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

[QuiteAJourney]

Continuation from

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4697901-sw-london-private-grammar-applying-for-year-7-in-2023-part-ii?page=40&reply=122947087

An opportunity for parents of DC applying to private and grammar schools in SW London for entry in year 7 in 2023 to share their journeys.

@Trickleg where are you based?

How much are you all taking distance/commute into consideration? How far is too far. I think for us not more than 30 mins.

Untutorable and 11+ exam is oxymoron

@secondaryquandries Wimbledon. Brilliant for access to girls schools, not so much if you have boys and Kings doesn’t float your boat! We would love to keep the commute below 45 minutes, but not sure how feasible that is.

@Workhar thank you. I would be happy with any of the schools listed so really hope it all works out x

@Trickleg Claremont is not too far from Wimbledon I wouldn't say. By car/coach at least. You are right though, there are more girls schools close by.

@Taurus23 , on past years if you are 2nd stage Tiffin then you will get a SHS offer. If your dd has enjoyed the process and feels she has done well it's more likely you will be weighing up offers/ scholarship offers/ Tiffin or Tiffin WL. This means the process drags for a whole while longer so best to take a view of it ending around early March!

@sailingsunshine Regarding waiting list for Tiffin. Do they move much? If DS was on the WL how likely would he be to get a place? I'm really hoping I don't have to deal with this situation!

I had assumed it would but I've now asked a head of sport at one senior school and a head of music at another whether being a strong scholarship candidate would give a child the edge over another candidate if they were in a borderline situation, and both teachers said things along the lines of "I wish it did - because then we'd always get the scholarship candidates we want - but it doesn't." In both cases they said the meetings about who to give offers to post interview happen first - and completely independent of scholarship assessments - and the sport / music dept are told who's made the list. One of the teachers said sometimes it's really galling as their favourite scholarship candidate might not get through, but that there's nothing they could do about it.

Obviously that's just two schools - and they were both super selectives - so other schools might be different. I do know - just from looking at prep school leavers' destinations - that some schools seem to give out scholarships (academic, music, sport) like Smarties, and it seems like half the year must arrive with some scholarship or another!

If you look on the elevenplusexams forum there is a brilliant thread every year that tracks this: what the pass mark was that year, and then people on the WL post their DC's mark, and gradually you watch it move as more and more people get places.

For Tiffin girls, I think in the past two years, something like 25-35 people got waitlist places - most quite early (eg within a month or so of national offers day) but some not until Sept.

If you have a look, I expect there'll be a similar thread for Tiffin boys. But it'll really comes down to what his score was, and what number he is on the waitlist.

@LondonMum20222 thanks! Hopefully it won't come to that!

DS didn't get into Tiffin on offers day but we did get a letter telling us his score, the cut off score etc and that he would definitely get a place as he was 1 point below the offer score, but that we wouldn't get an offer for a few weeks as they had to wait for original offers to be accepted/ rejected etc.
He was actually offered a place about 10 days later I think.

@KindergartenKop , as @LondonMum20222 says if you get a Tiffin WL place you get the score and you can look in elevenplusexams to see when the WL moves and to what score. Re Hampton, in my ds's class someone has dropped out at the June day for new boys to attend (don't worry it's a Saturday so not a day off school) as he had got a Tiffin offer that month. His parents paid the hampton autumn term fees but he didn't attend as they took the hit to avoid 7 full years of fees.
If you end up in this situation with private/ Tiffin WL it's best to be very clear with your ds what your strategy is as it's confusing for the dc.
FYI Hampton didn't replace him with someone off the waiting list, instead they took 1 more person at the 12plus entry stage.

@BlueTick @LondonMum20222 , does Coed schools have to give scholarships like sports to a boy and girl for fairness?
Yes, you have to pass 11+ and I agree with those students not on borderline having a better chance of an offer but also assuming in a upper marking band there are 5 kids, the Grade 8 musician at Junior Academy of Royal Academy of Music would have a stronger profile or an unusual instrument like harp.

According to our prep head, senior schools aren't interested in extra curricular at all (because they think it's not a level playing field across all students) - she said it barely even features on the reference - so outside of a scholarship assessment, whether a child is a grade 8 musician, county sports star, or starring in a play in the West End makes absolutely no odds, and certainly not in the decision as to whether to offer a place.

At the end of the day, these schools want the brightest, most curious girls, whether or not they can play an instrument or be part of a winning netball team.

DD has been interviewed a few school so far, every single one of them has asked about extra curricular activities, and if there are any thing remarkable I'm sure it will be noted and it is a positive thing at minimum...

That's really helpful to know - thanks!

I think they just ask about extra curriculars in interviews for something to talk about. I don't see why it would impact offers. It's not a level playing field and seems rather elitist for it to be taken into account (given how expensive these activities can be and the need for a parent / nanny etc to be available to ferry the child around).

I think the schools are only interested in academics (who will get the best exam results) and ensuing children are polite and pleasant (so nice for teachers and unlikely to upset other children and lead to issues with other parents). Why would a school prefer a child with great musical ability to one without?

We ended up skipping NHEHS interview and went for G&L only.

@Dallasdays I wish it is purely academic but I believe even top private will also consider: distance to travel, sibling situation, extracurricular activities, culture background and others, most of which are part of the interview.. I only have very limited observations so I can't say for sure..

I think it depends on the school. Some schools definitely care about extracurriculars as they want to have a broader holistic set of experiences for pupils. You can't have a school orchestra if you have no children that can play instruments, or offer competitive sporting opportunities etc etc

That of course had to be balanced thoughtfully be questions around access and finances but it is not universally disregarded by selective academic schools. The first criteria though has the that they are academically capable of course.

I remember mine also been asked at interview how they would travel to school. I think that's actually quite important.

Extracurriculars are of course relevant, not just for the scholarship. Every interview asked this question and the schools want kids who have a balanced lifestyle (and still achieve the exam score for that school) so they have the "capacity" to increase learning time later on, I suppose.

For St Paul 11+ (boys), the interview is for 3 hours and comprises a one-hour session in which each boy has to choose an activity (art, drama, music, or sport). Maybe they are not evaluating their levels, but certainly, want a boy who is committed and passionate about something outside academics.

@secondaryquandries Ideally within 45mins door to door.

Some school has good coach network but from my understand the morning london traffic will take more than an hours easily..