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.

We're delighted that DC has an Emanuel interview too. I just wondered if anyone had been invited to one of the Academic Scholarship interviews? It sounded like they would be run in a slightly different way and I wondered whether anyone had been told that they were in the scholarship group?

They usually invite all applicants which is usually 1000+ so they are very good at it and well organised.

Has anyone who applied for a co-curricular scholarship at Emanuel heard if they are invited for an assessment for that? I just wondered whether anyone had been invited for a second round assessment when we received the group interview invite? I don't want to bother the poor admissions staff with this question when they must already be so busy. 😅

How does the academic scholarships work? Did you apply for it or the school invites based on exam performance?

The school invites based on exam performance and sounds slightly different in format as in addition to the group activity there is an interview with an English and a maths teacher.

Have they not already assessed for these, at least for sport (pre-exam) and art (this week)? Or is it different for the other types?

It's not even 5 days either, it's 3 afternoons and a Saturday. That's some impressive throughput.

All I read in the email was that it was decided after the exam, interview and reading of school reports.

If Emanuel had 960 applicants and 2/3 are going through, that means they have invited 640 for the group assessment and interviews. As said above, quite a logistics exercise over 3 afternoons and a Saturday, arguably not so much on the interview front (for perspective, KGS interviewed 300 in one day but and it felt really smooth) but also on how to combine the group assessments with the interviews.
If I am not mistaken, they have 96 places in Y7. It has become an increasingly competitive school to get into but there is always a question as to how many of those going through (in what seems to be an increasingly academically strong field) have it as a first option or as a back up for other schools (e.g. LU, KGS, ...)

Wow, 640 is still quite a lot! I wonder how many they make offers to. I think it is a backup school to many. We like it, but it is not first choice. My dd favours Godolphin and Francis Holland atm. However, we need to look at the schools properly (we only went to one open day). Our experience of Emanuel was just the exam day and my dd loved it. She had a great experience. However, from reading on here and speaking to others it seems impossible to know how they select dc now. At my daughters school no one has gotten in the last few years (not many go for private, but every year there are maybe 3-5 that apply) and my friends dd that got offers to Godolphin and Putney did not get an offer from Emanuel. I am very curious if we will know anyone that gets in.

My DCs state primary used to get quite a lot into Emanuel. Very few have got in in the last few years including academic sporty all rounders who ended up at KCS, Hampton, Putney High etc. Also know quite a few bright siblings who didn't get in either so who knows what they're looking for!

Just to add to comments re: Emanuel offers and acceptances. Offers seem to be quite difficult to predict - we know of kids that have got offers from Hampton, Whitgift, etc but not Emanuel... and at our indie the offer numbers seem to fluctuate a fair bit.
In term of acceptance, I think it has gone up the desirability ranks and it benefits from the scarcity of co-eds in SW London and the location / transport links (so more likely to be high in the list of preferences for parents for which those factors are key).

So sorry to hear it's a no @11minus for your DS. The whole process feels brutal.

Thanks for the correction on numbers - Good thing I am not the one doing the 11+ maths 🤣.

People always said Harrodian was hard to presict when it came to offers but seems Emanuel is a bit of a mystery, too.

I am just glad we are nearing the end of this all - should start thinking what to do with all the spare time and brainwidth 😊

Well done for those who got through Emanuel. For those considering Emanuel, what are the other co-ed schools you've considered? Seems that all the co-eds have had huge numbers of applicants this year, but my focus is further south, so Ibstock and Claremont. They too seem to be quite the unknown in terms of how many interview vs offers - does anyone have insight on those (particularly Claremont!)?

In regards to Emanuel I can't help but feel it sightly odd to me that you would still interview that many after knowing the academic capabilities of the DCs.

I can understand if interviews came first and you had a policy of interviewing everyone as standard, because then it's just the first step in the process.

But now it almost seems a bit tough on a lot of kids (possibly 200-300+) to offer hope via interview to those who may have just passed academically, but realistically are outside chances.

Seems to be a slight case of not wanting to lose that 'everyone has a chance' ethos of interviewing all applicants, but also coping with increased demand and exam expectations. Bit of a worst of both worlds. I'd be surprised if in subsequent years they inch away from the interviews for large numbers process.

A no from Emanuel for DS. Disappointing, but unsurprising given the numbers and the fact that Emanuel is very hard to predict.

We haven't told DS yet, as he has his final exam coming up and don't want to knock his confidence. The slightly bizarre thing is he was reflecting on all the exams yesterday and said the only one he feels positive about is Emanuel. Eeek!!

Yes agree that seems a huge amount to interview at Emanuel for 96 places available for external applicants

I spoke to Emanuel admissions just after the exam and they confirmed they had just under 1000 applicants and are interviewing two thirds.

Has anyone called Emanuel for feedback? It's often vague but I wonder how far DC was off the mark for interview cut off.

Spgs email out

SPGS email is out

@Parent123456 Sorry cross posted! Hope it was good news for you

Congratulations to those who have received offers and sorry to those who have not had good news.

Does anyone know when the Reigate interview invitations are likely to be sent out?

I agree. I think they are very much in a transition phase. Am I right in thinking this is the first year they are trying a group exercise?

Other thought about Emanuel: when we went for an open evening they were playing down the importance of the sibling policy. It’s something which is (obviously) very much valued by current parents, so they are tactful about it, but I don’t think the school wants the policy to limit its discretion on admissions as much as it has in the past. I would expect the threshold level for sibling admission to rise.

Also interesting is the growing interest in Emanuel from north London, which also has a scarcity of co-ed indie places. The development of the Overground means that parents from e.g. Hampstead who despair of getting DC into Highgate can now look at Emanuel as a reasonably commutable school.

I would also expect Emanuel 10+ to become increasingly competitive as people strive to avoid having to do 11+.

SPGS emails are out now