Highgate School interview

[Cocomama]

Hello,
My dd received an invitation to attend the Highgate interview any tips and advice will be greatly appreciated.The format is 4 children interviewed for 40 minutes but apart from that not sure what the interview would include. Any advice will be helpful
Many thanks

[N12Mum]

Hi, my daughter has an interview too. Am really pleased. I don't know much but I heard last year they had an D&T lesson where they made something to take home and that they had a nice day. I guess the interview will be fairly similar to other interviews. Good luck to your daughter!

[whoopwhoop]

Hi both. Congratulations! My DD has an interview as well. Not sure how the group interview of four at a time will work. Has anyone any experience of this?

[GlazedandBemused]

Hello I've had two do interviews (one got a place, the other only waiting list, neither went to the school). Despite being four years apart, the process was identical, even down to the thing they made in DT.

I think they run it as a very structured process so that it is transparent and fair i.e. every child has a similarish experience, though with different personnel (both interviewers and interviewees).

There were two boys and two girls, two interviewers. My successful child volunteered to be the first to answer questions, after a pause when no one else stepped forward. My unsuccessful child is much less articulate and confident (other is confident to the point of bumptious). Questions weren't difficult and mostly about activities, hobbies etc. I can't remember if there were any academic ones - might have been something based on looking at a map. Nothing that a child who's got through the exam should be thrown by.

Both children came out very buoyant and having enjoyed the whole day, especially my unsuccessful one. A pupil at the school said that they were looking for 'jazz hands' and that is certainly born out by the outcomes of our two. I think they were right to reject the one they did as I think it would have been too big an environment.

I think there were numbers of applicants/interviewed/offers on a thread last year. I suspect it's much, much easier to be offered a place if you're a girl. My successful one was an August born, super confident, state school applicant - I kind of figured that if she'd done well enough in the exams to get an interview, she was pretty likely to get a place.

[N12Mum]

Thank you! That is super helpful and fits with what I suspected - that they will identify through the process if your child will fit in there and thrive. I feel like I need to trust that process and encourage my daughter just to be herself. Thanks so much for the feedback on how your girls found it. I hope they are happy in the schools they chose.

[whoopwhoop]

Thank you very much, GlazedandBemused (and I love your username!). This is really helpful to know. Were the questions all directed at all four of them with it being up to the children who would answer first?

[GlazedandBemused]

I think the process is so scrupulously fair that every child answers every question in turn. In other words, your child will be quiet for a quarter of the time and should be encouraged to listen to the other children without looking bored. I think that children sort of volunteered themselves to answer the questions and then they'd turn to the ones who hadn't yet answered. My successful one definitely felt that she was viewed positively for volunteering to answer first.

[Cocomama]

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I hope my dd is able to answer confidently and enjoy the experience. thanks again

[whoopwhoop]

Thanks from me, too GlazedandBemused. This is all very helpful.

[Elma]

My DD got an interview and then got waitlisted. She loved the interview and was very confident. She made some friends on the day and thought she’d done really well - but when she told me her answer to the problem solving exercise I realised she’d made a mistake and not answered fully. I can’t remember what it was exactly but it was a number problem where there were a number of possible ways of solving it and she’d given 3 options when there were actually 8 possibilities. Something like that. When she was waitlisted I called up and they confirmed that she hadn’t done the best in the problem solving and that after that they waitlist in specific order of how they have done in that and then in the exam. They also let you know which quartile they were in for the different exam papers - so to have got an interview they will likely be in the first or second quartile in all areas. In the end DD ended up at a school that was smaller and gets better results academically. I think it’s the right place for her as Highgate may have been a bit big for her, but I did like it a lot, particularly the fact that it’s co ed.