South Hampstead Interviews

[hermanmunster]

There was a helpful post by confused_dad giving useful details of the current interviews for SHHS - however it seems that the interviews are still going on (late interviews due to covid) so probably better that the details are not published until after the results are out so I have temporarily removed it

Always tricky with interviews as suspect no two are ever the same but probably better to treat it in the same way we treat written exams

I'll put the post back when the results are out (please remind me if I forget)

[hermanmunster]

This was the post - sorry for the delay in posting it back but I understand that the interviews for this year have not started and anyway things likely to be very different this year

Answering own question now that DD attended the interview this week

Hopefully this will be useful to someone in 2023! -

Before the interview, DD had to submit an 'About Me' description, talking about her hobbies, kind of books she likes, if any musical instruments she plays, whether she plays in a concert, interest in sports and so on. The parents too were asked to post a description of how classes were conducted during the pandemic, any disruption during lockdown etc.

There were two interviews, 20 minutes each.

First was reading comprehension. DD read a passage from a story, allowed to mark and take notes etc before the interview. Then the interviewer asked questions about the passge.

Second interview was on puzzle solving.

There were also some general chit-chat about books, how to handle difficult social situations (e.g 'discuss something you regret doing', play ground confrontation scenarios etc)


Bear in mind though that their interview format seems to change.

A very kind parent here messaged me describing her DD's interview experience in SHHS last year when it was about solving philosophical dilemmas ('Should animal have rights?', Clever coward vs brave fool etc).

Overall, I think they try to tutor-proof the inteview as much as possible, so probaly will change the format and content again.