London grammar and private senior school entry 2025

[CruCru]

Hi all

It doesn’t look as though one of these threads has been set up yet so I thought I’d do it.

I have a daughter going into year 6 and a son going into year 8 next month - both will be moving to senior school in 2025.

It isnt something she learns from her school and doesnt like it. I also see its pointless. LUS is our first choice and doesnt have NVR so we bet on it

I would like to see studies about whether NVR directly corresponds to any academic skill or in general is a good proxy for academic performance. VR clearly does, as it involves conceptual reasoning, inferences and modal logic. And several schools don’t test NVR (LUS, UCS) at all. I wonder whether the schools that have it use it only as a tie-breaker, to choose between equally strong candidates in maths, English and VR. I can’t imagine being as important as the other three.

My elder daughter who didnt practise NVR and disnt do well with NVR questions at her 11+ exam is a very good mathematician of her age(top 20 in the uk MOG, went to an Olympiad camp organised by ukmt). We respect the kid wish. They both dont like NVR and the endless practice. They do go to weekly group tutor for maths and English only(English means everything:VR, comprehension, writing etc.)

If NVR is a genuine test of intelligence then I must have the intellectual capacity of an amoeba.

I’ve been disappointed by how little VR there’s been outside of ISEB and CEM. Much more NVR.

A lot of schools with high public exam results, whether grammar or private, such as HBS or Wimbledon High, place significant emphasis on NVR and do not assess maths to some extent. Therefore, I don't think that, overall, the specific subjects chosen for selecting students matter much in terms of their ultimate academic progress. At a higher level, any school's public exam results are highly correlated with how selective they are initially for the intake, regardless of how the selection process is conducted—be it through NVR, English, maths, writing, online, or written assessments, and even affordability. This makes you wonder what truly matters in a school, as the value added by the school goes beyond just surface-level metrics

Thomas’s College says we’ll hear before Christmas for an interview in Jan.

Thank you! I was looking everywhere and couldn’t find it

City just announced

It is debatable about NVR hence often only use in first round and for our elder daughter, it was not stopping her from receiving offers for those schools(it was included HBS).

The girls said they dont want to practice NVR as it isnt what they learn at school at all and just can not relate to their learning. Both loves maths though. Could work on a complexed problem for hours and also very quick with mental arithmetic.

Godolphin isnt our first choice, neither Spgs, we hope for a mixed.

Good luck to everyone with City news today

Worth noting that just a few years ago (around 5? ), HBS was using the CEM paper, with NVR accounting for less than a quarter of the first round. Now, the first round is GL, NVR-heavy, accounting for more than one-third of the first round marks.

@PreplexJ how do you think the consortium test is weighted? I would think with the addition of creative comprehension + the puzzles it would be diluted.

City Girls or City Boys? I don’t have any email from them.

@vjceqgub city girls or boys? Good news?

Boys. Good news for us.

Ah, I’m so glad!

Thank you!

Perhaps, it also depends on the school. Different schools might weight the areas differently.

@vjceqgub Congratulations! Great achievement. Anyone knows if the City 13+ results are out as well?

Son wrote dulwich today aswell. Was the maths, and reasoning adaptive and English and creative comprehension puzzles not? Good luck to everyone with all
the exams! Can’t wait for it all to be over!

For consortium test, NVR is just one of the 5-6 sections. However, each consortium school can set their own criteria for the same exam. The criteria can be on a per-section basis. Also, the exam is adaptive for the NVR section, so not every question carries the same weight.

Times parent power list is published this weekend. Any surprises?

They picked Reigate Grammar School as the Independent Secondary School of the Year 2025. I am sure it is a terrific school - but I also wondered whether they were slightly trolling Keir Starmer. They wrote that it was his alma mata and that his government has shaken the independent sector with their decision to impose VAT from January.

Apart from that it was fairly unsurprising. Highgate came very high on the list. I remember when it was much less academic (but I am talking 20 years ago).

@CruCru very good observation on Reigate!

The times ranking table is still consistently useless and misleading. Its combined table ranks secondary school academic performance with a double-weighted A-level result entry. Most of these schools, whether private or state, have significant turnover of students for their sixth form, with some being more selective in their entry than others. For example, when DAO, which is partially selective for 11+, ranks the same as some 100% selective grammar schools, it doesn't mentioned the fact that its sixth form is 100% highly selective.