a highly academic school if they're going to be in the bottom 25% (or, conversely, for parents who want reassurance that their child is comfortably within range) it could be really helpful. The parent stressed that some but not all will provide this information.

I'm afraid I don't know whether schools provide information to parents whose child didn't have an offer. I'd imagine not, as that could be somewhat labour intensive, but perhaps a parent who has been through the process could shed some light on that.

LondonMum20222 · 02/01/2023 06:28

ziad · 01/01/2023 22:30

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!!!

This post is spot on - thanks @ziad. As discussed on Part 1 of this thread, parents obsessing over whether a school is no.1 or no.50 in the national rankings is pointless. They're all fantastic schools with tiny margins between them. The best thing a parent can do through this process is to try to find the right cultural fit for their child - wherever they're happiest will be where they'll thrive. The rankings really are meaningless when what we're discussing are some of the best schools in the country. My DD isn't sitting 11+ until next year, but I'm holding onto the the maxim that every child (eventually) finds the right school for them - even if the process is unnecessarily torturous (and, I imagine, must feel interminable right now. Just think, 5.5 weeks, and offers will be in and the waiting - hopefully for most - will be over).

Daydreamscometrue · 02/01/2023 06:41

momomamiko · 01/01/2023 23:24

We were there for the sports scholarship assessment where the Headteacher said 960 children were signed up to take the Emanuel exam.

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Thanks for the information re Emanuel. I didn't realise that the sports scholarship had already taken place.

Original poster

QuiteAJourney · 02/01/2023 07:25

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Iit is quite popular but I think it is difficult to generalise on preferences as they depend on a number of factors, most notably what are the criteria driving people's choices. For us, we will consider location, coed, academics ... but culture fit is key. Others might be driven mainly by academics, or other factors.

There was an earlier question on how many they interview - the HM mentioned that they interview more than most schools (they come from a tradition to interview everyone and they stopped because of logistics but want to maintain as much of the ethos as possible). So it would not surprise me if they interview in the region of 400-500.

OP posts:

Trickleg · 02/01/2023 08:25

I recall that Emanuel have said they interview around 2/3rds of applicants - which would make 600 or so? Which is quite an undertaking given there is a group exercise, too.

@BlueTick , the very best to you and your DS. Whilst I can see why KGS brought their exam forward, the fact that a lot of schools didn’t - and their assessments don’t even begin until early January in some cases - has made this a painfully drawn out process.

SamPoodle123 · 02/01/2023 09:11

Emanuel has become more popular over the years. Interesting to know that 960 took the test. I thought it would be more! Of course, still a lot.

SamPoodle123 · 02/01/2023 09:18

@LondonMum20222 Thanks. That would be very useful to know when making a decision between schools (if you are lucky enough to get more than one offer!).

Daydreamscometrue · 02/01/2023 09:43

@SamPoodle123 yes I envisaged over 1000 considering that LU was 1400. They're interviewing every day for a week though so they'll be able to see quite a few.

Original poster

QuiteAJourney · 02/01/2023 09:51

@SamPoodle123 I also thought it would be more, maybe the increased popularity in previous years has put some people off. Overall, the popularity of co-eds seem to be on the up - I have heard 900 applications for IPS (although places as less there) and over 1000 for KGS, and 1400 for LU... so all in the 9-11 applications per spaces region.

OP posts:

momomamiko · 02/01/2023 09:51

LondonMum20222 · 02/01/2023 06:21

@SamPoodle123 Re your earlier query as regards schools giving feedback on exam performance. A very helpful parent on here told me that once offers come out, if you call the Admissions office, some schools will tell you where you child was in the offers cohort (ie top 25%, top 50% etc). For parents who don't want their child at a highly academic school if they're going to be in the bottom 25% (or, conversely, for parents who want reassurance that their child is comfortably within range) it could be really helpful. The parent stressed that some but not all will provide this information.

I'm afraid I don't know whether schools provide information to parents whose child didn't have an offer. I'd imagine not, as that could be somewhat labour intensive, but perhaps a parent who has been through the process could shed some light on that.

King’s College School was kind to provide us with a feedback for the 10+ exam DS didnt pass last year.

EweCee · 02/01/2023 10:54

All this talk about number of interviews vs offers - does anyone know how many Surbiton High School interview vs offer? We have an interview this week (and didn't get through KGS so quite keen on SHS).....

sailingsunshine · 02/01/2023 16:37

@EweCee , SHS didn't interview until the pandemic and last year they had too many acceptances and had to put on extra classes that they can't do this year due to lack of space so I don't think anyone knows the offer ratio but hopefully she will get an offer or WL. Have you got another back up school like Notre Dame / St Catherine's Twick or state secondary?

HawaiiWake · 02/01/2023 16:57

Lots of kids doing Emanuel 10+ to avoid 11+ madness. 11+ 96 places, heard 1000 applied. LU bigger year group 11+ entry and no 10+ option, only 7+.

MomFromSE · 02/01/2023 17:09

People are just panic applying to loads of schools. There are only circa 7,000 year 7 pupils in independent schools in all of London. A good proportion of these will be coming up directly from junior schools that are part of through schools. These numbers are just a reflection of everyone just applying to every school they might consider. It must be so hard for the schools to figure out how to offer / WL since parents started doing this.

KindergartenKop · 02/01/2023 17:15

@MomFromSE I agree that it's madness but I did feel panicked that I hadn't applied to enough schools of the right level plus enough back ups. How can the whole thing calm down a bit? Is it partly to do with high numbers in this cohort due to high birth rates?

I have a second child in y3 at the moment and I'm wondering what I can do to make their experience less stressful in a few years!

LondonMum20222 · 02/01/2023 17:24

@KindergartenKop I agree it's really hard to know what the "right" number is. DD's Y6 friends this year have all been told to add another back-up to the three or four they were already applying to because 11+ has got so competitive. But you do wonder whether "it's got so competitive" just means there are more applicants for each school because prep schools keep telling parents to add another back-up!

That said, there is another thread on here about the potential increase in people applying to private secondaries because of concerns about the lack of funding in state education, and various state school teachers saying they are seeing reduced applications to state schools, and more people leaving for occasional places at private schools. Who knows...!!

KindergartenKop · 02/01/2023 17:33

@LondonMum20222 the problem I had was that I didn't have a clue where in the cohort he sat really, because he's at a state school where none of his friends are applying for the independent or grammar schools. This is good for him because there's no peer group pressure but harder for me to work it all out! So thanks for everyone on here for helping ☺️

MomFromSE · 02/01/2023 17:39

No advice! I think this is just the new norm. Everyone is applying to loads of schools rather than the traditional 3 (stretch, safety and target). It's the schools that have to figure out how much to over offer / WL in this environment.

People shouldn't panic about the crazy sounding numbers though. Everyone can still only accept one place so the odds of being accepted are much higher than the application numbers would suggest.

Daydreamscometrue · 02/01/2023 17:51

I think it's so hard to judge how DC will perform. Every school has a different method of assessment. People don't want to be left with no offers and therefore hedge their bets. Rejection is hard to accept especially at such a young age.

sailingsunshine · 02/01/2023 18:04

Surbiton High is unique this year because of the problem last year but for all the other schools is should be similar to previous years. In terms of girls schools all it takes is for somewhere like LEH to announce in late Feb they are adding 2 bulge classes and going deep into the WL as they did 2 years ago and suddenly there are surplus girls places as everyone chops and changes last minute. Surbiton have 9 classes of Year 7 this year, that's almost 200 places including the junior school, even with the drop to 7 classes and around 150 places that's a lot of offers that have to be made this Feb - at least 250 but I would have thought more to new dd not at the junior school.