Independent School Interview - Group 1 or 2?

[clockworkclockwise]

Hi Mumsnet community, Seeking your words of wisdom. Does anyone have any insights into whether it is better to be in the first group or second group for the interview. Do schools ask the kids with the higher marks to interview first?

No! There is no rhyme or reason to the way they group the children. It is all random. I have had two kids go through the 11+ and they have had different group times (morning or afternoons). Earlier sessions or last slot session (and they got into all schools they interviewed at!). Just like it is random when you receive emails for the interviews or offer letters. They send the batches out and they come at different times. Some people got their yes emails hours before.

Does that apply to different days too?

I assume so! My dc applied to multiple schools and interviews various days/timings. It was never same which group they were in (first group, one of the middle or last). For example for my son some of the interviews were done based on his schedule. One was scheduled afternoon because he had an exam in the morning. One was scheduled afternoon because he had another interview prior. Another school asked if he could make X date because the first slow was filling up with kids that had some swim gala on the other day. For dd interviews it worked out we did not need to request certain timing or dates.

Most important thing is to relax about it. No tutoring needed for interview if your dc is good with speaking to adults. If they are extremely shy, I might set up a couple interviews. We just practiced by asking them questions to get them comfortable and have an answer in mind if asked. For example, what are your hobbies, favourite book? What do you do on free time? Etc.

Different schools can do it in different ways. DD went to a prep where many girls applied to the same independent schools at 11+, and the girls (and parents) talked even though the prep asked them not to. One senior school appeared to schedule the interviews in alphabetical order by surname over the course of a week. One school seemed to schedule interviews by primary school - all of the girls from DD's prep who got interviews were there at the same time, the waiting room was full of girls in a different uniform when we arrived and was filling up with girls in yet another uniform as we were leaving. One school apparently did schedule the interviews in exam score order - we were told this by an acquaintance who'd previously taught at that senior school, and the SLT at DD's prep certainly believed this. We didn't notice any patterns for other schools. These patterns were before girls requested different time slots because of conflicts.

Thanks for this. It’s very helpful to hear your experiences with the interviews. Sounds like there is no set method. Thanks for your interview prep tips too!

This is extremely helpful, thank you for your detailed reply. I have been thinking about this a lot and it does appear that the interviews my DC is sitting are based on exam scores. Losing much sleep over this!