Common Entrance CE 13+ Exams Independent Prep Schools 2017

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Pupils at our Prep school recently sat their CEs and results have been coming through. Some pupils were given the chance to improve their finished papers on the same day as the exam and given advice to neaten them up, where they could pick up extra marks and so on before papers were sent off to senior schools. This has made some pupils, parents and staff uneasy for all sorts of reasons. My question is, is this normal practice at Prep schools and do the exam board and senior schools know it goes on? Is this how schools such as ours can boast a 100% pass rate and subsequent acceptance into senior schools?

I should have said, name changed to protect our i.d. and not wanting to name the school.

Hi Newtongirls - I honestly don't know about the situation you describe so can't comment on that. As our HT has apparently said that he has done nothing bad or out of the ordinary, if that is true what is there for him to take responsibility for. It will be interesting to hear from others whether what he has said is actually correct across Preps. At our school it is hard to believe that the Parent Governors don't know about it. They have children in Year 8 who have mostly just done CE. Perhaps one of their children was involved, saw what happened or has heard from friends. If our Parent Governors don't know already they can just ask their own children. If there was anything seriously wrong with what our HT did, surely the Governors would have acted decisively on it by now as they've had 3 weeks to do so.

Hello again everyone. Thank you for all your interest and messages. I started the thread to ask some important questions about our own school and the HT's concerning approach to CEs this year, and from the wider Prep/Senior Independent schools community, hoping to share views, experiences, information and support, and as a force for good and hopefully positive change wherever needed. I made it clear from the start that I did not intend to name our school or HT. The HT can certainly look after himself, I have no concerns there. My concern would be for any poster naming the HT or the school who could find themselves threatened with or pursued by the HT's solicitor. Some posters might have the resources and strength of conviction and character to withstand anything thrown at them, and I admire that. However my main concern is to avoid negative publicity for our otherwise great school, and most importantly our many great staff members, families and children, who are innocent in the current situation. So, please stay on the thread, please keep contributing, but please let's keep it anonymous.

Thank you Newtongirls and mumsnet for editing the relevant posts. I certainly do not want to protect any guilty parties, but I know we all do want to protect the innocent.

Just a bump.

Hello again everyone. The end of the school year has been and gone. It was very difficult to sit there during various events listening to the usual expansive claims by the HM and others about just how well everybody had done at CEs, about the 100% pass rate, and how as a result everybody had got into their senior schools. It was particularly difficult to see that some pupils receiving individual awards or praise related to their CEs had been involved in the cheating. For those of us in the know, children and adults, there was an air of disappointment and awkwardness to the proceedings to say the least. The people I feel most sorry for are the children, who have been given a dreadful example in life by people they should be able to look up to and trust. They have to live with that as they start at their senior schools and in the future.

Seeing the HM at the final events, I felt rather like the child in The Emperor's New Clothes: I was very tempted to call out "But he isn't wearing anything "!

(name change) Just a side issue, now the school reports have arrived are all your kids also getting virtually A1s? I ask as older DC report when compared to younger siblings for the same year had more B2s, and comments for improvement though went on to get a scholarship so was evidently not finding school hard. Older reports were under previous headship, and it just seems to me younger DC reports are all unfailingly glowing. It's lovely and I would be delighted to think I have spawned a couple of geniuses but a naggy part is wondering if this is all part of the, 'give the paying parents what they want'. Just wondered if any had found this as well?

Interesting name choice, sue! From my own experience and observations, and from what I have been told by others, I tend to agree with another poster on here who describes the recent CE situation as the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately it would not surprise me therefore if something was even being done with reports or at least with some pupils' reports. The impression I get is that the school is being run as a business these days rather than as an educational charity, although of course money is raised for charities by pupils, families and staff. It seems to me that parents/grandparents are all seen as customers who are either in favour with the HM and therefore VIP customers, out of favour and therefore unwelcome/difficult/unsupportive customers, and finally the majority of customers who fall somewhere in the middle. All these customers have expectations - some more than others - of the school which need to be met or managed. It comes down to keeping bums on classroom seats, fees and donations coming in, no formal complaints reaching Governors, and good reviews in the guides, glossies and papers. As we found with the CEs, it also comes down to pupils getting in at senior schools of choice. So I do think it is possible that some grades are perhaps altered slightly to give a good impression of the school and to keep the customers/parents/grandparents happy, yes.

That said, there are some very good teachers at the school and the standard of education provided is therefore generally very good. Most teachers do all they can to help every pupil achieve their individual best and to keep progressing. This is usually even the case when a pupil and family are very obviously out of favour with the HM. It can be very difficult for teachers however to swim against the tide when more is very obviously being made of favoured pupils , and less is being made of more able and deserving pupils. Most do what they can to be fair and honourable while at the same time not wanting to risk their jobs or their children's school places. The HM surrounds himself with family, loyal staff and close friends/parents. The rest of us know that if we do not like it we either keep quiet, brace ourselves for a horrible time, or we know where the door is. That is all how it seems to me, anyway.

It is difficult to comment on individual reports however. My advice would be to look honestly through your children's school work books, projects, tests and any exams, assuming none were achieved by being made to cheat like in the CEs?! Consider their attitudes to schoolwork, to doing their Prep and how much you help them. Factor in the different teachers. This should all give you a good idea about whether their A1 report grades are accurate or not. What is the cause of the nagging part wondering you mention? Other than the usual loss of fees, is there any particular reason the HM might want to keep you happy and onside currently? I would usually trust your gut instinct as a mum about what is going on and about the accuracy of reports, as I assume that you know your children and their abilities better than anyone. We all love the A1s, but if they are not accurate it really is not helping the children to get a good education. Some parents will worry less about that than others of course, when for them it is more about the pleasure of the A1s and getting to where they want their child to be, such as in to the right school.

Obviously I am of the opinion I have birthed genius, twice.
It was less an individual query and more if others felt the marking scheme may have been dumbed down to give better results overall. So marking is the same but easier to get the A 1 s. I'm not beloved by the HT as far as I'm aware and younger DC s parents evening was an absolute (good) embarrassment, one teacher just saying as I sat down, 'bet you're having a great evening aren't you?'. BUT if the CE are being fudged it was a thought the whole academic system could be being 'helped' and therefore I might need to add a pinch of salt to my dreams of my children's future world domination.

If we are being told there is nothing wrong with what happened with CEs, it will be interesting to see if the same happens with GCSEs at the college.

I think that when something like the CE debacle comes to light about one's school, it has one questioning what else has been going on and trust is damaged if not lost. Slimeysue querying report grades is an example of this. My own impression of the current HM has always been of smoke and mirrors and the CE behaviour fits very squarely into that. I would be keeping a very close eye on what happens with CEs next year and GCSEs. I would also be speaking to my children well before they take their exams and deciding with them what they should do if they are told by the HM or other staff to take their completed papers back to improve them. As happened this year, some children wanted to say no but understandably felt they could not. Children should not be put in this position and it is really the responsibility of parents and Governors to address this.

I was told that when the HM of a senior public school was told about the appointment of our current HM, his incredulous response was to question why he had been appointed and to firmly state his opinion that he would ruin our school.

It is deducted direct from salary for staff/parents, but I wonder if any parents are going to refuse to pay the CE exam fees on principle?

I understand that a complaint has been lodged about the CEs.

There is a recent related thread about Prep school exam cheating in AIBU, and I see that exam cheating at Eton is on the news and in the press today...

A case at Winchester in the news now and a second case at Eton.

Strange what one can get awards for....

I think I have worked out what you mean! This is truly dreadful behaviour can you not make an anonymous complaint to the governors?

Very astute, far! Governors and ISEB are aware.

I have heard quite a few people using the Emperor's New Clothes analogy as mentioned in a previous post above!

Aware and taking action? Or aware and brushing under carpet!

Why has no one reported it to the Chair of Governors? At the very least they should be advised of the HTs readiness to accept expensive gifts from parents. The HT sounds hugely corrupt.