Occasional spaces in year 8,9,10 in Highgate and UCS?

[relaxingparenting]

Hi There,
My son sat in the 11 plus in the two schools but unfortunately we didn’t passed into the 2nd round. We didn’t prepare him effectively due to lack of knowledge on the exam format and the whole 11 plus admission standard in those selective schools. His CAT test come up quiet high, nearly 130 mean score and we thought he was well prepared. But just before the exam we got A level teacher look at his work and was told he is very bright but he was not taught things to get marks such as accuracy etc. As none of these schools do 13 plus. We would very much hope there are occasional spaces come up in those schools? Does any one knows how the admission for occasional space works in those schools? Will the exams same as 11 plus entry exams? We are planing to get him a right tutor this time to prepare for occasional space.

I would ask the schools directly, but as a rule occasional places do only come up very occasionally. It would not be a good idea to plan your strategy around preparing for a place hopefully coming up - even if it did there will be other candidates competing for it so the odds of your child getting it are slim.

You would be better looking for schools that have a 13+ entry point, and working towards that. Habs has one, I’m sure there are others.

Sorry to hear this OP but don’t let you and your son get disappointed. It’s an awful business these exams and being bright is sadly not sufficient. Just focus on the next steps. I know so many families in your position at 4+, 10+, or 11+, who eventually got into their top choice.

I have no first hand experience but I have heard that places at Highgate do come up and people join in those years. I would think it’s the same for UCS. And clearly, the competition for chance vacancies is less insane. But you have to be in regular contact with the admissions office and have a good rapport with them. Just to add, though, that you may also find that the school your son will go next year might be a great fit and you may get a place at Highgate and choose to stay put (I know people who made that decision). It’s hard to think clearly at this stage when you and your circle are all in the “11+” mindset where all that matters is a place in some school(s). Education is a marathon, not a race.

Thank you so much for the insight which is very help and gives us some hope. I agree completely that this is a whole marathon thing. I determine to constantly calling and emailing the schools after we registered him for occasional places. I would rather go down the route of 13 plus but rarely any 2nd top independent school still do 13 plus at year 8. They have all done their selection at year 6. This was a shocking to us too as we didn’t know this until last week. Habs has but only for 20 places and they test kids on so many sujects which I can see it would be extremely difficult to get a place there. Do you have any suggestion on preparing my son for those ocasional space in Highgate and UCS?

My main advice would be that regular parental involvement is often more effective than tutoring. Things like: Maths quizzes, scrabble, ‘word of the day’, discussion of current affairs and/or fiction at the dinner table, museum visits, (the list goes on…). A little bit of that every day, if done naturally and not as an imposition (eg “let’s do homework now”), goes a long way. And obviously the benefit conferred is not just for the exams but for life. It’s hard, of course, for working parents but not impossible to make it part of the family’s routine.

Both schools have pre-prep and prep schools, so some children will have been there since the age of 4. I think it’s likely that places would come up for Y9 at both schools as some will be ready to move on - either to boarding schools or to day schools that have 13+ entry points. Certainly not loads of places but hopefully a few at least. I’ve heard at CLS (another school you might consider?) there is a waiting list for occasional places for Y9, and the boys sit an exam for those places in the autumn of Y8 (this is in addition to the normal 13+ entry point). I would expect UCS and Highgate might do something similar.

Thank you @Hatcher for the valuable advise. It is really hard to make this as a part of the family’s routine as I tried to do the this few years back but always forgot or couldn’t do as it turned to be always in hurry to get them to bed on time, but as you said it is not impossible.

Good point. I think there will be higher chance they move at 6th form as now 99% top selective schools select the 13+ entry kids at year 6. We missed this already. I fell it is much harder to get into those schools through 6 form so would like to avoid this. I will have to keep close eye on occasional places. Yes, CLS is one of the schools we considerate. Do you mean for occasional space there are two exams? the normal 13 + entry exam and exam in the autumn of Y8? When will they sit in the 13+ entry exam for occasional space?

Thanks everyone will commented on this post. All if your advice are very helpful and give me more insight. It would be great to hear the comments from the parents who had experience sitting their boys or girls in the occasional space in the senior school of those schools. Your advice and sharing your experience on this journey is highly appreciated.

Hi @Hatcher can you recommend some resource for maths quizzes, scrabble, word of the day etc? Whatever we can use to build routine?

I think there is only one occasional place exam for CLS in the autumn of Y8. The normal 13+ exam is in Y6 as you point out, but you do not need to have taken the normal 13+ exam (or the 11+ exam) to be put on the waiting list for a Y9 occasional place as far as I am aware. You might need to be a bit persistent with the admissions office though. I don’t have personal experience with it - this is just what I have heard so could be wrong!

Some of the current pupils at these schools (CLS, Highgate, UCS) may have taken 13+ exams at other schools (boarding or day schools) in Y6 but they won’t know how many of those will actually leave for a little while. So there are probably a few places that come up each year for Y9, and because there are long waiting lists at these schools, they may hold another exam during Y8 to help determine who gets those places. Each school may handle it differently though.

Thank you very much. This makes a lot of sense and I will follow up with these schools from March once they have compete the admission of 11 pls this year.

Re: Highgate and UCS. You might want to confirm with the schools that they will consider your DS for an occasional place. I know of one school that won't consider a previous applicant if they didn't make it to the interview stage, though they state that prominently in the rejection email.

Thank you