Newstead - 2018 entry

[PettswoodFiona]

Ok, I have another message saying a DD with 223 has been offered. We know that someone on 222 hasn’t been (but all the more likely to be offered really soon) so there may be someone on 223 who hasn’t been offered due to the weighting given to one element of the test or maybe all on 223 have been offered and only some on 222 haven’t - it is a very narrow margin.

Thank you to those who’ve trusted me with this information to help others. Ultimately the minuscule gap between 222 and 223 will disappear in the next few weeks and offers will come in for those a few points below. How far I don’t know but it has usually been between four and six points.

Next year may be different and harder to predict. This is partly based on the new PP top 300 proposal in the admission document. I put this note here in case future Parents are looking (like I did the year before DD took the test!)

[Happy hamster]

Thanks so much Fiona, and also to the parents who messaged you. Really helpful and super appreciated!

[Crescent26]

Congrats to those who got in, and hang on in there to those on the waiting list!

DD1 is in y7, and is having a really positive experience. A girl in her class got in - via waiting list - with 214 she was telling me today. Another girl in Y7 got an offer on the last day of August - so there is a LOT of movement.

We're on the outer limits of the 9 mile radius <waves at Loaf>. If anyone else lives in the Crystal Palace/ Sydenham/ Forest Hill area, do feel free to get in touch. Four NW girls get on the train at DD's station every morning, coincidentally all y7, and it's great for them to have each other when the inevitable transport issues arise.

[bluesea]

PWF. Actually the changes to admissions for next year are for top 350. Anyone looking for NEXT year please be aware of these NEW conditions in the NW admissions 2019/2020 policy:

"Applications will be considered in three groups:
Group 1 Girls living within a 9 mile radius of the school who are in receipt of Pupil Premium
or Service Premium at the time of application to sit the test and are ranked in the
top 350 of the rank order will automatically receive a place. Documentary evidence
that the parent has been in receipt of the appropriate support payment entitling
the child to Pupil Premium or Service Premium will be required.
Group 2 Girls who live within a 9 mile radius of the school or girls of a member of Newstead Wood staff who has been employed at the school for two or more years at the time at which the application for admission is made and who live outside the 9 mile
radius.
and
Group 3 Girls who do not meet the above conditions.
Please Note: In practice, given the level of over-subscription to the School, no places have
ever been offered to applicants from Group 3."

Consequently this year's eventual cut off mark will not be applicable to next year.

For those parents terrified by the number of candidates who take the NW entrance test,
LBB's booklet "Applying for a school place 2018" states
"Applications received for 2017 - 614." Very roughly 1000 take the test but not all put it on their application form.

[Allyfe]

I’m snooping in advance. Well done to all those girls with a place and good luck to those waiting. And a big thank you (while i’m here) to the current parents and in particular to Pettswoodfiona for all of the incredibly helpful info you post. We are still 2 years away from this. I think their new admissions policy is a really positive thing. It is going to be hard for my daughter - the current Y4s were a crisis birth year in Bromley for primary schools, and it is going to be hard at secondary.

[bluesea]

Allyfe. Quick tip from a former parent. Start that non-verbal reasoning now.

[thickasabrick]

"Applications will be considered in three groups:
Group 1 Girls living within a 9 mile radius of the school who are in receipt of Pupil Premium
or Service Premium at the time of application to sit the test and are ranked in the
top 350 of the rank order will automatically receive a place.

I think this is pretty meaningless as I reckon they already come close to that ranking with their offers to the waiting list by the start of the school year.

At most it will be 1-2 points below actual cutoff.

[bluesea]

meaningless?

[Allyfe]

Allyfe. Quick tip from a former parent. Start that non-verbal reasoning now.

Thanks bluesea! She has been doing some bits, but it is the verbal reasoning she finds hard! She likes the non-verbal reasoning and is doing pretty well at that. I’m dyslexic (she isn’t) so I TOTALLY get her verbal reasoning difficulty! There are some questions I can’t answer half the time!!

[bluesea]

Allyfe. Just keep up with the practising, small and often. Do watch out for the NW test. I believe it is still the 4 part test where they get given so many mins to complete each section and must not refer back to a paper they have been told to stop working on. They get penalised if they refer back to a former paper (which will be sitting beside her until a sixth former collects them all in). It is a rather unusual system and some girls fail because they are unsure of the instructions. Practice papers are available from the school, although I don't think we received instructions on exactly how the differently timed sections were managed. Hopefully the new head next year will consider a different type of entrance test for 2020.