KES - Birmingham

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ews147
Posts: 152
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:47 pm

Post by ews147 »

Hi,

I very much doubt that your friends child will receive an offer, as being near the bottom of the 'waiting list' is another way of saying that he was near the bottom of the rankings in the test overall, I'm afraid. :(

If his allocated school is not suitable, perhaps he could try or one of the non selective indie schools, even at this stage they welcome interested parties for year 7.
fm

Post by fm »

Actually, I don't think you are right about that.

KES will have a standard of ability below which they will not be prepared to go even if it means having empty places. Boys in this category will have been turned down flat.

I don't think this boy is in this category because he has been put in the waiting list. Thus, he still does have a chance, even if it is very narrow.

But I agree. If you are prepared to pay for KES and don't like your given state option, then it might be an idea to search out an alternative such as St George's or the Priory. I am fairly certain St George's run a mini exam for boys who do approach them late in the day.
ews147
Posts: 152
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:47 pm

Post by ews147 »

Sorry fm, i stand corrected :)
BB248
Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:51 am
Location: Birmingham

Post by BB248 »

Thank you to both of you for your thoughts. Do you think it seems like more people than usual are turning down places at KES or is it always like this?

Take your point re St Georges & Priory - good suggestions.

Thanks again
ews147
Posts: 152
Joined: Thu Oct 30, 2008 10:47 pm

Post by ews147 »

I don't know the statistics but given the choice between paying 10 k a year and having a free gs place, most people of moderate to comfortable means would go for the latter, i suspect!Quite right too, in my view.That said, a surprising number of boys in my son's class at kes did pass for camp hill /fw and turned it down in favour of a fee paying place at kes - however, it is notable that most of these were from the indie sector originally, so presumably money was not such an important factor for these lucky people. :)
The recession may also play a part, but i doubt it judging by the number of applications this year which was higher than ever.
fm

Post by fm »

I wouldn't try to second guess the market.

Normally only my independently educated pupils select KES/KEHS over a free place. This year I have 3 state educated ones considering exactly that despite getting their first choice KE grammar school.

Many jobs are recession proof so I wouldn't assume the recession is going to have that big an impact on places accepted etc..
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Post by hermanmunster »

I was thinking about recession proof jobs on the way to work this morning! .... Employers are trying to cut the pay rate of the overnight doctors to a third, quite a few of my coleagues rely on this to pay school fees..
fm

Post by fm »

All the medics' children I have tutored so far have done both the private and free entrance exams. They have also all passed both, but, oddly enough, have gone to the free King Edward schools even when they can afford the others or are already in the private sector.

I have taken this as a sign of confidence in their children to do well in either environment and enough common sense to know that the difference between KES and Camp Hill is not huge enough to warrant £10,000 a year. They are also more likely to value the slightly wider mix of children at the free grammars...Or maybe they just have such stressful jobs they need to spend the money on de-stressing activities like good holidays and good wine!

Could just be coincidence, of course, because we are not talking a huge example (about 2 a year), but interesting enough.
BB248
Posts: 162
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 10:51 am
Location: Birmingham

Post by BB248 »

It wasn't particularly the economic situation, or not only the econ situation, that I wondered about. I understand that this year, by the usual exam application date, there were far fewer applicants for KES than had been typical in previous years. So a decision seems to have been taken to extend the date for applying, and, in the last few days & weeks a huge number of people signed up to take the test. It's whether these late applicants might change the pattern of acceptances that I wondered about - whether, for a larger number than usual, KES was only ever their last gasp option.
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