Should I push my CAT4 138 DD to SPGS open day?

[swdd]

My DD is in Year 5 at an independent school, with a CAT4 score of 138 (same Year 4 and Year 5). She really loves free play, doing her own projects, and is also into chess and video games. She’s more into brain stimulation stuff and I’ve been working with her on advanced competition maths.

However, she’s quite laid-back and not naturally self-motivated. Although she has achieved Grade 8 distinction in piano, she never practises voluntarily. Her English score is good, but not very strong largely because she isn’t an avid reader, and she lacks big interest in humanities subjects.

I don't think she fits the personality of typical St Paul's Girls at 11+. (I guess anything but laidback）Although given her strong logical reasoning skills, she stands a good chance of getting into SPGS if we applied. Also, she’s not at all sporty, and SPGS is extremely strong in humanities – both are definite weak areas for her. Obviously, SPGS is much more expensive than our current school, and as a modest family it would be further financial stretch. That said, we still could sit her for SPGS, partly to test her ability, and I’ve considered 16+ entry to SPGS further down the line, as she can choose a STEM-focused Sixth Form without too worrying about the humanities. And who knows, she might be more motivated in 5 years!

But my DD is completely against it. She’s being rebellious because everyone around her raves about SPGS, and she prefers a more chilled environment, partly influenced by my concerns about the pressure there. She would not even go for the open day.

My question is: should I persuade her to at least go to the SPGS open day, or should I just drop the idea altogether?

I really appreciate schools that are transparent and put key academic information on their websites. Besides SPGS, I've noticed that top grammar schools like Tiffin Girls and Newstead Wood also clearly state on their official sites that they offer 'Additional Maths'.

SPGS: Roughly half of the year group will also sit the OCR Free Standing Mathematics Qualification, commonly referred to as ‘additional mathematics’. This course is seen as a useful preparation for A level study, but is not a pre-requisite.

Tiffin Girls: Up to 60 students in the express sets sit the Additional Maths qualification alongside GCSE in Year 11.

Newstead Wood: Set 1 students study for the OCR Level 3 Free Standing Maths Qualification (FSMQ). Set 2 students prepare for the AQA Level 2 Certificate in Further Mathematics.

@swdd

I do remember a girl from SPGS on the IMO team a few years back who went on to MIT.

No SPGS girl has ever represented the UK in the IMO. However, I don't know if SPGS girls have ever participated in the IMO representing a different country. I suspect you may be thinking of Yuka Machino who attended Millfield School.

You're absolutely right! It was indeed Yuka Machino from Millfield School--thanks for the correction. It just shows how confirmation bias can mess with memory. Subconsciously, I mistakenly linked the top mathsy girl with the school I considered the best girls' school for maths at the time.

@user149799568

And it turns out an SPGS girl did make the 2025 EGMO UK team (the top 4 girls in the country), alongside girls from Alleyn’s, Wallington High, and Rugby School.
https://bmos.ukmt.org.uk/news/20250211-01-egmoteam.shtml

And another SPGS girl made it in 2026 EGMO UK team, alongside girls from Wycombe Abbey, Cambridge Maths and Laytmer Upper.

https://bmos.ukmt.org.uk/news/20260216-01-egmoteam.shtml

@swdd Two SPGS girls participated in the 2025 EGMO. One represented Ukraine.

Impressive!

SPGS parent here and I agree with other posters.

This is my experience of how they get nearly all 9’s at GCSE?

The girls are all bright but no brighter than the very top cohort at every other school in the country, it’s just that they are all at that level.
The parents are generally very ambitious for their DD’s.
There is heavy tutoring outside of school.
The pressure comes from the parents and family/child's ethos not the school.
The school is set up for the girls to be self motivated, not many rules, no uniform, questioning is encouraged which has been great for my DD’s learning beyond the syllabus.

However, IME the teaching standard is very mixed. Some exceptional teachers and some well……. This might be one reason why there are such different views of the school from parents.

Additionally the pastoral care could do with a revamp.

In answer to your OP though

No, you shouldn’t take your DD to an open day if you think she’ll struggle with humanities and more importantly if she doesn’t want to go.

16+ is a way off and she’ll barely remember the open day at 11 by the time she’s 15.

Exactly. SPGS is long gone from our minds. We made the decision a while back and will only visit schools that are a genuine option for us.

Three thoughts after reading this thread, to the extent they are helpful

1: Stories about schools are sometimes useful, but they may mislead
When researching schools, I often found factual information on mumsnet genuinely helpful (thanks to those who post links to the factual information). But after experiencing three different schools with my kids, I was sometimes surprised by how different the reality was from the overall impression created by the stories or single opinions on the forum. The stories can be completely true while still being unrepresentative. So it might be useful to take stories/opinions with a grain of salt and distinguish "this happened" from "this is typical" for a specific school. Btw, some information might simply be outdated: SPGS does have a bunch of STEM clubs (a number of maths clubs, science, engineering, 3D printing, etc.)

2: There is no "best school" in isolation
Rankings, exam results and reputation matter to some degree, but they don't tell whether a particular child will thrive in a specific school. Open days, talking to the school's students and teachers, and studying factual/verifiable information might be more helpful in answering whether a particular school is the best for a particular child. Thinking about SPGS, my impression is that those who love learning thrive there

3: Perhaps children don't simply lose their motivation to learn?
Young children seem to have a natural curiosity about the world. When a kid lacks motivation, I wonder whether school, parenting, pressure, comparison and other circumstances can gradually suppress that curiosity? It feels like preserving kids' curiosity for as long as one can is important on the learning journey

Sounds like Alleyns would suit her better then on to Westminster for 6th form?

@swdd your DD sounds really smart so I would go see all the schools then narrow it down. Also remember people here may have a vested interest in putting you off given it's so competitive. I saw lots of schools and was surprised by those I thought id love and vice versa. Dd only came to one and liked it despite being negative beforehand.

Re : SP, I only know one person who went to the boys one, excelled in languages, very confident though has chosen to send his DD to less pushy cheaper schools. He says you can get the same level of education in other places without the huge cost.

Re : SP, I only know one person who went to the boys one, excelled in languages, very confident though has chosen to send his DD to less pushy cheaper schools. He says you can get the same level of education in other places without the huge cost.

The girls' school is completely different from the boys' school in approach and atmosphere, IMO.