Kes Interviews
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Hi Fm
Re the bursary allocations, yes I believe your statement is correct -
In respect of the Scholarships and how the school would know the circumstances - well yes primary school is key factor. My son went to Westhouse so I guess they knew that we were already paying fees. They also have some parental information on the application form - e.g. location, parents occupation etc.
In the case of my son, I'm not sure why he was offered a scholarship. He obviously did well in the exam and his maths is strong, particularly in respect of lateral thinking. (Not so great at boring maths). He is a very quiet boy who reads a lot about science and nature and I think he must have interviewed well in his shy way. Interestingly he also did well in the Solihull exam and got a scholarship offer from there, but didn't perform anything like as well in the KE Foundation grammar exams in that year - he scored 339 which got him into KE Five Ways but not quite good enough for Camp Hill boys (441 pass mark) which was our 1st choice. (Actually not a problem as we now think in hindsight Five Ways is the best school for him).
If you are interested, I was able to get details of his scores from the KE Foundation for the Grammar exams, and he scored very high in Maths, good in NVR, and very poor in VR. I have to say we were very surprised as was his primary school head as VR was one of his strong area - I think the Synonyms (or rather the number and speed required) may have thrown him.
Re the bursary allocations, yes I believe your statement is correct -
Yes I do agree with your point about music scholarships, you don't always have to be Grade 8, but i don't think Grade 5 would have much chance. My daughter was Grade 5 in 2 instruments when she did the KEHS exam 5 years ago, but she didn't bother applying for a music scholarship as there were several grade 7/8 girls she knew were applying. It's a bit of a lottery though from one year to the next. Interestingly you can certainly get a music scholarship from some of the other schools with a significantly lower standard (e.g. EHS and Solihull)Is it that there is cap on the funds available and they go through each child in need of bursary in the order they came in the exam until they exhaust this money?
In respect of the Scholarships and how the school would know the circumstances - well yes primary school is key factor. My son went to Westhouse so I guess they knew that we were already paying fees. They also have some parental information on the application form - e.g. location, parents occupation etc.
In the case of my son, I'm not sure why he was offered a scholarship. He obviously did well in the exam and his maths is strong, particularly in respect of lateral thinking. (Not so great at boring maths). He is a very quiet boy who reads a lot about science and nature and I think he must have interviewed well in his shy way. Interestingly he also did well in the Solihull exam and got a scholarship offer from there, but didn't perform anything like as well in the KE Foundation grammar exams in that year - he scored 339 which got him into KE Five Ways but not quite good enough for Camp Hill boys (441 pass mark) which was our 1st choice. (Actually not a problem as we now think in hindsight Five Ways is the best school for him).
If you are interested, I was able to get details of his scores from the KE Foundation for the Grammar exams, and he scored very high in Maths, good in NVR, and very poor in VR. I have to say we were very surprised as was his primary school head as VR was one of his strong area - I think the Synonyms (or rather the number and speed required) may have thrown him.
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fm
Thanks for the advice as far as KE bursaries are concerned. I think some parents will be in for a disappointment in that they have assumed if their child passes they will be 'entitled' to a bursary if their financial circumstances warrant it.
May I say 339 is a very good score in anyone's book. From what I have observed from tutoring independent children (Westhouse, Hallfield and Bluecoats), these schools are very good at prepping for senior independents but are not tailoring their VR to the KE state exam. They are still doing traditional verbal reasoning which I do not do at all unless the children are doing the Sutton exams or an independent which requires verbal reasoning.
Instead I dedicate the time to synonms, proofreading and comprehension while nagging chidren/parents to read copiously which is a less artificial way of adding to their vocabulary. I also emphasise to the children who have done traditional VR that there will probably be none of that in the state paper; otherwise they can be very thrown by its absence which may be what happened to your son.
And while you can practise conventional non-verbal to the cows come home and give children coping techniques, only the 'naturals' will be able to perform exceedingly well in KE state due to the ever changing configurations presented to them.
The divergence between the KE state and KE private (which used to be highly similar exams) over the last five years has meant a child can get into one and miss the other by quite a margin. I am much more likely to get a clever state-educated child into KE state than KES whereas a well-educated but not necessarily brilliant child from a independent primary has a fair chance of KES but is much less likely to achieve one of the state grammars.
Obviously there are clever children like your son who will achieve both but gone are the days you can assume a child getting KE state will also manage KES (or vice versa) which used to be the old perception.
May I say 339 is a very good score in anyone's book. From what I have observed from tutoring independent children (Westhouse, Hallfield and Bluecoats), these schools are very good at prepping for senior independents but are not tailoring their VR to the KE state exam. They are still doing traditional verbal reasoning which I do not do at all unless the children are doing the Sutton exams or an independent which requires verbal reasoning.
Instead I dedicate the time to synonms, proofreading and comprehension while nagging chidren/parents to read copiously which is a less artificial way of adding to their vocabulary. I also emphasise to the children who have done traditional VR that there will probably be none of that in the state paper; otherwise they can be very thrown by its absence which may be what happened to your son.
And while you can practise conventional non-verbal to the cows come home and give children coping techniques, only the 'naturals' will be able to perform exceedingly well in KE state due to the ever changing configurations presented to them.
The divergence between the KE state and KE private (which used to be highly similar exams) over the last five years has meant a child can get into one and miss the other by quite a margin. I am much more likely to get a clever state-educated child into KE state than KES whereas a well-educated but not necessarily brilliant child from a independent primary has a fair chance of KES but is much less likely to achieve one of the state grammars.
Obviously there are clever children like your son who will achieve both but gone are the days you can assume a child getting KE state will also manage KES (or vice versa) which used to be the old perception.
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KES Parent
Dear fm
While I would endorse a lot of what Ken says, I do disagree with him about the award of academic scholarships as opposed to bursaries. I am confident that the award of an academic scholarship is based only on academic achievement in the test (which I understand has great potential to differentiate at the top end of the rank order). I am absolutely certain that this school is completely above board about this kind of thing and that factors such as whether parents are likely to accept a place or not don't come into it. No-one tried to offer us any money off although we do not look wealthy and my son already had a KE grammar school place which we had provisionally accepted. He had also been at a very run of the mill state primary school, not in a posh area at all. (If Ken has been told differently by the Chief Master I will bow to his superior knowledge, but I would be very shocked.)
They have upped the income limit for bursaries to attract families who were effectively excluded before, because they found they were having to go too far down the rank order in awarding bursary funds, and yes, the funding is limited. Once it's used up, that's it, so the competition is now greater than it used to be, and some boys lower in the rank order of score who might have got a bursary in previous years will now not be successful. Music and art scholarships require a very high standard indeed. In my son's year they had another chance at a music scholarship in Year 9, but none was awarded although there are some very accomplished musicians in his year. I would say no-one much below Grade 8 at 11 would be likely to even be offered an audition unless there were exceptional reasons to do so, and they don't award a music scholarship at all if no candidates reach the expected standard.
I hope this is useful to the parents of your pupils.
While I would endorse a lot of what Ken says, I do disagree with him about the award of academic scholarships as opposed to bursaries. I am confident that the award of an academic scholarship is based only on academic achievement in the test (which I understand has great potential to differentiate at the top end of the rank order). I am absolutely certain that this school is completely above board about this kind of thing and that factors such as whether parents are likely to accept a place or not don't come into it. No-one tried to offer us any money off although we do not look wealthy and my son already had a KE grammar school place which we had provisionally accepted. He had also been at a very run of the mill state primary school, not in a posh area at all. (If Ken has been told differently by the Chief Master I will bow to his superior knowledge, but I would be very shocked.)
They have upped the income limit for bursaries to attract families who were effectively excluded before, because they found they were having to go too far down the rank order in awarding bursary funds, and yes, the funding is limited. Once it's used up, that's it, so the competition is now greater than it used to be, and some boys lower in the rank order of score who might have got a bursary in previous years will now not be successful. Music and art scholarships require a very high standard indeed. In my son's year they had another chance at a music scholarship in Year 9, but none was awarded although there are some very accomplished musicians in his year. I would say no-one much below Grade 8 at 11 would be likely to even be offered an audition unless there were exceptional reasons to do so, and they don't award a music scholarship at all if no candidates reach the expected standard.
I hope this is useful to the parents of your pupils.
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fm
hello,
This is my first post, as i was told about this site by a friend only recently.
My son, like all of your children, has taken the kegs exams and the kes exam.
We were called yesterday for interview. When i asked they were happy to tell me it was to consider for a scholarship.
Does this mean that even if he doesn't get a scholarship award he has got a place at the school? And if he does , do we have to accept immediately or can we wait for the kegs results?
thanks
mm2
This is my first post, as i was told about this site by a friend only recently.
My son, like all of your children, has taken the kegs exams and the kes exam.
We were called yesterday for interview. When i asked they were happy to tell me it was to consider for a scholarship.
Does this mean that even if he doesn't get a scholarship award he has got a place at the school? And if he does , do we have to accept immediately or can we wait for the kegs results?
thanks
mm2
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fm
You can be fairly certain that a child invited for sholarship interview has passed at a very high level. If it is the same as last year, they do not hassle you for a decision until the KEGS offers are out at the beginning of March.
Some of the borderline interviewees who do not get offered a place post-interview may then be offered some of the places which become vacant when children choose KEGS over KES.
Some of the borderline interviewees who do not get offered a place post-interview may then be offered some of the places which become vacant when children choose KEGS over KES.
Hi
just been told by a friend that if you have ben called for an interview for KES ,then mon or tues for scholarship consideration and end of week for borderline. Don't take this as gospel , but ties in with my situation- son asked to come mon or tues and mentioned scholarship when i asked why?
good luck to all
mm2
just been told by a friend that if you have ben called for an interview for KES ,then mon or tues for scholarship consideration and end of week for borderline. Don't take this as gospel , but ties in with my situation- son asked to come mon or tues and mentioned scholarship when i asked why?
good luck to all
mm2
