No one talks about the negative 4+ results.
/And this is one of the main reasons why 4+ assessment preparation can be so confusing for most parents.
Because most people talk about the positive results (i.e., their children getting into their target schools), many of you assume that it will be “easy” to pass a 4+ assessment. Many of you tend to believe that minimal preparation will be required. After all, “so-and-so’s son or daughter got into X elite school with minimal or no preparation!”
Be careful what you believe.
Nobody — let me repeat — nobody passes a 4+ assessment at a top elite school like Westminster, NLCS, South Hampstead, or Haberdashers (boys’ and girls’) without thorough preparation.
And if people tell you otherwise, just smile at them.
Let me tell you something. I’ve spoken to at least 50 parents in the last three months who have called me to tell me about their ‘negative’ results — as in, their children have not passed their 4+ assessments at their target schools.
Are they telling their friends and families about this? I doubt it.
We seem to hide negative results from others. And I get it. These are our precious children. A rejection for them feels like a rejection that we take extremely personally.
But you shouldn’t — not in this assessment process. A negative result is simply data. It is simply information, just like a positive result is simply data. If a child has not passed a 4+ assessment, it is not a reflection on them as a human being. It simply means that they were unable to go in and show the assessors what they were looking for. That is all.
So let’s talk more about the negative results to help new parents going through this process understand it better — to give them the knowledge they need to know that this 4+ assessment process is far from simple, far from straightforward.
It requires courage, trust, dedication, perseverance, and grit from our clients.
It requires the same from our students.
Negative results are all part of the game of 4+ assessment preparation. Embrace the negative and embrace the positive. But above all — prepare your children to go in and have the highest possible chance of passing.
