Tiffin's ranked mark definition

[bayesian]

Hi, am trying to gauge the entry competitiveness and catchment differences (inner vs designated). According to its admission policy,

3.14 Admission to The Tiffin Girls’ School will be determined by academic ability, which is assessed by performance in the tests. Test scores are standardised and age-weighted. Then applicants are ranked in order of their combined mark within the appropriate category of selection criteria.

5.1.2 Places will then be allocated on the basis of selection by ability as demonstrated in the School’s test procedure in rank order of the combined mark in the following priority order:

• Up to 60 girls whose combined mark is higher than or equal to the 350th ranked mark of all applicants who sat the Stage Two Test whose permanent place of residence is within the Inner Area.

• Remaining places will all be allocated from applicants who sat the Stage Two Test in rank order of the combined mark and whose residence is within the Designated Area.

I am a bit confused about ranked mark. Say there are 450 candidates, is the highest (best) mark ranked 1 or 450? So are the 10 highest marks above the 10th ranked mark or 440th ranked mark?

@SleepyRooster after checking enough data points, I concluded that to maximise the chance for oxbridge, the pecking order is top-tier privates such as West/Pauls/Kings, good grammars (tied with tier-1.5 names like latymer), tier-2 privates such as putney/wimbledon.

@here This is a very informative post. I need some suggestion. My daughter will give her 11 plus in 2026. We currently live in Pinner and there aren't many grammar schools around. Targeting for HBS, but the competition is too high. Is moving to inner area/close to TGS a good decision? If she's planning to write her test in Sep/Oct 2026, how long before should we target to move? what i've read so far is - it should be during the time we submit the application, so Jul/Aug 2025 is a good time?

@mum707you need to move by 31st Oct 2026 which will be your CAF submission date.
please check rules around owning/renting your house at the time of CAF & previous/other homes owned. Some boroughs are strict about it and will have rules around whether you own/renting your home and for how long. Worth researching before making any decision.

I agree with SleepyLady that there is only a marginal advantage in catchment1 over catchment2, and living in catchment2 is closer for other private schools as well.

Thanks @FitnessIsTheOnlyWealth We own our current house. Plan will be to put the current one on rent and move on rent close to the school may be by Jul/Aug next year (that will be 1+ year before applying). So she will attend year 6 in Kingston. Want to be 100% sure we are complying to the admission guidelines before making the big move, if we do.
As per the school guidelines (2nd point a bit confusing):

• If we are unable to verify your child’s home address, or you have moved to the address given on the application within the last 12 months, further information will be requested. If sufficient evidence to verify your home address is not provided, or is not received within the timeframe requested, we will not accept the address provided on your application for admission purposes.
• If you own or rent a property which is used, or has previously been used, as your home address and you state that you are living at and apply from a different address which is closer to the school, we will normally treat the second address as temporary, even if the property that is further away is not available for you to live in. We must be satisfied that your move is a permanent arrangement and will consider a range of factors when making a decision

I'll do more research around this. Is it worth checking directly with school or council on this?

Worth checking with council. Years ago when we moved just before reception entry we were quizzed a lot - even though we had bought our own home - because we still owned our previous home. So we had furnish documents to prove that we intended to live at the new address and not move back. Ours was a genuine move so we had no issue with the proofs requested, but it made me realise that moving for schools is not straightforward.

The 60 places are also prioritised first for disadvantaged children, so if say 20 disadvantaged girls get places first then the remaining 40 places would go to inner area candidates so the advantage of inner v designated catchment is not worth moving to inner area.

I believe that Kingston follows same admissions procedure as neighbouring Richmond which is as per the second bullet point in your post, i.e. that if you still own a property reasonably close then they will count that as your permanent address even if you have a rented property nearer. I understand this is because people were keeping their owned property (even if renting out for a year) and renting somewhere nearer their preferred school for a year...and then moving back to their owned property.

yes, true. of course if she gets through we will have long term plans to stay there. but point2 is a bit tricky. might have to reconsider our decision.

@bayesianif you are teaching your impressionable child that kind of xenophobic ignorance - not supported by data easily found online, if you know where to look - you can forget about grammar school, Oxbridge, and the rest

I love how UK loves to call its values "traditional", because the whole country is so outdated

Why are you here, then?

If there’s even one person on the waiting list from the inner area who ends up getting an offer (and that did happen！), then the whole 60-catchment rule gives no advantage whatsoever.