City of London School for Boys - Number of applicants

[NeedWine]

Does City not have a school bus service? I know CLSG does, but that may be because they take girls from Y3 (not sure how many seniors actually use it). I think the CLSG bus is entirely parent organised and is quite flexible, changing the route year on year depending on where the girls live. If you are able to track down a CLSG parent that uses it and speak to the bus company it might be possible to arrange for the bus to continue on to the boys school assuming you are on one of the routes, although it may be that the drive time between in the boys school and girls school in rush hour means it would be a struggle to get you son to school on time after dropping the girls.

[CPM1771]

That would be a novel approach. An 11 year old boy on a girls school bus. I can't even get mine to say hello to girls these days !

Just some clarification in terms of numbers. 250 boys were interviewed at 11+. 30 were reserve listed. They would not have outright declined more than 20 after interview so that means they are going to have made around 200 offers. I would definitely put it in the 180-200 range. Given that they only had 54 places to fill that does not seem terribly conservative and I understand that they were originally oversubscribed. If the wait list moved, I can tell you it didn't move beyond 1 or 2.

You do have to remember with CLSB that there is an element of self selection going on before interview in that schools really ought not to be recommending sitting DS to parents if they are not top one or two of their class. So your DS will be sitting with a few hundred boys who are very capable in the first place. There will be little prospect of entrance given the competition unless they are in that cohort. And then there is the question of how it all goes on the day. There is a tendency to look at it in terms of % chance of success, but the reality is that it entirely depends on whether DS sits in the top 180-200 boys. If he does there is a good chance of an offer. The boys will be expected to be reasonably self sufficient and capable of learning themselves when they get there. They are certainly not spoon fed at any level. It is a very difficult school unless that is the type of environment DS will enjoy. If so then it is definitely a great school with great teachers.

[MrsChips]

That's interesting CPM, what makes you think they won't have outright rejected more than 30 after interview? Highgate, for example, I think made approx 140 offers out of 288 interviewed (don't know how many were waitlisted) so the odds were far worse having got through the exam stage.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with you re. the self-selection of candidates as being the top of their respective primaries. If you're applying from a state primary, no one's going to be recommending you to apply or not apply depending on your position in the class. I know boys who've ended up on a level 4 in sats applying (tho not getting in). I can also say that my son isn't in the top one or two for English by a long chalk, although he's not in a particularly high performing primary.

[Daogroupie]

I don't agree with the have to be in top three either. I know plenty of top table students who don't do so well as they have an inflated opinion of their own ability and others who have been completely underestimated by their school. A status quo takes a stranglehold in some primaries who continue with their original rankings long after the facts tell them otherwise. Our school set at the end of Y1 and if they had their way would have kept all 60 students in the same position for the next five years.

Our schools KS1 prediction for my dd in April for English was 2B for May when she was already on a 3 which of course she obtained. Another student I know of had to fight to get offered the chance to do Level 6 English and then was the only one to get it in a two form entry and no student has obtained it since. Another student I know of sailed into City Girls, NLCS, Habs girls and a scholarship at St Albans but school has not entered her for Level 6 English.

I would suggest that parents test their own students using First Past the Post Papers from this forum and Habs and MT papers and make their own mind up about their chances of success. DG

[CPM1771]

Mrs C, I can work it out from knowledge of exam rank positions of some boys who were waitlisted and a boy who did not get an offer. It is guesswork, but I do not think I am far wrong. It would represent an acceptance rate of 27%-30% which is also in line with previous years.

You are right that prep schools are probably better at giving guidance as a general rule than state primaries. The point I was making was that most people know it is a very competetive school and probably don't sit their children (other than if it is for practice or purely hoping for good luck on the day?) unless they have a chance of getting in. I am just illustrating that the prospects of a boy who is likely to perform in the bottom of the 600 boys who sit do not improve simply because there is a 1 in 3 chance of getting an offer. Obviously it simply doesn't work that way.

On the plus side the numbers are not as scary as they seem because of the low acceptance rate and the need therefore to offer more places than some schools who have a more local catchment area. There are lots of reasons that CLSB is not chosen including lack of sporting facilities, central london location, lack of green space and travel.

[CPM1771]

I would suggest that parents test their own students using First Past the Post Papers from this forum and Habs and MT papers and make their own mind up about their chances of success. DG

I absolutely agree that parents need to make that assessment and not simply rely on the school. You simply need to be realistic on the basis of the evidence that you have.

[Bazelle]

On the plus side the numbers are not as scary as they seem because of the low acceptance rate and the need therefore to offer more places than some schools who have a more local catchment area. There are lots of reasons that CLSB is not chosen including lack of sporting facilities, central london location, lack of green space and travel.

I reckon CLSB has great sports facilities, on site they have a swimming pool, a sports hall, a gym, an AstroTurf football pitch, some squash courts and they have about 20 acres of sports fields between 25 to 40 min away by coach. The boys have minimum 3 PE sessions per week including swimming, indoors games and outdoors games. If they join a football team they will have practice and matches as well.

[gazzag]

Interesting stats and educated guesses on the 11+ entry. The result seems to be that it is much less competitive at 11+ than I thought. Of course, it goes without saying that a child needs to be able to meet the standard required, but the low acceptance rate really helps if CLSB is your preferred school.

Any similar insights on the 10+ entry. My thought is that as there are not many 10+ options at other schools, then the acceptance level for CLSB at 10+ would be quite high.

[CPM1771]

The acceptance rate at 10+ is between 70-80%, so obviously the number of offers reflects that. If DS is ready at 10 I would still say that is the easier entry point simply because far fewer boys have the potential to be ready to move at that point and will not have been tutored and prepared to the same extent as at 11+. You also have the option of a second bite of the cherry if it doesn't work out.

[MrsChips]

I agree with CPM, the 10+ is a better bet if you've got a mature, well-prepared boy. Lots of people use the 10+ as a punt or a mock for the grammars and many of them won't be particularly prepped up for it. The difference in the level of maturity and work being produced by my son over the course of that year was vast. Obviously all the children are a year older, but for the immature or young ones, the extra year makes relatively more difference.