North London Consortium Group One exam

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staar
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:17 pm

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by staar »

Do Consortium 2 really have a pecking order? So does that mean if you get an interview for NLCS you should get one for CLGS? Or do some only get NLCs and not CLGS?
Pandora123
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 1:34 pm

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by Pandora123 »

We were advised on which schools to apply for based on the mark obtained in the consortium mocks. I am aware of group 2 which is NLCS followed closely by CLSG then Godolphin etc. Not sure of group 1 as only familiar with one school
Daogroupie
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Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by Daogroupie »

There is no pecking order. The 2 groups exist for one reason only; so that the girls do not have to sit multiple exams but can apply to multiple schools. Each school is in complete control of how many girls to interview and how many offers to make. If schools like City and NLCS get more applications then of course it stands to reason that your chances of an interview will be less than at another school which is not so oversubscribed. But City gets more applicants than NLCS, 800 to 600 but interviews more, 300 to 200. That is the choice they make, they obviously put more store by the interview than NLCS does. Some schools like St Albans also have a VR paper that gives them a third paper to judge the academic performance of the girls. The safest thing to do is what you have all done. Sit both group, have a favourite in both and some backup choices in case you don't get an interview from your top choice. I would also advise any parent who feels they have not applied to enough schools to email some of the schools and ask if they would consider a late application. They can get hold of your paper easily enough and then make the decision based on how well your dd has done. Basically unlike the state schools who are controlled by the government the private schools can do what they like. I know parents who have brokered all sorts of deals offering to come into the school and provide music/drama/sports/language lessons or run clubs like Chess in exchange for reduced fees. There are no rules that private schools have to abide by. If they want your dd they may well be prepared to come up with a deal. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by asking. DG
fairyelephant
Posts: 588
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:59 am
Location: N London

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by fairyelephant »

Remember that location will mean that NLC and CLSG are looking at a slightly different pool of applicants so you can't compare directly. A girl could travel from East London to City, she's unlikely to want to go all the way to North London Collegiate. What schools find difficult is calculating the number of offers to make - when I went to CLSG for an open day, the head said please try and choose between Us and NLC as we often offer to the same girls and it would make their life easier.
shootmenow
Posts: 356
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2012 12:25 pm

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by shootmenow »

Fairy elephant is correct, DAO is not. There is a pecking order in terms of selectivity. NLCS and CLSG will offer interviews to the top performers. Some self selection is in play at the application stage- most parents are sane enough not to apply if their DD is not super academic. It isn't purely a numbers game. Those schools (+SHHS in the other group) are highly aspirational and not right for every girl. There is a different but widely overlapping catchment to those schools with only the extremes- Essex and Herts- ruled out for either. CLSG does cull at 6th form (1/3 go by choice or are pushed) and it doesn't have tough competition in East London (Bancroft and Forrest are not as selective) so they need to interview/offer more because they loose applicants traveling from NW (NLCS + Habs+ SHHS) and SW (SPGS+ LEH).

Also, to think that fees are negotiable is inaccurate. Your DD might qualify for a bursary or receive a scholarship for superlative performance in the exam or you can get reduced fees if you are already employed by the school but nobody will give you a discount for kicking a ball around or conjugating some verbs. Ain't gonna happen and you'll look an idiot for asking. If a school is so understaffed that they are desperate for amateurs, they are going to shut up shop. This is not the situation in any of the selective London schools (by which I mean, those that check your kid has a pulse). Can't pay, don't play.
Pandora123
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2014 1:34 pm

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by Pandora123 »

With high calibre candidates in abundance and an increase in fees which people are prepared to pay why would an established indie even entertain the idea of negotiating fees.

I wouldn't advise anyone to ask for reduction, just play the game and hope for the best.

There is a pecking order but it's one of those topics no school wants to discuss as it speaks volumes. The same way I suppose no school gives an answer on offers made and accepted in previous years.
pabrighton0
Posts: 327
Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:55 pm
Location: Herts

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by pabrighton0 »

vldbee wrote:Not too sure about Group 1 order. I think SHHS would have quite a high pass mark
I wonder whether it is as simple as for state schools, getting it all down to a single figure before passing to the school. That would mean loosing so much information... Why would each consortium school the girl applied to not be able to see the actual papers or at least the marks that were given for each question?
Does anyone know if a single figure is used?
staar
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:17 pm

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by staar »

I would be very interested to know whether each school within the consortium can see the exam papers or do the ones where DD didn't sit the paper but applied too just get the percentages?
SHertsDad
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Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:31 am

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by SHertsDad »

Must say it never crossed my mind. We chose where DD sat purely based on convenience (St Albans obviously since they have an extra test...) and did not think that sitting in school X would mean X would actually see the papers and others wouldn't.
Also would't feel very comfortable with a school full of parents running clubs etc, best to have impartial professionals..
sgcmum
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Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2010 11:46 am

Re: North London Consortium Group One exam

Post by sgcmum »

@staar .. No,the other schools in the consortium,be it gr1 or 2, do not see your dd's papers. They only get your marks. I got this from the nlcs head teacher (I asked her on the interview day) when my dd applied couple of years back. She took her test at northwood college.
Sgcmum
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