Waiting for 11+ Independent schools results for 2024 entry (North and Central London)

[JoeDoe]

Any parents here whose kids have finished interviews and waiting impatiently for the 9th of February (e.g., for Highgate/City/Girls Consortium/UCS)? What are your thoughts so far? Have you gotten the interview call backs you expected? Feeling optimistic?

Ho JoeDoe. We are waiting. We applied to 4. I don’t say to DD “2 weeks tomorrow, “2 weeks today” or DH. I thinking it. Hoping DD won’t be disappointed - she enjoyed interviews / music auditions but if anything I felt she was over confident. She was nervous , of course but tried to hide it. Do you know of any of the schools still have offer holders / taster days? Assuming we get 2 offers!

Hi @laughinglemons . It sounds like your DD did well. And yes, one would think that getting interviews is a good sign and hopefully results in at least two offers. We also applied to just 4 indies, though most people I know did way more (some 7 or 8). I think DC's expectations is a rather difficult thing to manage, particularly after the interviews, when they are more vested. What I dread is being waitlisted for our top two choices, and the prolonged uncertainty.

I think there are offer holders' days in all these schools. And interestingly parents often change their mind at that stage, opting for a lower-ranking school (whatever that rank might be) because it is more rounded and a better fit for their DC.

Hello- yes, we are waiting! DD applied to NLCS, Habs, Highgate, Channing and FHRP and had interviews at all. It is almost impossible to imagine that we'll know the outcome this time in 2 weeks.
Do you have a clear front runner?

Hi Emerald - front runner, our fav is QCL even thought of as lower ranking , channing but loses points for location (would be a buss and a walk up hill or 2 buses or tube but one stop to camden and then change branch line, i have a younger DS so couldn’t take her even if she wanted me too), colour of the uniform. FHS, good location although DD really doesn’t like the geese in the park (agree with her) or the snack offering 🙄 or the church element (is at church state primary). She would go to a taster say at SHHS if they invited her apparently!

what about you - huge geographical distance between those but i guess you live in the middle.

JoeDoe - where did you apply? Thanks for confirming that there are offer holders days. Its hard at 11. DD wanted all girls so we listened to that. I keep telling myself that any decision might not work out and there is movement. All good options - the friend thing is more luck and that is most important from happiness pov. Agree about the waiting list fear.. the idea that the the waiting won’t be over and the uncertainty will still be there… half way through the academic year now.

I am a bit concerned that because all the schools try to make the interview an enjoyable experience , DD thinks she has done better than she has!

I have a DS and we did City, UCS, Highgate and Forest. My niece did the Consortium, City girls and Highgate (top choice City). Interviews have gone well, but like you say, you never know. Confidence can be perceived as arrogance and vice versa. It seems that for most schools the performance in the written assessment is the baseline and the interview might marginally push one's ranking up or down, enough to make a difference at the tail end.

It is hard to get reliable data on numbers and to gather how competitive this year was compared to previous. The trend in the last 5-10 years has been towards higher numbers sitting these exams, but it might be that collective panic has kicked-in and most parents now apply to very many schools. And then there is also the VAT threat of much higher fees and the post-Covid trend of many Londoners fleeing for suburbs.

Did you use Atom? I have been wondering what impact its use is having on the level expected in these exams, as everyone seems to be using it now. A never-ending arms race.

Our favourite is NLCS, but it's unfortunately also the most difficult (of our choices) to get into! Highgate is choice 2. We live within walking distance of Highgate- so that a big plus, but nothing can beat NLCS.
Many people love Queens. We didn't see it, but everyone at DD's school has been impressed. The location for me ruled it out- though i didn't realise quite how central FHRP was.

@laughinglemons would you take Queens over SHHS?

What is your fav? All v different far apart - i went to forest for GCSEs (after FHS) and live near UCS.

definitely an increase in numbers from queens to 480. I have a friend whose daughter gies there and the current parents were told “record numbers of applicants”, 600 for FHS and 500 for Channing. I don’t know about previous years. Queens, Channing and SHHS have less places as they have junior schools. All of your schools do too!

yes we did atom - as it was just one atom exam (north london consortium) you make a good point re raising the standard… its all crazy no?

Emerald - I have been to NLCS , its so beautiful and buzzy, super clever, smart girls plus the old SHHS head who has gone there is fab. BUT second choice Highgate also amazing - walking distance to school plus mixed are big bonuses. The freedom of being independent with local friends is fantastic. NLCS must have school coaches but so expensive and long days. A friends daughter travels an hour each way for Latymer (the grammar) and its takes its toll with homework and music. I feel like Queens as you do about NLCS, everyone who sees it and meets the head is impressed, so central so accessible. The fact DD was invited to FHS made us feel confident she was academically at QCL standard but you never know. I am prepared for anything on the 9th - good , bad and limbo land!

I don’t know - that is why i was interested in any offer holders invites. We can walk to both. We all felt that Queens is where DD would thrive on the first visit, it was our first open day in year 5. Not going to worry about it as might not be an option!

Can I ask how long ago did you start with atom and are your kids at preps or state primaries? I went to one of these schools and would love my DD to go one day.

Hi houseplant. My DD is at a state primary school. Year 5 in May / June we subscribed to atom.

@HouseplantWrecker my DD is at a private prep school. We actually didn't subscribe to atom at home, but her school did and they had practice from there. It's definitely worth doing because you can't easily prep for the adaptive parts of the consortium exam- the different sections are timed and I think the more practice your child can get, the better.
My DD seems better suited to the written traditional papers that some schools still have!

Thank you both! Sorry to be out of the loop but are the exams still done on desks in hard copy?

Houseplant - The atom test, used by the north london consortium is all online. For the maths section they are given a pencil and paper for workings out. We only did atom (plus 2 banding tests for state options). The banding tests were multiple choice also but on paper. Atom was £70 a month.

We are also impatiently waiting! Does anyone know what time the emails come out?!😂😅

Last year

SHHS before 8am,

NLCS before 9:30am,

SPGS before 9:30am,

Highgate before 11:30am if that helps.

@PreplexJ wow- that's really helpful. Thank you!

Good luck everyone. Will update tomorrow as long as the news isn't too depressing!

Yes, good luck everyone!!! 🙌

Good luck everyone! Fingers, and everything else possible, crossed. I am staying late in the office in the hope of concealing my agony from my DC 😊

Good luck all! Not long now, one more sleep 😂

@11plu01 sleep? You sound too optimistic 😂

@JoeDoe Haha, heres hoping...will need the energy as fingers will be refreshing from early am tomorrow 😅

Does anyone know when the 11+ consortium comes out?