11 Plus Exams Forum

As you may have seen from my other posts, 5 days before the selection has to be in and we are still umming and arrring about whether to choose Skinners or Bennett as our first choice! (Being in the lucky position to be almost certain to get our first choice whichever we put).

We have almost decided Skinners as our (and our son's) first choice, but we just have a request whether anybody from the Langton or Rusthall area will also be starting in Year 7 there next September.

Nobody from his current school is going to Skinners and it would be just nice to hear from anyone who has a son living in these areas that he might be meeting on a bus on the way there (the one that goes along the Langton Road).

I know that (once they start) Skinners do very well in making up their forms from children from the same area, (and he will make friends from all areas we know), but before we make that final committment before Friday, to have Skinners as our number 1) it would be great to hear that there are children local to us, who are coming from the same area. (and might have the same worries for the first few days)

Happy also to give our contact details to anyone in the same boat, who might want to chat offline about the same thing. - Just send us a PM

Many Thanks

Your post strobeme has made me want to ask the same Q. Is there anyone from the Westerham area planning on Skinners?

A boy from my DD's class from Langton Green is going to Skinners. I am sure there will be several. I know it's not you because he is going with 2 other boys from his class!

OK, silly question. How can you know that the child will get into Skinners at this point without knowing the eventual cutoff? Suppose the cutoff is very high, say 415/417 this year? Knowing and hoping are two very different things.

johndoe wrote:OK, silly question. How can you know that the child will get into Skinners at this point without knowing the eventual cutoff? Suppose the cutoff is very high, say 415/417 this year? Knowing and hoping are two very different things.

You can't know, as like you say applications have only just been made so no-one knows. However, it is unlikely that the cut-off will rise by 10 points in one year, but not impossible.

I also think that when someone wrote 'A boy from my DD's class is going to Skinners' they probably meant 'applied' or the boy might have a score of 420 so almost certain to get a place.

Johndoe and SSM,

Sorry, but I'm not sure what relevance your replies had to my original question

Please note, I didn't say he was "certain" to be offered a place at Skinners, I said "almost certain". This was based on the fact that our son got 420.

There is the chance of course, that there are (approx) 115 boys who also got 420, who have put Skinners as first choice and live closer than we do (2.5 miles away) !

As an addendum, - We actualy put Skinners as 2nd Preference in the end anyway. We're only "almost certain" to get our first choice!

Do seem to be a lot of local 420 boys around this year: so who knows?

Strobeme, I think you misconstruded my reply. It was just meant to answer Johndoe's question not a criticism of your OP.

And just when you thought it was safe to relax, someone comes out with the thought that scores are going to rise through the roof this year! Those 3am worries are going to be surfacing again...

If scores are standardised and there are roughly the same number of passes as last year, then won't there be roughly the same number of children achieving 420 as in previous years? So isn't the possibility of cut off points for super-selectives suddenly rising 10 points unlikely?

And back to the OP, Strobeme, we're in Groombridge and have selected Skinners so come March, if my DS is fortunate enough to gain a place (and you don't get your first choice), then you are welcome to introduce your DS to my DS as they will be travelling from the same direction.

To clarify my reply, the boys did all get 420 and live within 2 miles of the school. The Langton Green one lives the Rusthall end. They all assume they have got in.

But who knows, maybe they won't?