Queens College Prep 11+ process

[Lighthouse000]

We are considering QCPS from Year 3. Could any current Year 5-6 or past parent let me know how was the 11+ process for you? Does the school do enough / how much extra did you tutor to get into lets say SHHS, City, Highgate? Our alternatives are very reputable preps that are just focussed on 11+ without a senior school attachment like QCL. I am trying to choose a better route for 11+. Thanks a lot!

We have had an excellent experience with QCPS’s preparation for 11+. Our daughter has been there since reception and has not needed any tutoring at all. The school managed the process calmly to the point our daughter went through the process without stress. Less than two weeks ago, she has been offered a place at all three schools to which she applied: City, Godolphin and South Hampstead.
The culture and community at QCPS for us has been nothing but brilliant.

Thank you so much for your response. Congratulations to your DD getting offers from such amazing school. My gut feel tells me my daughter will be happy and do well at QCPS. It is very reassuring to hear about your positive experience.

We too have been at the school since reception and sadly I have to tell you that our experience was the complete opposite. Unless you and your child are over-confident, loud, highly competitive and you are willing to consistently court the teachers to give your child preferential treatment, you will not get anywhere.
Our experience of the 11+ (and many others too) was anything but positive at this school, in fact the school did not do very well this year getting into good schools, there was a lack of transparency & information regarding the 11+ and the majority of children have home tutors. As a result, a large number of girls have transferred to QCL this year as they did not get into the schools they wished for.
Quiet, kindly children are not nurtured at this school and are indeed consistently side-lined in favour of the same over-confident girls with pushy parents who are given all the best opportunities to the detriment of the other girls.
Pre-prep was fantastic at this school, and there are some professional teachers, the head of English being one of them, however, the last few years at Prep were very disappointing, especially since we paid for a private school to give our child more individual attention.

Our DD attended QCPS from reception to year 6. She took the 11+ and was offered 3 great schools. Our time at QCPS was mixed. The earlier years went well but years 5/6 were challenging to say the least. QCPS does not prepare students for the 11+ because the majority of their students want to carry onto QCL. It’s really up to the parents/external tutors to do the additional prep required to get into the more academic schools. We supported our DD through the process. Students can easily transfer to QCL without doing the 11+ so no reason for a lot of parents to challenge. Agree if you court the teachers and particularly the headmistress you will be listened to. It’s a shame because they do have some talented teachers but their reputation is impacted by this culture from the top. Despite all of this my daughter did very well but there are better schools given fees are similar.

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