School Placement

We believe we are well placed to support your family as you decide on the best route for your child. Choosing the right school is about ensuring your child will flourish in that environment, be that an academic, sporting or arts focus.

Independent schools broadly fall into two categories: those that are academically selective and those who cater for all abilities. Within this, sports, arts and music scholarships can be awarded to students who excel in these disciplines.

With many years of experience working in prep and senior schools across London, our founder will be happy to discuss your options and how Eastwood Education would be able to help.

Preparatory schools 4+, 7+, 8+ and 9+

First entry into prep school is at 4+. Assessments at this stage are often informal, group sessions based around observing interactions of the children, how they respond to new problems presented to them and their dynamic with other children.

Further assessment entry points into Preparatory School are at 7+, 8+ and 9+. For these your child would sit entrance exams during the autumn and spring terms of Year 2 for the 7+. As some prep schools increase their intake in Year 4 and 5, they will have smaller numbers joining at 8+ and 9+. The format of these assessments will focus on English, maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning; each school determines the level of these assessments. Whilst the children are not expected to have a knowledge of content beyond the curriculum for their age, assessments will often be designed to stretch their understanding and challenge their thinking.

If your child is successful at the assessment stage, they will be invited to interview, where they will have the opportunity to discuss interests and passions.

We believe that children will thrive best in a school well suited to their abilities and interests. Therefore, we do not coach pupils to pass exams, instead we ensure your child is working to their full potential and confident in their own abilities. Prep school entrance examination tuition will work to complement the child’s ongoing learning at school, alongside exploring new skills such as exam technique and more challenging literacy and numeracy. We recommend you allow a year to eighteen months for exam preparation.

Senior schools 11+, 13+ and 16+

The majority of senior schools prefer to use the ISEB pre-tests and the 11+ system for entry. Thus, Year 5 is a crucial year for your child in their preparation for the tests in the autumn of Year 6. The tests are multiple choice and take approximately two and half hours to complete. The ISEB pre-tests are centred around Maths, English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. The test will be taken at your child’s current school, or selected schools if they are not attending a prep school. The tests are adaptive to your child’s responses: if they are doing well, the questions get progressively harder.

The results of the tests are then shared with those schools you have applied for who use the ISEB selection process. This has helped to streamline the process and reduces the number of different assessments your child is required to sit. For a full list of schools who use the ISEB tests, please see here.

Interviews

They form an integral part of some school selections processes. It is advisable to help prepare your child for interviews, particularly if they have not experienced one in a formal situation before. At Eastwood Education, we firmly believe that the best interview candidates are those who can speak confidently, eloquently and passionately about things of interest to them. Our interview support focuses on helping your child deliver this as opposed to reeling off formulaic, prepared or even ‘coached’ answers.