Hi...firstly massive well done to all the boys who took the Habs exam today. That in itself is a big achievement. Well done!

Staying positive and looking at preparing towards potential next steps - if DS has done well today and is lucky enough to be called forward for an interview I feel it would be good for us to understand the next step in the process better. Does anyone have any insight into the interview days- particularly the group activity - what does this involve?

Any insight anyone could give would be extremely helpful. Thank you in advance.

Most boys will get called back, my advise is don’t over rehearse answers. You can’t ‘revise’ for the group activity.

The interview rate of MT and St Albans is much higher than HABS because so many boys from such a large area sit HABS.

I don't think it would be wise to start prepping for the interviews unless your ds is very confident that he did well.

You will have plenty of time to prepare once the interview dates come out. DG

[quote="Daogroupie"]The interview rate of MT and St Albans is much higher than HABS because so many boys from such a large area sit HABS.



This needs to be challenged - MTS and St Albans do not admit as many boys as Habs at 11+, they both have significant 13+ intakes. As such, they interview fewer boys (which is why MTS can interview one to one rather than group) so the proportion of successful candidates would be very similar to Habs.

Hi , did any of your child find logical resining challenging ?

Also does anyone know how many boys sat the exam yesterday and how many 11 plus places are available ?

Thanks for your responses everyone. I agree, you cant rehearse or revise for interviews. I merely want to understand the process better so we know what to expect if we get through to this stage

Don't know about proportions being interviewed, but 3 years ago Habs was small group session with head of lower school plus 1-2-1 with another teacher- all whilst parents got to meet/were interviewed by Head or Deputy. Whereas MT was only 1-2-1 between DS and a teacher.

The Habs group session was the lower school head asking the boys questions, including which other schools they had applied to. The boys' 1-2-1 all seemed to involve some kind of problem solving discussion.

Yes, in fact it is not uncommon for boys to be called back for Habs interview and not MT interview (although of course vice versa). From my own personal experience a close friend was called for Habs interview and told their DS didn't perform well in the maths paper AT the interview, I think there is a lot hype.

My post was about the ratio of applicants to interview at HABS compared to MT and St Albans.

HABS has many more applicants; 600 boys applied for 60 spaces last year.

This is not to do with the quality of the school ( I personally much prefer St Albans), it is simply geographical.

In my experience parents apply for either MT and Habs or Habs and St Albans according to where they live, so HABS is the common factor.

Some members might remember last year our attempts to talk a family out of taking the MT offer when they were living in Potters Bar and it involved driving to the coach stop and then a long journey after that.

HABS have a lot more applicants therefore not as many applicants will get interviews at HABS compared to MT and St Abans. St Albans do the interview on the same day as the exam anyway.

There are all great schools and any dc who secures any of the three will have a great 7 years ahead of them. DG