SW London Grammar and Private year 7 entry 2024

[lolo99]

Not sure if this thread has been started but if not, I would like to share experiences, tips and generally talk about schools and their pros and cons and processes to ease the anxiety and pain for us parents :)

Congrats to all those with interviews for KGS.

Re: interviews. We got a general interview last year and it was a very relaxed chat (some 10-15 minutes). My understanding is that any one with a general interview will get that general chat plus some prodding of the matter in question (be it English or Maths) - e.g. a text with some follow up questions, etc. If you have one of those, I would advise you to contact the KGS admissions team - they are usually really open and communicative, so likely to give you more information.

@QuiteAJourney Do you mean someone with a general interview will have both a maths and English discussion as opposed to just one of them?

No - someone with a general interview would not get any academic questions, just general ones: favourite subject, favourite book, hobbies, etc. It is regarded as a sign that the child is the performance in the exam does not raise questions on either Maths or English.
When one of the exams raises questions (I assume because it is borderline / not aligned with the other component) the DC is invited to either a Maths or an English interview, which gives the opportunity to further test their knowledge / skills in that subject.

Correcting myself as I mis-typed: it should read "anyone with a subject interview will get that general chat plus some prodding of the matter in question"...

Thank you @QuiteAJourney - really helpful!

Huge congrats to your DC @Flimpychunk

From last year, KGS seems to be one of the schools with a more favourable ratio of interview to offers, especially if the DC has been invited for a general interview.
It seems to be quite a good proxy for other schools like Emanuel (exam is rather similar, apart from the VR element at Emanuel, though arguably Emanuel entry point is a bit lower), SHS and PHS. At my DD's prep all children with a general interview got an offer from KGS and, if they had applied to Emanuel /SHS/PHS, all but one got offers too (the one without an offer got waitlisted for Putney).

English interview here as well. Very pleased. Any info about format from those who had English interviews (as opposed to general) would be great. They’ve also said at KGS that everyone invited to interview will either be offered a place or a WL place (which didn’t used to be the case) so huge congrats to the DCs who made it that far.

Congrats @travelturtle - also that’s great news re the offer/waitlist!

Well done travelturtle! Where did you hear about the waiting list/offer?

@Flimpychunk the Head said it at the open day we went to (I even double checked I’d heard correctly afterwards!) as they wanted to move away from interviewing and then rejecting candidates (which all the other schools do…). Hopefully it’s correct as it would be brilliant. Anyone else heard that too?

I heard this at the open day and it was reiterated at the really helpful 11+ info evening. The head said they didn’t like the idea that someone passed the exam but then they met them and said no thank you! So it’s either an offer or WL once you get this far. My DD got a general interview which we’re delighted with as she was very worried she’d had a bad day after the exam.

@travelturtle Many congrats.
The message is aligned with our experience and what the HM mentioned last year (paraphrasing him, why would we interview if we thought it is not going to be a yes / maybe).

Congrats @florence33

He sat the 11+ last year.

From the messages above, it seems the Hampton exam is similar to last year. Comprehension is relatively easy. Math: most cannot finish on time. But don't worry, many who got offers missed 2-3 questions (either didn't know how to do or ran out of time).

Congrats to all who got an interview for KGS. Did anyone get an invite to sit for academic scholarship?

Some children haven’t sat this yet so I wonder if you should delete the specifics you are talking about?

For those asking about English specific interview at KGS - my recollection from DC who had one is that it was reading a piece of prose, answering questions on it and then finishing the story in their own words. The entire interview was interview specific, no general questions at the end. Interviewer was very kind and brought the best out of candidate. Of course the format may have changed this year.

Thank you @kittybloom - really appreciate this insight!

In the prep school my child is in KGS seems more difficult to get an offer than SHS. Generally there have been higher number of offers from WHS and LEH than Putney. I always thought it was because they have more academic kids working towards the Hammersmith schools applying as a banker.

Sorry meant to say Putney somehow has shown to have a higher bar than expectations

congratulations to those who are invited to the KGS interview. DD also received the invite for the interview. A big relief! Does anyone also receive any news on co-curricular scholarship application?

any ideas on the numbers on offers and waiting list? I saw 250 was mentioned earlier but do you think this is the total including waiting list?

@allaboutmychildren I don’t know, sorry. Someone earlier in the thread said at the info evening they’d said they offer 2.5-3.1 per place but I wasn’t at that talk, and not sure if it includes WL places. 250 sounds about right but it’s guesswork really.

Lurker here, de-lurking. We have a DD and are in the thick of it.

Emanuel on Friday (along with half of London it seems… they have closed the school for the day to accommodate!) and WHS interview notifications coming the same day.

Does anyone have any insight into how many spaces are actually available at Emanuel? I know they had higher than expected y6 places accepted. And siblings get a place subject to passing a lower bar (and imagine will accept) so that’s more spaces “gone”. Doesn’t seem like there will many places available esp compared with huge number of applicants? Just musing really. It is very close to us and would be a favourite but seems a slim chance. Seems a bit unpredictable who gets offers too. Any insight welcome.

Also slightly tempting fate but being optimistic for Friday, does anyone know how many WHS interview compared with how many offers?