Tiffin boy waiting list 2008

[xe]

Just adding more infomation: my son failed Tiffin as well– he scored 226 and is the 12th on the waiting list.

[ani]

My son was at no. 34 last year on Tiffin waiting list with a score of 220 (225 was the cut off score), he did get in last minute. So last year 44 boys got in from the waiting list. So the waiting list does move so don't despair!

[abitstressed]

Bit of a reality check yesterday. Congrats to all those who got in or have a reasonable place on the waiting list.

Like many others, despite being in the 'gifted' groups at school and being tutored by a well known Tiffin tutor (and averaging mid-nineties scores on all his practise tests), my son didn't get a place and needs about half the successful candidates to reject their places to get in!

So this is my advice to anyone who is about to embark on this emotional journey. The children who get in seem fall into the following catagories:

1. Extremely bright. The kind of child who when first faced with one of these tests will get all the questions right.

2. Bright and extremely tutored. One tutorial session a week and an hours homework is not enough. They need to practise endlessly and also learn lists of words.

and finally..

3. Lucky. It is after all a multiple choice test, and a lot of them answer a few questions randomly. Birth date plays a part - not sure how much and Tiffins isn't letting on. And finally how they feel on the day. The test is a snapshot of 100 minutes of your child's life. All our boys do so well that in the end it comes down to a few percentage points.

I hope this doesn't sound bitter. I just don't want anyone to be as naive as I was.

[hermanmunster]

My son was at no. 34 last year on Tiffin waiting list with a score of 220 (225 was the cut off score), he did get in last minute. So last year 44 boys got in from the waiting list. So the waiting list does move so don't despair!

Hi that is good news to hear !

Last thing I remebered seeing was some gloooom from the people on 220 in August!!!!

[oesmugso]

Trying to make sense of the posts is almost as bad as the NVR itself. I went through the previous year’s posts and annotated that the breakdown was as follows:

1st: 1 on 224
2nd: 9 on 223
10th: 10 on 222
19th: 15 on 221 (perhaps some on the waiting list dropped out ?)
34th: 11 on 220
45th: 14 on 219
59th: 7 on 218

If ani is correct then 46 additional offers were made. Yet someone’s post yesterday said the figure was 33. Perhaps 13 of the 46 dropped out before the offers could be made to them ??? !!!

Finally, this year’s (2008) looks like so far:
1st: 5 on 228
6th: 6 on 227
12th: ?? on 226

I hope we can provide something more informative and reliable for next year’s parents.

[SunlampVexesEel]

Yet someone’s post yesterday said the figure was 33.

That was a quote from "Which Secondary School 2008" from the Kingston Web Site.

Code: Select all

How places were offered over the last three years
                                      2005 2006 2007
No of applicants tested               1051 1059 1109
No of places offered initially         144  145  146
Original cut off mark                  228  226  225
Final cut off mark                     222  223  221
Number of offers after initial offers   56   66   33
Number of appeals heard                 32   33   32
Number of successful appeals             4    2    2

Regards
SVE

[oesmugso]

Thanks SVE – I appreciate that you’re doing your best to be helpful, but do you now see the problem? The poster ani stated a few hours ago that his/her son got in with 220 and further, that 44 got in from the waiting list. I would have more faith in what the poster says than what’s put up by the council. The table says the lowest mark was 221 !!

Thinking about it once more as I post, it would appear that having put into the table the latest info available at the time, they did not then update it for the last minute additions.This ties in very well with the table contents. [ 33 + 11 in 34th place at 220 marks => 44 ]

[allegra]

I think you've answered your own question. Ani is right, but the offer for the 11 boys on number 34 didn't come till early September (after the start of the school term!) so the information obviously wasn't updated.

[SunlampVexesEel]

so the information obviously wasn't updated.

Yes. Sorry. I didn't mean to mislead. The info in the table came from a document published on 6th September. I think the list actually moved down a notch on that date (presumeably after the document had been prepared).

44 is the correct answer. And 6th September was the date of the last tranche.

Regards
SVE

[TB]

Last year 2007 - my son was 45th on the waiting list for Tiffin, with a score of 219. The 44th position boys were offered places in September 2007, as the new term started. My son and others on the same scoreline of 219 never made it! The process is long, so you must be patient. From mid April 2007 when those on 221 were made offers there was very little movement until the summer holidays. My son was offered a place at Langley Grammar School, which we gratefully accepted. He is thriving at his new school, despite having to travel from Twickenham each day and being the only boy from his previous school to go there. He is amazing and we are really proud of him.