Leaving London for a school

[CharlieontheMTA]

DS has been offered a place at Abingdon Prep. I was beginning to be concerned about the madness of 7+ in our patch of London and wasn't happy with any of the less selective options. So we decided to target Oxfordshire as it has lots of options for preps. DS passed the assessment for Abingdon and friends have now said if they have offered him a place the 7+ in London shouldn't prove that daunting....but I don't think they are right. Surely the 7+ in London is far more competitive among the selective schools?

[whatatod0]

where do you want to live? London or Oxfordshire? They are obviously very different lifestyles.
Ab prep is a very good school in my opinion.

[CharlieontheMTA]

Personally, London, but I'm willing to move for the kids. We can always move back to London to a flat when the kids are grown.

[JoJoSM2]

I don't know how many applicants they get. In purely academic attainment terms (results at age 11) there's no need to be moving no anywhere. If you look at average point scores then lots of state schools are just as good as the top preps so no need to worry if you don't get into a prep. Going by my local area (zone 5 in S London) there are several state schools that attain on par with the preps rated at numbers 25-50 in the country.

So if you'd rather live in London and worry about preps being competitive, just try some state schools.

[Railworker]

Most Preps don’t do SATS so how are you able to make a comparison between year 6 state and year 6 Prep attainment?

[JoJoSM2]

I am comparing SATs. I'm not sure what proportion of prep schools don't do them but they're obv not widely published as they aren't particularly impressive compared to state education.

However, other things you could compare is the proportion of children from state primaries moving to selective indies. It generally seems pretty easy to do that. I also haven't noticed any difference between children of educated parents in good state schools and children in prep schools (speaking from almost 2 decades of experience and referring purely to academics as obv there's a range of other reasons parents choose indie over state).

[Railworker]

“they’re obv not that widely published as they aren’t that impressive compared to state education”
That’s quite an assumption JoJo! I haven’t found any evidence of this. As we’re relying on anecdote, most of the people I know who have moved into selective private school from state primary have relied heavily on tutoring to get their kids up to the levels required.

OP, how old is your DS? If you are not keen on leaving London, are there no Prep’s local to you that will go to 11 or 13 so that he can avoid the hideous 7+? Clearly the transition can be hideous whenever it happens, but at least if your child is older you have a clearer picture of where he might be happiest/what is best fit academically.

[CharlieontheMTA]

I think our definition of "easy" might differ quite a lot JoJo or perhaps we live in very different areas. I only know of one prep that participates in SATS. There's no good reason for the preps to do SATS really.

There is one prep near us that goes to 11+ but I don't rate it all. There's another school that goes straight through to 18 but they get worse results than the local comp! A selective secondary should always bear the local comp in my mind. DS is 6.

[JoJoSM2]

'Easy' - sorry, I know parents find it all very stressful and worry a lot. I think I've just become a bit blasé about it over the years. And yes, children in state primaries need some tutoring to sit exams as state schools do not do any 11+ related work.

[MrsPatmore]

Abingdon seems like a great school and from what I know of it, is not as competitive as the London day schools. If you don't want a new life in Oxford, but want to stay put and have your DC go to a top prep, then you'll probably need to join the tutoring arms race!

[EglantineP]

This sounds like a very extreme choice. If you want to live in the shires, then great

If it will involve a tough commute and you will miss London life, then you'd be insane to move just for to avoid an exam for a child, which is actually - and I speak from experience - only as stressful as you choose to make it.

It sounds like you only want the top tier of 7+ schools for your ds and can't bear to contemplate any alternative. What happens to the dc who don't get in to the super-schools? They must end up somewhere that's not actually prison.

[EglantineP]

Oh sorry, just seen you'd prefer to live in London.

Then it is absolutely not worth making such a huge life sacrifice. Plenty of children survive and thrive in London, even those who didn't get in to their school of choice aged 6/7