Is anyone else waiting for 11+ results from Guildford High School (GHS)?

[EducationComesFirst]

The school said they would post them today. The wait is unbearable )))

@EducationComesFirst EducationComesFirst we have just decided on Tormead for a Y7 entry in Sept. If you go for it let me know if you’d like to connect before they start. We were impressed by the ‘all rounder opportunities’ and the buzz / energy of the girls.

For those who did 11+ at GsH and Tormead, could you kindly share your experience in the preparation work you did and any recommendations? Thanks

DD is now in year 7 at GHS and did both GHS and Tormead exams. The only additional prep she did was Atom practice and mocks for about 4 months before, which were really helpful to know the types of things to expect, and lots of reading and vocab as this links to the VR and English components. We really liked both schools but DD wanted to go to GHS (and is loving it so far).

Thank you! Did you have a tutor too?

@Userno1 Hi , my DD has written stage 1 of GHS and she is invited for stage 2. My DD will start sept 2025, hoping it goes well. This is our first time with independent schools. Do you have any advice on the informal interview based on your experience. We visited the school last week. My DD liked the school . Any information will be really helpful ! Thanks

My dd is in year 8. The interview she had was very informal. She just chatted about the sports that she did outside of school. Nothing difficult or that you needed to prepare for.

Could you share a bit more about your preparation for the exam please?
good luck for the interview!

@SchoolDilemma17 Thank you for your good wishes ! My DD has practiced bond books ( assessment papers ) . GHS follows CEM style but we did not prepare specifically for CEM . She practiced English Maths VR and NVR as she was appearing for other schools also . GHS has sent a practice/familiarisation test to understand the CEM exam pattern. We went through it before the exam day . Hope this helps ! And everyone will be invited for both stages , it’s mandatory for the child to appear the exam on both days . Not sure what’s their criteria to give an offer !!

@Firenze12 Thank you so much for your response . Very helpful!

@MariaMangali yes, agree with the above that the interview is relatively informal and they do group activities on the assessment day, which my DD said were fun. Think they look at whether girls will join in and be happy - encourage DD to tell them about things she is passionate about.

Thank you! We have the Bond books and a tutor but not doing too much yet (a few excercise a week), we are also coming from the state sector so not sure if we have more to catch up on. GHS is my first choice atm, let’s see. My DD is very much into science.
would love to hear how the interview went and any other tips you have for the prep! Thank you so much

@Userno1 Thank you for the response . Very helpful.

@SchoolDilemma17 we are also from the state school , as you have a tutor they should be able to cover what is required for 11plus. Good luck and yes I will post our interview experience here in new year !!

Another state schooler dreaming of Guildford here… Pretest plus was very helpful preparation for the CEM test and invaluable for the ‘missing words’ (cloze) section, which is waaaaay harder than the usual cloze questions you might see elsewhere.

Thank you! And good luck to your DD. Would love to hear the outcome and also how much time you spent overall on prep (when did you start?). Our tutor is very happy with our child’s progress and she seems on track. But she also has gaps in maths thanks to her state school 🤦🏻‍♀️ who haven’t covered certain topics yet. She gets reports saying she is exceeding age related expectations but the school is not track for maths.

Did you do pretest plus only or in addition to atom?

We’ve had help with maths from a family friend who then recommended someone else for English. We got stuck into pretest/exampapers plus only since the end of the summer. Tried Atom but didn’t think much of it. Examberry was a complete waste of time! Bond papers quite good; online not so much.

We’re also lucky that her primary school is really good, especially for English.

Are you applying this year or next?

Thank you! Very helpful!

Next year. She will be going to an 11+ small group weekly and have a bit of 1:1 tutoring (not lots until the summer). My DH can help w maths (I can’t 🤦🏻‍♀️) where she seems to have the biggest gaps. Have not looked at Atom yet, got a couple of Bond books. Unfortunately our options for state schools are pretty bad, and we are not Catholic, so we are aiming to get into a private school. Think we will try for 3 schools, how many did you apply for? Guildford High is our preferred option, our DD is very academic and into science.

I think our primary school is ok, but she is definitely not pushed and easily top of the class without trying very hard…

@SchoolDilemma17 Hey, my DD completed her stage 2 at GHS yesterday. Like everyone mentioned the day was packed with some activities , breaks and an informal chat or interview. In the interview they asked her about her favourite subjects in school , her interests in sports , the books she is reading , and what other schools she has applied for and if she passed any of the grammar schools. There was only one creative writing task where they have given the topic and it was timed. As in 6 minutes to describe the the plot and another 6/8 minutes to continue the story . Overall in my DD’s view it’s a fun filled day and she said the interview was the best part . Hope this helps ! Good luck to your Daugther .

Thank you @MariaMangali fingers crossed! Which school is your DD hoping for? Does she have a preference?

@SchoolDilemma17 she has an offer from Sutton high and she is waiting on GHS and WHS. she missed the open day for WHS , so once she gets to see the school, then she will start putting her preference order .

Our daughter’s experience was very similar (as you would expect). She really enjoyed it.

Does anyone know when we’re going to get the GHS 11+ results?

No specific date has been provided but it will be the end of the month. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say Friday 31st. Just another 18 days of agony ahead. Hooray…

Thank you durness fingers crossed!