National Academy For Gifted and Talented Youth - Admissions

Admissions

NAGTY changed its admissions policy radically during its run. Initially, all students had to submit a large portfolio, complete with an individual letter detailing why the student would like to join, and numerous pieces of evidence such as UKMT certificates, World Class Tests results, school work, SAT or GCSE results, IQ tests and references from teachers. This portfolio would then be examined by a number of professionals who either approved or declined these entrants, depending on whether or not they deemed that the applicant was in the top 5% of the national population. As admission numbers grew, NAGTY decided that it would be necessary to simplify the admissions, in order that they could be processed at a greater rate. The new process, renamed "Loc8or" (changed from "Talent Search" - the initial title), asked for 3 different areas of evidence:

• A letter of application in which students had to introduce themselves, along with two questions that they would address to an expert in a particular field (these questions were never actually answered)
• A portfolio (one or more pieces) of evidence of ability from a formal or standard test (such as those above) (the Academy was quoted as saying at the time: "However, we know that sometimes your test results don't always reflect your true potential, so we also ask for a third piece of evidence.")
• Evidence from informal sources, such as a teacher's recommendation, or evidence of participation in an informal society or club (coursework could also be submitted for this section of evidence)

However, at the end of 2003, the Loc8or process was again simplified so that the only requirement was a single piece of evidence and a form of endorsement from the applicant's school. This policy raised considerable debate amongst some parties, including some of NAGTY's own students, that the less stringent application process led to students being admitted that were not necessarily in the top 5%. The Academy denied this.