SW London Grammar and private senior school entry 2025

[Wlondon14]

Hi! I know there are a few threads like this out there, but they seem to focus on grammar schools outside of London. I found this group really helpful a few years ago when my daughter was going through this process.

Where are you applying, how did you find the open days? Are you using Atom learning? What is your prep plan for the next month?

I have a son applying to - St Paul's, Kings, Latymer Upper, Emanuel, Ibstock, Hampton, Harrodian

@mutbee genuinely, cannot wait to cancel the atom subscription! Yes, that WhatsApp chat got so heated they decided to shut it down.My son hasn’t done too many maths mocks on atom, but have found similar issues for English.

we tried one vr test y'day on atom. 60 questions in 30 min. It could be possible on paper but with connection being slow and to press next etc., I don't see anypoint to bother again with such papers.

Will anyone do an organised mock exam in the next few weeks? Or last-minute courses? I keep getting sent so many options!

How is everyone feeling? Do you feel your dc is ready for the exams? When is your first exam?

I feel like we are not quite ready! Our first exam is in just under two weeks.

I cannot believe soon we will be finished!

@SamPoodle123 still some areas I am hoping he can improve on over the next few weeks, but generally think he is as ready as he is going to be. Most important is to keep him healthy and happy, and just not too exhausted!

Think we are ready but had a complete break for the two weeks of half term. First exam on 29/11 but some sports assessments before that. AST exam is January so a way to go…!! And then interviews if al is on track, which I haven’t even begun to think about.

which schools are you all applying to ? we are going to try 10+ Emanuel, next year, so I am keeping an eye on things here. thanks

@11plusNewbie happy to share my 10+ learnings, it was an eye opener for us and we changed our approach for the final year of preparation. Feel free to PM, happy to share our experience with anyone who can benefit

Good luck to everyone taking KGS tomorrow, it's our first private exam😬

Good luck! Our first one is Tiffin next week.

Good luck!

How was KGS? How did your child feel after? Hope it was a good experience!

Very good experience, lots of friends attended due to location and everyone seemed quite happy with both exams ( they gave them a kit kat as a snack and that was the highlight of the day 😅). Children were split into very small groups, I felt it was very well managed.

That is great to hear! When is your son’s next exam? My son has his first on the 23rd at Hampton.

We have Tiffin next week and then Hampton too😄

Hi just wondering any suggestion for CEM exam? Does Atom is helping for the preparation?

When should be expecting the written exams results from KGS ?

Hello, my DS did KGS 2 years ago and the results of the exam came out about 17 days later.... very quick. I am not sure they have published the date this time but they will probably email us soon to say. My DD did it too last Friday.

Does anyone find the NVR on Atom really hard? We haven't focussed on it much as only one of my DD's exams includes NVR... but it seems so hard on Atom. I struggle with quite a lot of the questions myself!

The 25 November. It was in the booklet handed out at the most recent head talk

Yes, the nvr seems really difficult. Hoping ISEB will be easier!!

Good luck to all the boys writing Tiffin today!

How did people find Tiffin? What are people doing in the next week/two weeks? We still have tuition scheduled but wondering if I should cancel it.

I’ve been wondering the same about tuition. Emanuel exam on 29/11 which is DC’s preferred school and I’m not sure stressing further between then and the Alleyn’s exam is going to be that fruitful at this late stage. Feels like they should now just relax and focus on the day!

It was as expected, long 😅I think they were mentally prepared for it, my son seemed to be happier with Tiffin than Sutton and found English harder than Maths ( it's normally the other way around!)

We are going to focus on NVR/VR as it's included in all his tests from now on, so just want to ensure that it's fresh in his mind. We continue with weekly tutoring but they just do timed practice papers now, so it's worth it. Agree with @OvalOpal , we are also ensuring he gets lots of sleep and eating well, as the next few weeks will be busy

DS found Tiffin challenging and did not finish (but it seems this is the case with others for Tiffin and Tiffin girls). We will keep up with some light prep and focus on getting good sleep/healthy foods. It will be a busy next few weeks! I look forward to when it is all finished.

Anyone doing the sports or music scholarships?