Are children from state schools and private schools treated the same in the 11+? Post Reply

[elevenplus]

My son, who attends a local state school, is about to sit a number of 11+ exams. He's been having one hour of tutoring once a week for the past year and has been practising verbal and non-verbal reasoning once a week at school, which is offered to prepare children for the Wandsworth Test.

On top of the above, my son has been doing the weekly homework set by his tutor, past papers from the schools he's applying to and some more verbal and non-verbal reasoning.

This week I met a friend for a coffee who has a son at a local prep school and she told me that since the start of Year 6 all her son has been doing at school is preparation for the 11+.

I'm now concerned that my son will be rather disadvantaged when he comes to sit the 11+ as he just won't have put the same number of hours in as a child from a prep school. His school, understandably, doesn't spend any of the school day preparing children for 11+ exams.

Do private senior schools take into consideration whether the child sitting the 11+ exam went to a private school or state school when looking at the scores achieved?

[Cruuuc]

Unfortunately hate to say but you are disadvantaged and I’m not aware that any / much consideration is taken into account With marks. Having had one child at a prep and one at a state primary the difference is huge. If you want to get into a selective independent secondary it’s a much easier process from prep schools who also have relationships between each other.

[readysteadycook]

At the independent schools show last year, they also said that the (confidential) Headmasters reports were really important and they were written in a certain way. 

That certain way isn’t necessarily known by State school heads 

[Poppy0750]

I have read on FB that at 7+ Highgate took into consideration that the child was from state primary and summer born. I have not heard anything about 11+.

[Winterwonderland]

Of course kids from state schools are looked at individually - as is everyone child. Otherwise it would be positive discrimination. The idea that private school children are ‘better at 11+’ is nonsense. Yes there might be coaching, but intelligence is intelligence, and private education doesn’t always have that!!!

[Normandie76]

Most private secondary schools deliberately take 50% state school, 50% private school as their intake at 11+.

I’ve done both, kid through state school, kid through private school.

It’s true sometimes there is a relationship between the HMs but certainly not for every school. No way.

From person experience I’d say there’s only three schools our HM could chat to out of a possible 30 and even then, if a child didn’t perform I’m not sure it can be swung with a chat.

I would try not to worry too much. We did more prep and were better prepared I think going the state route.

Private has been so so. I don’t think our private school has got it right for our second child. It’s been horrible actually because everyone is going private. The competition and discussion is intense.

I preferred the state route. It was much calmer and more anonymous and less pressure.

[Moonlightdawn]

Hi Elevenplus

Please don't be discouraged. Secondary private schools will always welcome pupils from local state schools. Just look at the leavers' destination list for schools like Belleville.

KCS Wimbledon stated a couple years ago publicly that the Head Teacher and governors had restructured the school in recent years to enable it to take more pupils at 11+ from state schools in the area. That’s just one example.

It is absolutely do-able. Good luck.

[Mum2Monkey]

A couple of local private schools told me that they took state Vs private into account - in both exam pass mark and interview.

[Abbiep101]

I know of one school that has dropped ISEB this year in order to relive the discrimination to state school as they recognize that state schools don’t prepare for it.
This school also says they take 50:50 state private

[Mum2Girlz]

Please don’t worry. It sounds as if you are doing everything right. Our daughter did 11+ last year from a private prep, and I had the opposite concern after our two top schools both said they took half the new intake from state schools! It all worked out, as it did for our friends from state schools, so hopefully the schools look at the child. Our daughter is now very happy at a top private school with a great diverse group of children from many different schools, so it’s definitely not the case that private schools get all their kids in.
If anything, the Heads’ letters probably all read the same, and there will be many who are burnt out by all the practice papers!
Good luck to your son, hope it all works out.

[Sourcherry3]

From my experience, it's much easier to get in from a private prep. Preps are what they say they are - they prep for 11+, state schools don't. As one of the previous posters said, the whole last year is all about exam prep. Also, even if some selective secondaries say they take 50/50 from private / state, remember that there are many more state schools and state school kids than private school kids so the 50/50 argument, even if true, is very skewed and kids will compete against the brightest state school kids.

Yes, it definitely can be done from state and my older son is now in a top selective secondary. However, it was very stressful and he was the only one applying from his school who got in while a local private prep got almost 10 kids in (if I remember correctly). It was very hard - I was picking up a tired child at 3.30, then had to drag him to tutors and make him do all practice papers in the evenings and on weekends. Some of his friends didn't do 11+ or were aiming at less academic schools so he was often demotivated and bitter about having to work. He is now loving his new school and thriving so it was all worth it but it was hard. I then sent my younger one to a private prep and the 11+ was a much better and easier experience. The work ethic was different, the level of work was definitely higher and he did most of "hard work" in the morning, when his brain was fresh and rested. With my older one, most of the hard work had to be done in the evenings when he was already tired. Also, all his friends were in the same boat and doing exam papers was normal to him. Also, his aspirations were higher as he was comparing himself to some high achievers so he was aiming higher.

Also, on the HTs' letters... Yes, I think they matter a lot and, for example, our state HT was famously very anti-private so I'm sure his letter probably didn't do any damage but I'm sure it didn't help either. One of the most important jobs private school HTs have is maintaining and building relationships with the senior schools HTs

[Sourcherry3]

Also, to address another point someone made earlier - yes, it's true that private schools, no matter how good they are, will never make a dumb kid bright! But they can make a bright kid brilliant and a less bright kid good enough. From my experience, they just try to make each kid as good as he / she can be. State schools tend to focus on the bottom of the class, to make sure that everyone passes SATs at the end