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 :)

@minipie re Emanuel at an open day the admissions team say they only had a ‘handful’ more than usual accept in current Y6. Usually 96 places for external applicants in Y7. Not sure how many siblings but remember some siblings will have already joined in Y6 so absorbed into those numbers. Also they do over offer as they know most people apply to multiple schools. Will be busy on Fri but try not to worry about numbers too much. Good luck to your DD (will be there too!).

Thanks travelturtle. Yes that’s true the y6 bunch may well include a lot of siblings. “Handful” sounds better than I had thought - had got the impression somewhere it was a whole extra class worth. Although on the flip side, I’ve just depressed myself by reading their admissions policy which gives priority to “those offered scholarships or exhibition ability or potential” in music art drama sport… none of which we have applied for. Anyway. What will be will be. Good luck on Friday!

@minipie I think one PP mentioned WHS might taking one more class this year (unconfirmed) so it probably will have more interviews and offers this year?

I also recall reading something about a whole extra class for y6 last year, so a bit of a relief to hear that didn't happen.
We're not optimistic about Emanuel at all, given the numbers applying. I guess that a big issue is that location wise it is convenient from so many places.
We didn't apply for any scholarships either as Emanuel states that it expects the child to be doing a lot of whatever is applied for already. We did for Alleyn's as they made it clear that prior experience isn't needed, they are looking for enthusiasm and potential.

@Brugmansia Don't lose heart, the Emanuel numbers look scary but remember that they offer quite a lot (if you look at offers and acceptances for Emanuel for preps in the area, the ratio is around 3:1). And definitely I know plenty of children that got offers without having applied to scholarships.

@minipie I have also heard, through a friend who attended the WHS open day, that WHS is looking at an extra class (if so, some 20 more places, even factoring that they seem to have less girls that choose not to transfer from the junior to senior). If last year is anything to go by, they took some half (or a bit more) of applicants to second stage - which is not an interview as such but an assessment lasting some two-and-a-half hours, involving group working, creative thinking, etc. Not your typical exam, certainly (some children, mine included, actually loved it!).

I think last year Emanuel had an extra class in year 7 I.e they over offered. They also over offered their 10+ and deferred 8 spaces (so eating into this years 11+). Those spaces do mean about 24 less offers though given 3:1 over offering. They indicated they are getting many more acceptances than before and I imagine will have to be more conservative this year which is a bummer!

When my colleagues who live as far as Hamstead and Hammersmith are all applying then you can see why. Such a shame as we are super local and there is a huge dearth of co Ed schools here.

The info on spaces I know as someone asked the question during an open morning

Ah ok, 8 deferred spaces and therefore 24 (ish) fewer offers would make sense. That’s better than a whole class anyway.

Yes, I read something on WHS website just now that they can do an extra class every few years and 2024 is such a year (assuming sufficient quality candidates). Which is helpful. Good to know about proportion going to second stage, thank you.

Yes although they will also have a total cap on pupils so the bulge year last year also means they have to be careful.

Woldingham results Monday!

@farfallarocks good luck for Woldingham!
Hopefully a good result and going into Christmas with an offer. We found it a great relief last year (especially as we thought the school was lovely).
And if you have applied for other ISEB schools, useful to know how the ISEB test went...

Yes all crossed a confidence boost!
We applied to 3 other ISEB schools ( and two non iseb with very different exam formats!)

one of the school issues CEM which seems tough on timings and also very maths heavy ( they have additional maths paper)

Yes, this is correct. I read this on their website. Every 5 years they are able to take a larger cohort. So this year they will have one more form.

Did anyone’s DD do the Surbiton High exam on Sat? Any idea when results are out?

Surbiton reserve date is tomorrow (Wed). DD sat on Saturday and found everything straight forward. Last year the results came around Dec 2nd so I assume Monday is the most likely date they might send out interview invites.

Does anyone have the Times parent power school list that they can share. Thanks

I think the latest one will come out early December.

I always sign up for the free trial on the app and then cancel my subscription afterwards.

Its worthwhile, as it is very detailed, with loads of useful accompanying articles.

Last year there is a busy thread mums bashing about how useless the Times Ranking
Table is

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4692885-parent-power-2023?page=1

A nice summary on why it is not very useful

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4692885-parent-power-2023?reply=122207410&utm_campaign=reply&utm_medium=share

@Carmenbeeeater I think is out? If you happen to have could you please send it to me in my inbox. Thank you so much

Hi,

Unfortunately it is so big, and it is not a document- rather in newspaper format, so impossible to send I'm afraid. Best just to sign up I would think. Sorry, I can't be or more help.

I've just checked and can only see last year's one, released on 9th December 2022, which is titled 2023. I imagine 2024 will be released in the next week or two.

I would agree with this. But it is useful to gauge the selectiveness of the schools at the outset and therefore what is realistic for your own DC when choosing to apply. I for example now know which are the super-selectives, mid range etc, which I didn't have before. Especially the midrange schools, which aren't as obvious.

I think the schools have publish their results for 2023 already , no need to wait for Times 2024 for their ranking, for London can just go to the link posted earlier in the thread for a aggregated list. Or log onto individual schools interested for the latest result.

I once accessed a website with past papers that ranked their difficulty but I can’t remember which website it was. Does anybody know what it might be?

We went through the 11+ last year from a state primary and I practically have palpitations when I think back to it. We were very lucky in that we were offered all the places applied. Some parents got VERY into the league tables and whether school X is the better choice because slightly higher than school Y. Clearly exam results are an important metric for sure but context is very important and exam results in large part are driven by strength of intake.

@Ilikelists piacademy has a “planner” which for maths at least brackets the 11+ papers by difficulty.

@Ilikelists piacademy has the planner free for download and if according to that schedule, one would need to do at least 4-5 hours maths papers per week for 40+ weeks. 😅

And yes I personally know someone stick to this planner schedule and get in all the top independent schools they wished for (boys and girls). In our experience you probably don't have to do it ALL, not even a third of that, but anyhow it is a good resource for practicing written format past papers.