Why are certain schools more challenging than others to get into at 4+?

Some parents that I speak to are often very surprised when their child is not successful to their first school of choice. They don’t realise how incredibly hard some of these schools are to get into. I don’t blame them for not knowing, how would they? Perhaps this is their first time embarking on this journey, perhaps they’ve not had any experience with the 4+ Assessments, perhaps they just assumed that their child would go to the Assessment and be successful. Unfortunately, it DOES NOT work this way.

So here are just a few reasons why certain schools are more challenging to get into than others at 4+…

1. They are incredibly over subscribed. I heard of one particular school at 4+ having more than 500 children attend at Round 1.

   With so many applicant for such a small amount of places, you can clearly see how challenging it will be to get into certain schools.

2. Some schools have fewer places available than others.

   I have heard of certain schools at 3+ for example that only have 8 places!

3. Some schools have incredibly high academic and behavioural expectations.

   This is why I always talk about knowing your schools and knowing them very well. Let me give you an example. I spoke to a parent the other day who was preparing her child for a top London boys’ school at 4+. She had taught him how to count and recognise numbers to 10 but in his Assessment he was asked to count backwards from 20. She had not gone up to 20 with him. Had she known the school’s academic expectations, she would of course have gone up to 20. In terms of behavioural expectations, most of these top schools will have incredibly high expectations when it comes to the behaviour of their students. They will each have their own criteria but they will definitely be looking for children who can listen well, who can follow instructions, who are kind and caring and who can focus and concentrate for certain time durations.

   So when I speak to parents who are incredibly shocked that their child hasn’t got into their top school of choice, I completely understand their frustrations. After all, they have worked so hard to give their child the highest possible chances for success. I get it! But the most important thing to manage is your expectations. Expect your child to go in and give it their all and if they are successful, it is the cherry on top. Please don’t go in with the expectation that they will get in. It takes a lot more than just showing up to the Assessments to pass. It takes time, it takes patience and it takes lots and lots of practice.

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