Kings College London Maths School

Hi, I just started YR12 at Brampton Manor Academy taking maths, further maths, physics and economics and a future Maths & Computer science applicant
Lotta things to say here:
-Firstly, even if you dont get a place at one of these selective sixth forms, dont worry, a good hard working student will succeed at any school
-Make sure you get the grades, dont apply and waste time, I'd say if you want a 80+% chance of getting in, aim for a grade 9 in all subjects you will be studying at A level and a 7 and above as your average grade
-Brampton Manor Academy, out of these three, is the hardest to get into (perhaps harder than NCS too if your interested in that), this year over 2500 applications were given in, 1400 met the requirements yet only 350-400 (Include myself luckily) got an offer
-LAE is fantastic, however statistically, BMA is better, although there may be other reasons for you to apply, e.g. location, friends etc. and I definitely think you should apply there (I should of as a backup to Brampton but I didn't think about it)
-KMS is great especially for being a pure maths school , however my main reason I never thought about it (other than location of course) is because it is a maths only school, there will be a lack of diversity in some aspects, so it will be a bunch of 16+ maths students, which at times may be boring, however if you dont mind it, go for it, and you should definitely apply even if you choose not a accept (BTW they post maths challenges every week, I've spoken to a teacher there via email as I sent in some proofs to a complex number theory question, you should have a look)
-KMS do have an entrance exam, however I'm not an expert on it, I just heard it is grade 8/9 content that you are assessed in, but in harder style (more competitive maths style, look at the Intermediate Maths Challenge, its a good preparation technique)
-BMA have become famous due to their Oxbridge record, whilst this is nice, do note that most of these Oxbridge offer holders are doing Humanities subjects, which in comparison to STEM, is far less competitive, so if you go BMA, dont automatically expect a place at Oxbridge, because statistically speaking, and my assuming your taking maths subjects like myself and therefore studying a mathematical subject at degree level, you would essentially need to secure A*A*A* in their preferred subjects + a banging personal statement + mad interview skills, so although it is possible, oxbridge should not be everyones goal, in fact some universities are better in different aspects, e.g: computer science at Imperial is fantastic employment wise due to their better facilities, modern teaching, STEM specialisation, and of course, in the city of London where employment opportunities is far greater, so to summarise, just because BMA got a nice Oxbridge record, dont look at it as your no1 goal
To conclude, apply to all of these, get the grades and choose later. I suggest BMA (however ofc since I go there now I may be biased), but either one is good. If you do end up going BMA next year, I look forward to seeing you. Good luck!

Hi, sorry just to say, I don’t think Brampton Manor is the hardest to get into out of those three. KCLMS had 700-800 people sitting the exam and 70 are offered places.

damn only 10% of applicants... thats a lot of pressure, but i'm working hard

Most excellent advice by @gr8un0ne !! I wish someone told me that tbh :/

Anyways good luck @radbhak, I'm sure whatever you do you will be successful at it

Thank you... theres a lot of pressure and stress rn espscecially due to covid and yh

I feel you so much. I just want to say tht as long you have the passion for it - anything is possible.

I was in the same situation as you as last year and it is unfair how we have to decide at such young age.

Butttt I believe in you!! If you need someone to talk to I'm always here 💞

Yeah, hopefully things go alright, I'm trying to self-teach as much as possible because I doubt school alone can help us catch up with what we lost, hopefully I get into at least one of my choices... but yeah Kings is like where i'm really really aiming for right now

Yes aiming high is fantastic !!! Just know tht don't be dishearted if you get rejected there are always other doors

For example i got rejected by 2-3 colleges *cough* Lae, Harris *cough* but I go to the NCS sooo 👼👼

BUT YESSSSSSS GOOD LUCKKKK !!!!! I AM ROOTING FOR YOUUU

Tyyyyyy, hows NCS? I’ve also been thinking about that one too.

In terms of opportunity, there are many !!! I had talks from Oxford professional 2 times on the first week and this Friday I also had a famous author come in and talk about how she invented a drug to treat some minimal cancer due to her study of DNA and much more. Since I wanna do science related career in the future, I've been attending talks by med applicants and dentistry and more. Low-key enjoying the bombardment of opportunities and experience that I can write in my CV.

Overall, there's many facilities for people who want to do Medicine, Engineering/Finance and Law related careers.

In terms of the area/environment - I think it is a drawback for me. I'm till trying to adapt to the East Ham area and not really sure about how safe it is but during lunch you are allowed to go out and I tend to stay near school campus. But there is nearby KFC, Mcdonalds and Costa. The school cafeteria is usually packed so going out seems to be the best option. Just haven't found an acc hangout place (Eg; parks/benches). I'm still figuring out since I started not so long ago - I hope I find some accommodation in terms of sitting and relaxing xD

Oooo ok thank you, I mainly bring lunch from home but from your advice I might go out for lunch... NCS and Brampton are the only ones that I have one friend whos also applying to since most people in my year are either taking apprenticeships or staying in our school's sixth form (I want to apply to a competitive sixth form and explore outside of where I live) I'll probably have to adapt to the local area too since the sixth forms colleges I'm applying to are all outside my local area.

I was wondering how the application processes work? Like how to we get our predicted grades and what do we put in a personal statement and stuff?

in terms of the NCS or all colleges in general?

Both

Application process: Step 1 they will ask for personal details, then the predicted grades which u ask from teachers after december/february mock depending on how long the aplication deadline is open for... I did December ones so I advise you take mocks seriously but don't feel too pressured at the same time. After that you choose the subjects, they will light up if you have met the entry requirements. However, what varies in different collegees is some will ask personal statement. some will personally call you for interview and some you need to attend in person from interview and much more.(Yep it's a process xD). Oh and also they will ask for teacher reference so make sure you ask a teacher that you trust/knows you well to write that for you!!! Then everything else, you will be hearing from them.

Some will give conditional offers and some will wait till results day.

For NCS they would ask you for a personal statement of why you wanna study there. You need to show that you're excited, enthusiastic etc. I think they are also having an open day soon? you should check that out too, so that they know ur interested. So therefore, generally you gotta interact with the colleges in terms of open evening and whatever they have to offer for upcoming year 12 (eg: online q/a session).

I hope this made sense- I was rushing skksksksk .💀🙌

Oh thank you, Kings College Maths have a deadline before Nov/Dec mocks so does that mean they may ask for predicted grades based off last year?