All about Latymer Upper 11+ preparation

[GentleMintCat]

Dear all,
My DD is in year 5 and we are dreaming of Latymer Upper (yes, dreaming as using word aiming frightens me a bit). We love the school's ethos, teaching, community, innovative curriculum, inclusive bursary program that reflects on its community. My daughter loved the school and since she can't stop talking about it. Basically , she only wants that school and works so hard to get in.

I know that competition is fierce and chances are not high. For example, some very bright children who received offers from Godolphibn and St Paul's, City, didn't get through LU exam stage. One of my friends daughter, super bright and also well tutored, said LU exam was most difficult out of all the local schools. This makes me really nervous. Currently we are tutoring, but not sure if this is the right type, having feeling that it's more of a grammar school type of ruition, rather than LU which I know is highly focused on creative thinking and creative problem solving. During open day, they even said that they aren't interested in skillset, but how this skillset is applied to creative problem solveing.
So, please I want to hear everything that can be useful or potentially useful. Especially from parents who's children succeeded. Would love to get some tips, recommendations, tutor suggestions that have relevant LU exam experience. Also, if you could share some online resources, papers and platforms that are useful. Thank you! 🙏

@GentleMintCat that is amazing your dd is keen on Latymer. I would also consider other schools just in case and so she is not set up for disappointment. Yes, you are right in that sometimes the 11+ can be unpredictable and you might get into one and not the other.

My ds is in the middle of the 11+ and he said the Latymer test was the most difficult one, so we did not have much hope. But he passed to interview. We are hoping he gets an offer, as we really like the school.

My advice to you would be to sign up to Atom learning for at least the free trial and do the english/math mocks a few times to see what she scores. The scores will go up after a couple tries. But this will give you an idea of how much she needs to cover or prep. For Latymer Upper scores should be 120+ This should only be used as a sort of guidance, as the Latymer exam is on paper, so I would focus mainly on the paper exams. You can find plenty free ones online. But you can also buy some geared towards Latymer. And of course do the Latymer sample papers. We saved this for a month before the exam. Latymer is math, english and creative writing so work on those. Is your dd from state school or prep? The reason I ask is state school (my ds is at state) do not usually do enough creative writing. So you def need to go over it with her and/or put her in a CW workshop like yellow bird.

If you feel your tutor is not right, switch. Find one that has experience with Latymer...as they should have the past sample papers and know what sort of questions to ask.

Good luck!

Posted too soon!

I have a DC at LU and have been through the whole 11 plus a couple of times.
It's great that your DD is really keen on the school but I'd really try and play down the whole thing a bit and stress how many great schools there are where she can be happy etc. It's all a bit of a lottery at 11 plus anyway so try not to have firm favourites. She can always move for sixth form.
In terms of preparation, practice maths papers from lots of schools and focus on technique- moving on when get stuck in a question etc. We had a tutor but came from a state primary so they primarily used to practice exam technique with them.
One of my children always struggled with English comprehension so we focused quite a bit on that. The other had quite an outlandish imagination so we focused on not getting too ridiculous in the creative writing but still showing their personality....
Good luck- but stress to her that if she doesn't get in its probably not the right school for her etc etc

I would focus on the advanced maths. It seems the children who made it through to interview in my son’s year are very good at maths but not necessarily all-rounders. Manchester Grammar and exam paper plus have good practice paper. There are a lot of old sample latymer upper papers as well.

I agree with others maths are key, not just knowledge but speed. A tutor that teaches shortcut calculations to complex questions is vital as you will be saving minutes and it all adds up. Also in my experience, kids that have focussed on grammar school preparation have done well at LU too, as there is a multiple choice section on English. GL papers are useful, DS had a GL paper per week as homework in Year 5 and he got used to doing them, he was so confident with this format. You also need to ensure your tutor is structured and has a track record of success, we changed tutors half way through year 5 and it made all the difference. Best of luck, year 5 goes very quickly!

I would second the Manchester grammar papers and Atom learning. Also, writing focus- practice writing using great language. The exam papers plus were also good. I don't think my DS said that this school was any harder than ones like KGS and St George's. It was more in line with these and not as hard as Hampton.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Congratulations to your DS and all the luck for the interview. Can you recommend any club/tutor for creative writing or for any that you think helped him. ExamPlus has some LU papers, wonder if they resemble the actual papers and if anyone used them.

@GentleMintCat for creative writing check out yellow bird. They do a workshop that my ds enjoyed. If you have time, you could also go through a CW book with him, which I think is helpful. I would check out the sample paper LU posts on their website. We did not buy any additional ones for LU, but did for Tiffin as ds did that....and the first stage also had multiple choice comprehension. If you are applying to other schools that require written, make sure your dd practices that as well. Good luck!

@Wlondon14 thank you for your comment and advise. My DD is at state school, so we started tutoring of course and she's doing great. In maths, English, she's been working at advanced level, but not sure what is relevant level for LU, cause my friend's DD, who's exceptional in maths, wins different competitions, challenges, attends some special selective program at Oxford, said it was the toughest and the most challenging maths paper out of all. So, confused to be honest. Our tutor has good track record of getting children at Godolphin, Tiffins, etc, but still not sure, it's enough for LU. 🤔 Thinking to find someone with direct experience with LU preparation?

@GentleMintCat I sent you a PM

@W4mumoftwo
Thank you for your comment. The purpose of this thread was to hear others experiences and decide on how to continue. Currently, she's with a tutor, who gets children to highly competitive schools including Godolphin, city, Tiffins, etc. but this year, I think non got through LU first stage. This makes me nervous as our main target is LU. I think, to continue with her till summer term and then change to more specific LU relevant tutoring?! (Whatever it means - don't know anyone with direct track record or experience). Would be happy to receive recommendations on tutors. If you could share privately, would be so helpful. 🙏

I might have misinterpreted that you asked for tutor recommendations for creative writing and I think it's against the rules to publicly mention. So I sent you a private message with information on the tutors with successful track record and that I used to get an interview at LU this year and so far scholarship interviews in other equally highly selective schools.

Just trying to be helpful, apologies

Hi OP. I may be a bit out of date now, but one if my DC went through LU, What I would say is that it's irrelevant really whether some papers for some schools are deemed 'harder' because, obviously, if do, all students would find it harder and it's all relative. Schools just take the top x% based on exam performance, whether this means this x% are getting 60% in a harder exam or 90% in an easier one or whatever the case may be.

LU is a great school with fantastic opportunities but (unless it's changed with the new head), it can feel quite large, 'uncontained' and a bit like a campus.

I have also had a DD go through G&L which, in my opinion, is a much 'kinder' and much more supportive school.

I would strongly agree with PPs advice to not let your DD become too focused on any one school.

LU is very popular because it's the only co-ed in the area. They tend to take very articulate children - quite confident. The curriculum seemed to be always changing. They don't rest on their laurels, it's a very dynamic and innovative school. But it can be a bit 'edgy' - staff weren't always on top of unkind behaviour from pupils. They do grow into the ethos there but for the younger ones, it can feel a bit 'sink or swim.' But the trips and opportunities are amazing.

My DD is doing 11+ exams now. Got through the first rounds and second rounds (only some schools have second rounds) on all 7 schools we applied, including Latymer Upper. So can share some general experience on how LU compare to other schools in terms of the exams.

The written exams of LU has an English paper with multiple choice comprehension and a long piece of creative writing (45 minutes). Writing is generally descriptive writing. Strong writing skill, good structure with lots of descriptive details are important. Comprehension, because it is multiple choice, you can practice using online platforms like Atom.

The maths exams is quite standard relative to other top private schools in London. Not as difficult as St Paul's Girls School. The most difficult question this year, according to DD, is an Algebra question.

This year, LUS and SPGS maths are on par. Neither was more difficult, the same to comprehension which SPGS used to be very hard.

I dont understand the hype about LUS, for us because its co-ed that we want. Every year the peers would decide the bar and exam format could change too. We didnt try Atom. Loads of 11+ revision could be bought from Amazon.

@MEIL4 Thank you for your comment, and congratulations to your DD on her amazing results so far! She must be incredibly bright, and you're clearly doing an excellent job in choosing the right tuition path for her. If you're able to share here or in private the tutors, clubs, or platforms you used for her preparation, it would be greatly appreciated. Best of luck with the interviews!! 🫶

thank you - is this virtual or in person?

Hey there! In my opinion, you don't necessarily need a tutor; instead, you can make use of online resources. There's one I've been utilizing called Quest for Exams (saying this from the point of view of a parent who could afford little involvement in their child's preparation). Basically, their practice papers, especially English, offer questions that are relevant to daily life and help the child understand more on how to think creatively and use these concepts in the real world. Quest also has help sheets that cover topics, and get into detail on how these can be applied to real-life situations. Do give it try!

Can you give an example of this type of question quest uses? Not sure it sounds all that helpful for the Latymer exam (from some that has a dc that just got in). What is helpful is looking at their past exams and practicing similar exam types. English is not too bad. It is the math that is very difficult (dc excels in math and said it was the most difficult math exam he did for 11+)

Just an update: we made it through the interview, which we felt went quite well, and we’re now waiting for the final decision.
I was wondering if anyone knows what form the school submits for the reference. I understand it’s done directly between schools. If it’s mainly factual (current attainment, SATs data, recent reports etc.), I imagine that should be fairly straightforward.
However, if it involves a more detailed or personal reference, I do feel a bit uneasy, because DD’s current teacher is somewhat unconventional, remarks she makes towards DD and few other able kids, make them feel she's picking on them and I’m not entirely confident about how thorough, fair or balanced a more subjective reference might be.

DD is a strong student in all areas, polite and well behaved, never had any problem, so logically I know there’s probably nothing to worry about — but I’d really appreciate any insight into how these references usually work, what's included, is it only current teacher writing or others comment as well? any advice welcome.