Do you even understand the Merchant Taylors' 4+ assessment?
/It’s rather surprising the number of parents I speak to who tell me that they desperately want their sons to go to MTP at 4+. But when I ask them a simple question like this…
Do you know how many places are available at 4+?
Most of them do not.
Last year, I went to the MTP open day. It was absolutely full of parents. I would say that there were about 200 of us there that morning — and that was just one open day. They held several.
MTP typically has six places available at 4+. That’s because most of the places available go to boys who are already studying at MTP (in the nursery).
This year, three of our boys were offered a place at MTP — all of them after initially being placed on the waiting list. Only one of our boys accepted the place. The other two chose other schools that they had also been offered.
Three out of six were boys prepared by us.
We know how to prepare for this school at 4+ (and at 3+ and 7+!).
We understand the MTP 4+ assessment. Do you?
We know what the school expects from its boys. Do you?
We know that children won’t just go in and “play with other children.” Do you?
MTP says that they are looking for teachability and sociability — and they absolutely are. But what about the countless other things they are looking for?
If you don’t have full clarity on what these are, how can you ever expect to be successful in preparing your son to be offered a place at MTP?
MTP says that they are not looking to “find out what children know.” I have no clue what they mean by this. And it’s not my job to speculate — nor is it my business to. My job is to prepare my boys to go in and have the highest possible chance of being offered a place at MTP.
MTP says they are looking for boys with the potential to flourish in their learning environment. Yes, they are. But if you don’t truly understand what this means, how will you prepare your son to go in and demonstrate it?
We know the exact profile of the boy they are looking for at 4+. We know which boys will have a strong chance of passing the 4+ assessment. We support them every step of the way so that they go in and truly shine. We ensure they understand what assessors will be looking for — and how to demonstrate it confidently.
Our clients also receive our full support every single step of the way — which is not something many agencies out there offer.
If you are thinking about MTP for 4+ (2027 entry), now is the time to get started.
