which grammars are super selective??

[d2001]

hi all,

just wondering, does anyone know what the definition of a super-selective school is?
Or has anyone got a list of super selective grammar schools??

dp

[pheasantchick]

Most grammars require a basic pass to be eligible for a pass. Super selectives require a much higher score.

Eg. In Kent, the basic pass mark is 360, with a stipulation that you have to achieve a certain minimum score in each of the three components ( although this is set to change from September 2014). Super selectives, such as The Judd School, accepts the highest scores first ( maximum score = 423), and then take pupils in descending order of score.

[hermanmunster]

tends also to be the ones that allocate purely on "ranked scores regardless of where you live" rather than "pass and live in the catchment" . Many schools are a bit of a mix with inner and outer catchments

[loopylou]

Some schools have a pass mark and then award places to those who have met this pass mark and who also live closest to the school or have siblings at the school.

Superselectives simply test all who apply and award places to the children with the best score on the day whether they live 50 metres of 50 miles away.
Some have nearing 2000 applicants for 200 places and are therefore very competitive indeed.

[Daogroupie]

I would define a super selective as a school which runs entrance exams and where the ratio of application to acceptance is greater than 10 to 1. These schools require a lot of hard work to win a place and simply being defined as able by your primary school will not cut it. There are many parents who believed being bright was enough and many of them will have received emails on monday that did not contain the news they were expecting. DG

[Jean.Brodie]

Hi d2001!

You can consider the various factors which create both volume and quality of competition:-

- the raw numbers applying (up to a range of around 20-25 per place);

- maybe the absence of a restricted 'catchment' area;

- sometimes a large, local, densely packed, big city population;

- breadth and depth of entrance exams (up to 4 papers, maybe 2 multiple choice for reasoning and written Maths and English, sometimes including close reading comprehension and original writing);

At the 'top' end, these schools are not denominational and do not have a sibling rule.

You can also look at A Level outcomes, because these are measureable, objective and published. Perhaps 40% A* grades at A2 Level and 80% at A* or A most years. The Daily Telegraph publishes tables along these lines. You might also want to review where their pupils end up in terms of universities and subject faculties.

Where are you based and are you looking for sons or daughters or both? .... I hope you also consider where they will be happiest and what suits their individual personalities. Good luck!

[harrow123]

i would say super selectives are the ones who conducts first round on vr/nvr then take the top 50% etc then conduct another round in maths/english/science etc and then take the toppers of this 2nd test

[parent2013]

St Olave's
Wilson
Judd
QE Boys

[2Girlsmum]

All the North London ones are. The cut off for QE is about 229/282 this year, down from previous years. I don't know standardized scores for Latymer as they give raw scores to children who do not accept/gain places, and haven't heard anything for our other North London selective HBS, who also only give the information to families who do not have a place. At St Michael's Grammar in Finchley they give standardized scores and ranks in October to every applicant, and for entry to Y7 this year a score of 558/564 ranked 14th, a score of 540/564 ranked 32nd, a score of 518/564 ranked 108th and gained a place from the waiting list .....enough to guarantee a place at most schools in the country outright!

[Peridot]

Both Tiffin schools are defined as superselective. My understanding of the term is that a super selective takes the top 5% or less of the (local or otherwise) population rather than other grammars which take the top 25%. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is how the bucks and kent schools work.