Our DS got considerably higher ranking for STR than Crypt.[/quote]

Us too & so did all my DS' peers & some by considerable margin I.e some of his friends have 200s for Tommies, 400s for Crypt

Surely that's because girls can now share with Crypt?

Well I think so but I expressed that opinion on another thread and for some reason lots of people don't agree and seem to think some other mysterious forces are at work. Of course I don't know for sure but that is what it looks like to me - I suppose it will only become clear on allocation day when the actual ranks of those taking up places there are known. If it isn't accounted for by girls it is either a massive gamble by Crypt in cutting out lots of potential boy students; a complete miscalculation by either Crypt or Tommies or even both which will result in unfilled places; or a different marking weighting by Crypt and Tommies. My money is on the girl factor.

I completely agree it's the girl factor. My comment is that it shows there must be a decent number of girls in the higher ranks to cause that shift..

Came to this thread late (so not been following) but I've looked at the STRS website and it says admission numbers for 2018/19 are 120. Where has the 150 figure come from?

2019 is the official year they take 150 but when our results email came from Tommies 2018 intake is going to be a 'pilot' year so will also have 150!?! Double checked with the Head's PA on the tommies tour morning this am & she confirmed it. I get the feeling they've not really thought thru the details of how they're going to do it yet tho we asked how having an extra form will affect the current house system (4 houses 4 forms so in each form all boys in the same house). Her response 'um, I don't know it's probably in the Headteacher's head & he's not told me. He's on a residential trip so I can't find out for you'. Great, well that helps then!!!

Unlike at Pate's, where it is very dominant, the house system at Tommies is no biggie and not made much of. If you are big into belonging to a house, competing with other houses etc, and that is a massive factor, I would definitely choose Pates over Tommies (have experience of both).

I'm not bothered particularly about the house system lol but was more irritated that they hadn't thought how they were going to accommodate another 30 children!

Here is the extract of the email from Tommies...Hope this helps...

Since you applied for your son to sit the Grammar School Admission Test, the Governors at Sir Thomas Rich’s have reviewed the number of boys we can accommodate in Year 7. We are consulting widely to increase our published admission number from 120 to 150 boys (from 2019).

In the meantime, we are intending to admit 150 boys for September 2018, your son’s year of entry, as a pilot scheme. You should take this information into account when choosing your son’s secondary school.

Please do not be concerned if your son’s rank appears to be low. We are expecting to admit pupils down to lower rankings than in previous years as we will be offering 30 more places. Our ranking is based on all students who sat the test in all grammar schools across Gloucestershire and chose to share their results with us. It therefore includes a number of students for whom Sir Thomas Rich’s is not a real preference and these students will not apply for a place.

In previous years, places have been allocated down to the following ranking:

September 2017 entry - Down to rank 265
September 2016 entry - Down to rank 275 *
September 2015 entry - Down to rank 205
September 2014 entry - Down to rank 223

* Some Gloucestershire Grammar Schools increased the number of qualifying Year 7 pupils they admitted in September 2016. As a result, there was an increase in how far down the rankings places were allocated in all Grammar Schools across the county.

Unless it's changed that's not how the house system works in Tommies anyway. There have always been 4 houses, even when there were 2 and 3 forms of entry. There are a number of students from each house in each form. The theory being that this gave greater opportunity to mingle and form other friendships...