Early Lent Half Term

[CHAZ]

Indeed. It was well known that in order to be "invited" bakc for A level, you had to get a minimum of 5 O levels and
this included Maths and English language.

I had friends that left after O levels as they were not on target or did not get the necessary 5 passes...

[englishangel]

In 1965 I was an extremely academic child (top of the 11+ in the county) from a poor home (no income tax paid), with two (Baptist church-going) parents and no alcohol/drugs who would have gone to grammar school, and I found the nominees exam difficult. I got 9 O levels though (just).

[sejintenej]

From page 121 of "Christ's Hospital" by G.A.T. Allan Revised by J.E. Morpurgo:

...."For presented children the academic qualifications were formerly minimal and even now they are by no means severe but no child is accepted who, in the opinion of the Head Master or Head Mistress, is not likely to achieve eventually a satisfactory performance at O level."......

That extract suggests that there has been a minimum academic standard of sorts for some time...

I'm certainly not going to argue that. In the 1950s and early 1960's employers required 5 "O" levels for a reasonable job. No matter how minimal the entrance exam requirements were, excellent teaching and the entire disciplined atmosphere resulted in those qualifications being met by a minority of pupils - my guess is 20% and the rest went on and got far more O levels (I think I ended up with 13!) PLUS A (2) and sometimes S levels. The stiffest test was basic health and I remember one boy being expelled because his health was not up to par. She wants me to learn!

If that can be acheived with children who, at 8 1/2 were required to be able to write/read very basic English and do basic arithmetic then why now should incoming academic standards be very very high plus family money?

As an aside, yesterday I met a woman who teaches arithmetic as a subject in schools. On a Blue Peter recording she had a class who were adding and subtracting 5 threefigure numbers as quickly as she could read the sums out. Two boys were doing mental multiplication of figures between 11 and 99 in two or three seconds - the class was 7 - 8 year olds and the two boys 10 year olds in a local primaryu school. The school has now dropped the subject! One hour a week for 6 months!

[anniexf]

From page 121 of "Christ's Hospital" by G.A.T. Allan Revised by J.E. Morpurgo:

...."For presented children the academic qualifications were formerly minimal and even now they are by no means severe but no child is accepted who, in the opinion of the Head Master or Head Mistress, is not likely to achieve eventually a satisfactory performance at O level."......

That extract suggests that there has been a minimum academic standard of sorts for some time...

But isn't this minimum standard solely applied to presented children? It seems that children offered a place through the exam/selection procedure have to be much more academically able than presentees.

[Mid A 15]

From page 121 of "Christ's Hospital" by G.A.T. Allan Revised by J.E. Morpurgo:

...."For presented children the academic qualifications were formerly minimal and even now they are by no means severe but no child is accepted who, in the opinion of the Head Master or Head Mistress, is not likely to achieve eventually a satisfactory performance at O level."......

That extract suggests that there has been a minimum academic standard of sorts for some time...

But isn't this minimum standard solely applied to presented children? It seems that children offered a place through the exam/selection procedure have to be much more academically able than presentees.

Quite right.

Mary refers to her exam in 1965 above.

I took the LCC exam in the same year and had passed the 11 plus as had others I subsequently spoke to.

My point is that academic selection by CH is nothing new, certainly in the last 50-60 years anyway.

[Hannoir]

I know you have to get a certain amount of GCSE's above a B to stay on and the entry for a new Dep was hard - it was B's or above when I started.
If you're going to be selective then you need minimum academic standards I guess, but it seems very tough. But then things (and this isn't just about CH) are all about league tables at the moment so can't say I blame the school for increasing entry requirements.

[anniexf]

Mary refers to her exam in 1965 above.

I took the LCC exam in the same year and had passed the 11 plus as had others I subsequently spoke to.

My point is that academic selection by CH is nothing new, certainly in the last 50-60 years anyway.

I took the 11+ as well, & after the results I then was invited to G.T.S. for the CH exam, in 1955, so I'm fully aware of the academic requirements that used to be in place. It seems to me though that the entrance standards now are exceptionally high, so I have to repeat my question: in what way does OWGC envisage getting an "improvement in the quality of intake"?
What are his criteria?

[Katharine]

I'm pretty sure that the selection of presentees did not include very much of an academic test. The only thing my brother remembers being asked was which side did he part his hair! He was a BSB presentee in 1952.

I went through the Almoner's exams at Great Tower Street.

[englishangel]

There was one girl in my first year (but not in my form) who got 2% in her arithmetic exam, I had got 98% and the 2% was because I had misread the question.

[ailurophile]

For information. the current CH requirement for entry into the sixth form is that pupils gain 'at least' an A grade GCSE in any subject which they wish to continue to A level, (A* required for maths or physics), as part of a demand for a minimum of six A grades overall. To put this in context though, CH pupils achieved an 80% rate of GCSE passes at A or A* grades last year, so presumably the bar is not being set unrealistically high.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

It has been posted, that "Exams were current in the 50s and 60s"

They were the NORM before the War -- I got in, via a competitive Scholarship, from the Parish of St Sepulchre's, which selected three boys (?) annually. (I know not about Girls)

Due to the intervention of the Luftwaffe, I got in , although coming Fourth.

Most (If not all) of my contemporaries joining in 1940, had to pass an Exam, and to my certain knowledge, at least two had Parents, who paid NO FEES ---- My Father (a Police Constable) complained to me, that my Music Fees (Standard) cost him more than my School Fees (Graded.)

I realise that we are in the 21st Century and things have changed ----- but I have very grave concens about the way "MY" School has changed it's Ethos.

[lonelymom]

With the prospect of more snow on Thursday and Friday maybe we should all be keeping our fingers crossed that the entrance exams will go ahead this time!

[midget]

I don't remember any talk about the entrance exams. Like most who got to CH via the London Junior County Scholarship as it was then called I didn't take any other exam. I knew that if we went back to London I had a place at the Roan school in Greenwich, but I had no idea that my parents were trying to get me into CH. While we were living in Bedfordshire, I was to go to The Cedars school in Leighton Buzzard, and I can remember getting worried that my mother was making no attempt to buy the uniform, until one morning my father asked me how I would like to go to boarding school, and that was it.

I do agree with Neill that something odd seems to be happening to the ethos of OUR school.

On the first day we spent the morning doing maths and English tests to decide which stream we would be in.

[sejintenej]

I'm pretty sure that the selection of presentees did not include very much of an academic test. The only thing my brother remembers being asked was which side did he part his hair! He was a BSB presentee in 1952.
.

Exactly - just like me, and it was a mix of boys including many presentees who achieved those levels to which I referred. Having unexamined entrants did not pull down the school's standards - indeed after having gone through the Prep I might not have started French or Latin but I was not behind direct entrants in other subjects

[wurzel]

in 1981 the exams were split into part a & part b. Presentees only had to complete part a. competitive had to complete A & B in the same time. You came one lunchtime did a 1.5 hour exam slept over another exam in morning, then various aptitude tests and interviews (mine was with O'Meara), then another 1.5 hour exam, then PE then sleep over, final 1.5 hours on the last morning before going home. Musicians (not me)also had to cram in auditions in the music school and linguists an oral interview. That was a lot for a 10 year old to cope with.

Academically it was also very hard - as a competitive entry it was known I would have a hard time so my mum used all her savings and family allowance (at the expense of not replacing the dieing freezer) to get me some tuition. Without it there is no way i could have passed as maths subjects such as inequalities and ven diagrams were not covered at my primary school even though I was self teaching from books aimed at 13 year olds.

Academic selection and striving for excellence is at least 30 years old

I did go on to do Maths, further Maths, Geography and Chemistry A-Levels though