Skinners School

[lemonposket]

My son is sitting Kent 11+ this September and is aiming for Skinners or Boys Grammar. I'm curious what the cutoff score for Skinners was this year. Many thanks.

It's very much dependant upon where you live assuming your child isn't ia child in care, in receipt of PP or other special consideration.

Skinners have 140 places for 'in area' and only 20 for outer area - the boundary is on their website but think it's roughly TW + 3 miles. Score is pass + 40 so for 2023 you'd need 372.

TWGSB is a pass so 332 for 2023 but again, is then based on catchment but has more places 240 in TW and 90 in Sevenoaks.

Thank you so much. I'm curious to find out what the lowest score was this year as some boys without siblings already at the school I believe got in with scores below 372.

DS's first choice is Skinners but wondering if it's realistic based on his mock results...

For 2023 it went below 370 but no idea how low. No matter what you think your son will score and even if he comes in below the Skinners required mark always put your first choice first (assuming you're well within TWGSB catchment as he'll be offered a place there instead). You then have the option to add him to the Skinners waiting list. There is movement and I believe the waiting lists stay open until January after they start.

It depends where your address is. For the inner catchment, I have read on other threads that, students with lower scores are admitted once the 1st allocation is complete in March.
We are 10 miles from skinners and ds is averaging 340 to 360 in the mock tests so we are also considering our options.
You could probably email the admissions team, they seem to be very helpful but it seems like, there is movements after the initial allocation.
With TWGSB, if you are closer to the sevenoaks annex, thats what would be offered and have to through some appeal process if wanted to move to the main campus.

My friend's son didn't get in to skinners despite scoring high (400+) and living less than 5 miles away in 2022. He did get in on final appeal but it was so late they'd made the decision to accept a place at TWGSB by then & bought uniform & really sold the school to their son. He is doing exceptionally well so no question of moving him at year 9 which was their backup plan.

Honestly, if your son is scoring 340-360 in mocks I'd say he might struggle at skinners" and consider TWGSB or other non grammar options.

@lechatnoir thanks for your information. How is yours friends DS doing at TWGSB? We went for a tour of the school and it seems like a very well balanced school.

He's on track for straight 9's - a super bright very self-motivated young man so I think would have done well wherever he landed up. My experience of skinners is high academic expectations, quite elitist, a lot of pressure that not all thrive under but overall a really impressive school for the right child. If I thought my son was bright enough it would be my first choice but I wouldn't flog him to death to get him there (IYKWIM)

TWGSB served one of my DS's very well, less so the other who had to leave at 16 because he didn't get good enough grades to stay on.

My son is starting at Skinners in September. The initial required mark was 372, but he mentioned that there was a boy at the induction day who had got a place the day before. The boy lived right next to the school (Queen’s road) and his score was 363 or similar. So I’d imagine that there is a bit of movement once the initial places are offered in march, but I’ve also heard that tutoring is going into overdrive this year as more parents are focusing on trying to get grammar places rather than exploring private schools, however this is purely anecdotal.

Well the visits we attended were all full and they were many families from private schools (we recognize from their uniforms).

Skinners and Judd have always been seen an acceptable alternative to private so far higher than average number of prep school boys there but yes I'd imagine that will only increase with the proposed changes to VAT. These are not schools you choose for economic diversity!

Hi

my son is at Skinners and entered in the 2023 cohort. My daughter is currently applying in the 2025 cohort.

if it helps, my son’s year had a cut off of 372 for skinners in theory. He achieved a 367. At the time we didn’t know he was in fact dyslexic.

He didn’t get a place on first round but then in the may we were offered a place at skinners. After drop outs etc there’s a lot of movement in places. Even during the first term there were new joiners.

I don’t think the school publish the lowest scores offered as these probably change a lot. However once the original places are filled, they then only look at distance to the school. It doesn’t seem fair really.

anyway , just wanted to advise that I would genuinely put the favourite choice down if you feel it’s the right fit. Whilst skinner’s is super selective, they are brilliant on culture and balance expectation with realism and support. They genuinely want the boys to be good citizens and healthy.

I’ve heard horror stories about other schools in this front and sad to say, but specially the grammar schools. We opted for skinners as it was smaller and this ey offered so many wonderful clubs which are a chance to build ties and make solid friendships. My son is definitely a bit of a geek and most of his interests were covered at skinners and we knew they’d be celebrated rather than ridiculed. Eg he loves Ancient Greek myths, music, maths and chess.

cent recommend skinner’s highly enough - and ones sa bit sceptical originally about the pressure.

good luck in whatever the outcome! Hope the results were pleasing for you both.

Also just based on some of the other replies - I don’t know if these are direct first hand experience or not - but I genuinely don’t find skinner’s apply pressure.

I was worried about this and winced when my son wanted to choose skinners. I was worried it would be high pressure and very stuffy.

Weve found the total opposite. Son loves it there and they helped us with a SEN passport and some teething troubles with settling. There was one incident with another boy and it was dealt with very swiftly, with a good balance of benefit of the doubt and strong warning. Son felt reassured.

Most teachers I met were very warm and knew my son after a term. The PA is fantastic (probably higher level of donations to be fair!). It’s a lovely community. They are well organised and have lots happening but it doesn’t feel as overwhelming as primary.

genuinely the teachers give up a lot of time and support is there. All kids have some testing to identify SEN early on and they actually act on it. They offer touch typing and reading comprehension support. Also a laptop scheme.

I wondered if my son would struggle alongside others who got marks in the 400s. Being honest, he’s aware most of this peers are from private schools which made him anxious. However he is part of the gang and they all seem to bring different strengths to the group.

my son says he find it easier than primary. I think he means it’s better organised and that the teaching is more engaging. So he feels it’s more fun. For example on history the teacher brought in musket balls to show them. He loves drama there and music. He also now likes many more subjects than he did at primary.

for sure there is at least one quite old school teacher there who caused an issue temporarily but the head is excellent. Definitely down to earth and he has a daughter at secondary so is living it alongside us parents.

Congrats @FluffyBoredMama that your DS is in Skinners. My DS scored 367 in his kent test but we are not too sure if he will get in to Skinners as we are 10 miles away. We will probably put Skinners as first choice anyway and that will be taking a bit of a risk. We knew that DS was performing in the mocks at the 360s level but were secretly hoping he would score higher. He was let down by the reasoning part. I have heard that this year, the overall pass rate is lower for the Kent Test and there are lowers levels of students scoring above 370 but this is purely anecdotal. Congrats to you again, thanks for sharing your thoughts and also good luck to your DC.