I am not sure why I started this post maybe out of disappointment... In casual conversation parents were asked if their son was sitting 8+ as older sibling is at the school already. They denied this twice. Now child is leaving the primary school and starting in that very school in September.

I know of parents keeping hush about tutors and tuition but actually hiding which school and exams they are doing I think is totally unnecessary.

What lesson does that teach the child? Or is this commonplace and not a big deal?

Every year a few children from DC's state primary left to join the local indies, such as Highgate and Channing, at the end of Y2 and sometimes Y3/Y4. My impression was that they weren't usually from the top table and parents wanted to avoid the all-out battle in Y6. It seemed to be a case of paying a few extra years of fees for a safer bet. There are several renowned 7+ tutors in the area and they have enough work to not even bother beyond this level.

Indeed.

These parents are prepared to pay for five years of security net to avoid the vagaries of the 11 plus.

A parent from the prep of a very highly regarded secondary school told me recently.

"We went in at 4 plus and when the 5 plus students came in they were better and then again when the 7 plus and the 8 plus and the 10 plus came.

So we decided not to wait for the 11 plus students as we knew they really would be a cut above!" DG

Cake999 sometimes parents are thinking about whether or not to put their child through an exam and only decide very late on whether to apply.

In other cases they don't want to mention that they are thinking of moving their child. It can be very humiliating if the child doesn't get in to the place they applied to.

It's not a big deal really and I really wouldn't feel disappointed if I were you. They probably kept it quiet in case it didn't come off and playing it down means their DC won't have felt the pressure and would have been able to stay on without losing face if they hadn't got a place at the other school.

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Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !

I think it's a myth that kids joining at 11+ are performing better in year 7, than those who entered the school at either 4+ or 7+, and didn't have to go through the 11+ process.

Unless there is data released by the school, it's just my word against some other parent's word. No evidence!

I do understand it can be frustrating dealing with parents, we have those pearls in our prep too. It usually comes in the end of the term, "BTW, Friday is my child's last day., etc." They don't even bother telling where the child is going - as if the children don't talk to each other at the playground! Don't take it personally. Logistically, it is easier for the family to have both children at the same school and it would be much easier to move on if the child had failed and not many people were aware he had a go at the entry exams.