Good Luck to all the ds sitting Habs Boys today

[Daogroupie]

The local North London and Herts Grammar schools are much much harder to get into than the local private schools. I would expect and know of lots of students who did not manage to rank higher enough for the grammars but have got interviews at Habs and MTS.

Are there posts that say that Habs is hard to get into? Certainly QE and Habs cannot be compared in levels of difficulty. The marks required for a place for QE are much higher.

I would imagine that the reason that so many on the forum have got interviews is because they have prepared, not that they are somehow naturally at the level.

Habs boys and girls interview a lot of their applicants so if a prep school has managed to get interviews for all its students then it is probably unlikely that they will all get a place.

I don't see any difference to last year and expect them to once again ask for the QE marks of any boy who sat both. Those with high QE marks are in a very good position if they are interested in a place at Habs. DG

[FAC51]

Habs boys and girls interview a lot of their applicants so if a prep school has managed to get interviews for all its students then it is probably unlikely that they will all get a place.

Definitely the case.

My view is they've proved their position in the league tables and now want to expand their intake with boys who are clearly academic but also strong in other areas.

MTS are stronger than HABs in rugby and cricket and I suspect this is something they're looking to address.

From DS's school at year, there were no surprises as to who rec'd an offer, but scholarships were targeted to the sportier boys. So they do seem to be trying to strengthen sporting performance without diluting the academic side of things.

I'm sure they're keen to maintain their league table position!

[Pinner]

The local North London and Herts Grammar schools are much much harder to get into than the local private schools. I would expect and know of lots of students who did not manage to rank higher enough for the grammars but have got interviews at Habs and MTS.

Are they posts that say that Habs is hard to get into? Certainly QE and Habs cannot be compared in levels of difficulty. The marks required for a place for QE are much higher.

I would imagine that the reason that so many on the forum have got interviews is because they have prepared, not that they are somehow naturally at the level.

Habs boys and girls interview a lot of their applicants so if a prep school has managed to get interviews for all its students then it is probably unlikely that they will all get a place.

I don't see any difference to last year and expect them to once again ask for the QE marks of any boy who sat both. Those with high QE marks are in a very good position if they are interested in a place at QE. DG

Hello,

My opinion is this year MTS also challenging. HABS call boys for the interviews who did well in Maths, English and reasoning. They will not take a kid who does not perform very well in English Comprehension and composition. I know one boy who got in to QE did not get HABS or MTS. I know his writing is not good and also surprised how he got a reasonable pass marks in QE. QE English is multiple choice and you do not need writing skills.

[Daogroupie]

You have answered your own question! You can get into QE, the SW Herts Schools and all the 100% CEM schools without needing to write.

Latymer were clearly not happy with that and after just four years they have abandoned CEM and returned to their original format.

A DS who only sat QE, SW Herts and a CEM paper would need to do Writing prep to get through to interview at any of the private schools and same goes for the dds. DG

[FAC51]

HABS call boys for the interviews who did well in Maths, English and reasoning. They will not take a kid who does not perform very well in English Comprehension and composition. I know one boy who got in to QE did not get HABS or MTS. I know his writing is not good and also surprised how he got a reasonable pass marks in QE. QE English is multiple choice and you do not need writing skills.

Also, it's not unknown for DCs who score well in grammar school exams to ease off and not maintain the same level of intensity for another 3 months.

This would be particularly damaging for a child who needs to work on writing skills.

[AML]

The local North London and Herts Grammar schools are much much harder to get into than the local private schools. I would expect and know of lots of students who did not manage to rank higher enough for the grammars but have got interviews at Habs and MTS.

Are there posts that say that Habs is hard to get into? Certainly QE and Habs cannot be compared in levels of difficulty. The marks required for a place for QE are much higher.

I would imagine that the reason that so many on the forum have got interviews is because they have prepared, not that they are somehow naturally at the level.

Habs boys and girls interview a lot of their applicants so if a prep school has managed to get interviews for all its students then it is probably unlikely that they will all get a place.

I don't see any difference to last year and expect them to once again ask for the QE marks of any boy who sat both. Those with high QE marks are in a very good position if they are interested in a place at Habs. DG

The boys were not asked about their QE scores.

[Daogroupie]

Thank you. That is very helpful. I am not surprised. It was quite an intrusion of privacy and I know of several parents that complained. DG

[AML]

No problem. Generally a much nicer feel to what some people reported last year.

[Daogroupie]

Good news. It is a great school with lots to feel really proud of and I hate to hear of them letting themselves down like they did last year.

Glad you got a real feel for what the school is really about. DG

[fatherof2]

We had a great experience. My son enjoyed his interview, all smiles!!