Colet court entrance

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Colet court entrance

Post by Daogroupie »

Because the private schools do not give parents any actual marks and rankings it is easy to see how a myth about entrance being something other than performance in exams and interviews can be created.

One of the problems is parents not really knowing where their student is relative to their age group. I repeatedly experience students who are on top table in their small primary having a very overestimated opinion of their level in the year group. That is why mocks like the Sutton mocks, where students are ranked by actual marks published on the website against 2.5 thousand others in the cohort, give such valuable data to parents about where their student's performance ranks against the other applicants.

Private schools live and die by their league tables. They are not going to turn down students who get top marks in their entrance exams because they need their results to get them as high as possible in the tables.

Many parents have absolutely no idea how much work other students have been doing. Every year students in our area sit for the state selectives with no preparation because they have sat on top table all the way through primary and have been told repeatedly that they are naturally talented and able and every year middle table students who work hard beat them to the places.

I suggest you email Colett Court and ask for some indication of where your ds came in the total of the applicants so you can have some idea moving forward of where he is ranking in his age group. I would hope they would at least give you an idea so you know if he just missed out or is way down the list. I have no doubt at all that entrance to top private schools is based on performance in the exams as it is with all state selectives. DG
Labyrinth2
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 3:10 pm

Re: Colet court entrance

Post by Labyrinth2 »

Daogroupie - the reason I started this thread is not because of the reasons you intimate . He has achieved well above the pass mark in the Tiffin test , has passed both City and WU and others . This is not a case of me being deluded about his ability - rather I might suggest that some people are deluded about parts of the selection process at some schools. If it's of any interest - one of the aforementioned schools were always our first choice.I do think some schools might need to rethink parts of their selection process if they 'live and die by the League tables' - St Paul's (boys) is not top of the League.And before you suggest that the Colet Court test was harder than the others - he found it one of the easiest.
I would have been far more specific about our experience but I cannot do that on this forum as other children might be identified and that would not be fair.
wombat1
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:00 pm

Re: Colet court entrance

Post by wombat1 »

I'm afraid you've got it wrong, Labyrinth 2. I know of students at St Paul's where the parents occupation could not be described as 'desirable' (your words). I also know a fair bit about the selection process. I don't think they care two hoots about the occupation of the parents but they do care about the boy and whether he would be happy at the school (not just whether he came first in the exams) and whether the parents would support him emotionally and academically through the school.

I hope this helps you understand - I guess you son was not offered a place and if it was not your first choice, why are you making such unfounded accusations? Let it go.
Ancilla
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:39 am

Re: Colet court entrance

Post by Ancilla »

The schools are different and suit different boys. When my son sat his school entrance exams the only boy who went to Westminster was not offered a place at Colet. The advantage of interviewing a large number of candidates is that they can try and identify which will be happy and thrive at the school rather than just look at raw scores. If Colet was not your first choice they might have sensed this lack of commitment in the interview or it might have even been stated in the headmaster's confidential report. Why would they want to offer a place to a candidate unlikely to accept it?
Labyrinth2
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 3:10 pm

Re: Colet court entrance

Post by Labyrinth2 »

Hmmm - the schools we applied to were recommended by the Head of current school. I don't know of any school that can tell whether a child will fit in and be emotionally supported by his parents just from the answers he gave in a maths, comprehension and writing test - that would have to be some test! I think perhaps youshould stop making 'unfounded accusations'.
wombat1
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:00 pm

Re: Colet court entrance

Post by wombat1 »

I haven't accused anyone of anything. Please re-read my post and try to understand what I'm saying. I'm just trying to explain that you have jumped to the wrong conclusion.

I had assumed that you must have got to interview stage since you were discussing occupation but I'm sorry that you didn't. If so, you would have had a meeting with the Head teacher and you would have realised that you couldn't be further from the truth about what's important.

Your son obviously didn't perform well enough on the exam on the day. Marks are what is important here at that stage and the competition is tough. Remember, it's a snap shot on a single day which is why children do not always perform consistently. I hope your son is happy with the school he ends up at.
Labyrinth2
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 3:10 pm

Re: Colet court entrance

Post by Labyrinth2 »

Thank you for your last post Wombat1. Interesting that you seem to have more knowledge about the process than most - for the the rest of us - we don't even get a past paper to look at ( even SPGS offer that). My initial query was about the fact that we all pay the same fee to enter our sons into a process which is supposed to be based on how they do in the test and reference - to get to interview stage. My contention that it was based on other criteria was shot down in flames by some. But now even you seem to vindicating the position I took. You now say that the Head makes an assessment as to whether the parent can academically and emotionally support the child. Can you please with your knowledge about the process shed some light on how he does this. Does he ask the parents about their academic qualifications or does he make the assumption that Christopher the Corporate Lawyer has better qualifications than Bob the Builder? That of course would not necessarily be the case but a reasonable assumption nevertheless. So then we are back to my original point - here occupation matters. Don't get me started on whether a parent( as you say )would be able to provide emotional support - I am curious - as I am sure are many other parents who are thinking of embarking on this process - as to the questions the Head is asking parents during the interview. Does he have an Educational Psychologist sitting in with him or get the parents to draw a picture and then psychologically profile them... "Well Mr Smith , we are satisfied that you can academically support your child but we're also worried that you migh be a serial killer!!" What you seem to be saying is - a child can do well enough to get to the interview stage but then not get a place because of the parents inability to support them?? So, again it comes down to the parents. So in effect as I stated you have vindicated my position. The only difference is - I am saying they make that judgement even before the interview stage by looking at the form under 'parents occupation'. Thank you for clearing this up by making clear that this is not as clear a process as we are led to believe.
Last edited by Labyrinth2 on Fri Feb 14, 2014 11:21 pm, edited 8 times in total.
scary mum
Posts: 8841
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Colet court entrance

Post by scary mum »

Just dipping in here. But why else would they interview parents/ask about parental career?
scary mum
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