Selective ability

[ThreeKids]

Level 5 at school at the end of yr 5 would generally be enough. I vaguely remember them saying at one school (Sutton Grammaer I think) that a 4b/4a at that stage was where your child should be to stand a good chance. DS1 was scoring in the mid-high 90's on the tests consistently and got in quite high up the list (in the days when you got told their rank order) but there is quite a spread. The top 100 or so will be in that league, but to gain a place at the schools you need to be roughly in the top 300-350, and the boys that are at the 'lower' end are the ones that are consistently scoring 85-90+%. So a child that is scoring in the high 90's will come near the top and, baring a complete wobbly on the day, is almost guaranteed to get in, but you don't need to be that stellar to be in with a mighty good chance.

[Doblinski]

I agree with 3 kids but would add that some real high flyers at dds school - level 5a for everything, top group at renound tutors who sadly did not pass the GSexam, it shoows that it's also importantly, and somewhat arbitrarily down to performance on the day.