The Student Room Group

Advice for maths school greatly appreciated :)

Hi, I'm Shayla and I'm in Year 11. I'm applying to two maths schools for sixth form entry, KCLMS and ICLMS (KCLMS is my first choice), as well as the grammar school in my area and my current secondary school. I sat the entrance exam for KCLMS recently and am waiting to hear back about a potential interview, and I'm trying to fill out the application for ICLMS.
In terms of the KCLMS exam, I've been having a very hard time waiting. I walked into the exam thinking my preparation was enough, but found the test really hard and answered 4/10 questions for the multiple choice section (unanswered questions score 1 point, wrong answers score 0 so it wasn't worth guessing), and 6.5/9 questions for the written section. I am extremely nervous that this is not enough to be considered for an interview and I've been stressing out about it non stop, it's all I can think about even though it's out of my hands now. My best shot is to wait for any news back from the school (late December) and keep preparing for the ICLMS exam and my school's January mocks.
As for the ICLMS exam, I haven't submitted my application yet, because I'm stuck on the personal statement: is it supposed to be one of those long, storytelling ones like I see in American college applications? Or is it supposed to be displaying impressive grades and extracurriculars related to maths? I can't find any helpful examples online, and I've never written one before. How much weight does it hold, can I still sit the exam if it's not that great or will they only choose the people with really good statements?
I'm mainly writing this to have all my worries written down somewhere, as I'm sure I can work this out somehow, but some advice would be really appreciated. :smile:

Reply 1

There are a few threads on here talking about how difficult people found the admissions test. It sounds like it was a bit harder than last year's one. There's nothing you can do now so just keep your fingers crossed you've done enough to be invited to the interview.

My son got an offer from ICLMS last year. IIRC the personal statement section was about 400 words so it's not enough space to tell a long story. Bear in mind also that UK educational institutions tend to be more interested in supercurriculars i.e. activities related to your subjects you are studying rather than extra curriculars like sport, music etc which American colleges like.

The school wants to see you are motivated and passionate to study maths and engage in the wider curriculum that a maths school can offer. Pick a few good examples you have and you'll be fine.

Reply 2

Original post
by Shayla Waggie
Hi, I'm Shayla and I'm in Year 11. I'm applying to two maths schools for sixth form entry, KCLMS and ICLMS (KCLMS is my first choice), as well as the grammar school in my area and my current secondary school. I sat the entrance exam for KCLMS recently and am waiting to hear back about a potential interview, and I'm trying to fill out the application for ICLMS.
In terms of the KCLMS exam, I've been having a very hard time waiting. I walked into the exam thinking my preparation was enough, but found the test really hard and answered 4/10 questions for the multiple choice section (unanswered questions score 1 point, wrong answers score 0 so it wasn't worth guessing), and 6.5/9 questions for the written section. I am extremely nervous that this is not enough to be considered for an interview and I've been stressing out about it non stop, it's all I can think about even though it's out of my hands now. My best shot is to wait for any news back from the school (late December) and keep preparing for the ICLMS exam and my school's January mocks.
As for the ICLMS exam, I haven't submitted my application yet, because I'm stuck on the personal statement: is it supposed to be one of those long, storytelling ones like I see in American college applications? Or is it supposed to be displaying impressive grades and extracurriculars related to maths? I can't find any helpful examples online, and I've never written one before. How much weight does it hold, can I still sit the exam if it's not that great or will they only choose the people with really good statements?
I'm mainly writing this to have all my worries written down somewhere, as I'm sure I can work this out somehow, but some advice would be really appreciated. :smile:

The ps is likely to be similar to those for uni admissions in the uk really, this is the basis used by most sixth forms. Theres guides on how to write sixth form personal statements on sites like RevisionOwl that you might find helpful 🙂

Reply 3

Hey guys, what did you hear back from Kings? I got rejected ☹️

Reply 4

Original post
by Shayla Waggie
Hi, I'm Shayla and I'm in Year 11. I'm applying to two maths schools for sixth form entry, KCLMS and ICLMS (KCLMS is my first choice), as well as the grammar school in my area and my current secondary school. I sat the entrance exam for KCLMS recently and am waiting to hear back about a potential interview, and I'm trying to fill out the application for ICLMS.
In terms of the KCLMS exam, I've been having a very hard time waiting. I walked into the exam thinking my preparation was enough, but found the test really hard and answered 4/10 questions for the multiple choice section (unanswered questions score 1 point, wrong answers score 0 so it wasn't worth guessing), and 6.5/9 questions for the written section. I am extremely nervous that this is not enough to be considered for an interview and I've been stressing out about it non stop, it's all I can think about even though it's out of my hands now. My best shot is to wait for any news back from the school (late December) and keep preparing for the ICLMS exam and my school's January mocks.
As for the ICLMS exam, I haven't submitted my application yet, because I'm stuck on the personal statement: is it supposed to be one of those long, storytelling ones like I see in American college applications? Or is it supposed to be displaying impressive grades and extracurriculars related to maths? I can't find any helpful examples online, and I've never written one before. How much weight does it hold, can I still sit the exam if it's not that great or will they only choose the people with really good statements?
I'm mainly writing this to have all my worries written down somewhere, as I'm sure I can work this out somehow, but some advice would be really appreciated. :smile:

OP here - I got an interview!! I still can't believe it and I'm so excited, I'm gonna start doing practise interviews with my teachers

Reply 5

Original post
by Shayla Waggie
OP here - I got an interview!! I still can't believe it and I'm so excited, I'm gonna start doing practise interviews with my teachers

Congrats! Same here, hopefully the interview isnt too intimidating, i hope i can acc speak properly during it :wink:

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