Y7 admissions

[neve2017]

Hello, We are moving to London in July this year and I am looking for my son's admission to grammar school or a good state school in Kent or Wimbledon. Looking for tips and information for Y7 admissions in these areas. TIA.

[Snap8TheCat]

Is that for a September start? You'll have missed the usual round of admissions I believe. Might be a case of getting what your given I'm afraid.

[neve2017]

Yes, he would have missed the usual 11+ entrance tests that would have happened last year. Hence I am a bit worried..

[Snap8TheCat]

Even for state schools you have missed normal applications. Where are you moving from?

[PettsWoodParadise]

Kent use the same test until the end of the first term of Y7 for in year grammar admissions but you will also be competing with those on waiting lists. Kent admissions info here www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/move-to-a-different-school

Bexley grammars also do in year tests for grammar places.

For other schools check their oversubscription criteria, if it is distance being close to the school will jump you up the list but you may get a school not of your choosing at least first.

[mummytime]

In you circumstances I would forget Grammar, and go for a Comprehensive area with good schools. (So not Kent). And the move close to a good one and prepare to appeal for a place.

Do remember even MN children do fail the 11+, and for super selectives the pass mark can be very hard (and there is little movement).

[neve2017]

Thanks Mummytime! Would be really helpful if you can suggest some comprehensive areas with good schools!

[neve2017]

Thanks Tiggytape and PettsWoodParadise for your advise!!

[PettsWoodParadise]

If you move close to a school like Darrick Wood in Crofton, Orpington which has a large intake you should be in with a better chance than a small intake school. The grammars like St Olaves or Dartford if you want IB will then still be nearby enough for sixth form options later on. Other good secondaries in the Borough of Bromley (most are good or excellent, few are dire) include Langley Park. The new free school in Beckenham: Eden Park High which will just literally open this September might be worth a try too, it is an unknown quantity and just might have place. Good luck.

[neve2017]

Thanks PettsWoodParadise , this is indeed informative!!

[teddygirlonce]

It depends what you call good comprehensive schools (what's regarded as such by one Mumsnettrer may not be by another). Wimbledon has two local options for boys: Rutlish and Wimbledon College (the latter is a Catholic faith school), both of which are relatively well-regarded locally.

But I suspect both will have 'healthy' waiting lists and for the former you'd probably need to be pretty close to the school (in Merton Park), I would have thought, as the school is getting more popular by the year (particularly now it has a reciprocal sibling policy with the girls equivalent - Ricards Lodge).

Wouldn't have thought you could be a 'late applicant' for a Sept. 2017 grammar school place at this stage? Surely not? Not the SW London super-selectives anyway.

[LocalEditorMerton]

Hi neve2017, happy to give you the benefit of my local knowledge for Merton & Wimbledon, if you need it.

[neve2017]

Thanks LocalEditorMerton, I have 2 sons and one of them will be going to Y7 and the other to Y2 , inputs that you can share on an area which will have both good primary and secondary schools will be helpful.

[LocalEditorMerton]

If you want local perspectives, it would be worth posting on MN Merton & Wimbledon too.

Traditionally the secondary schools in Merton seem to be rather undervalued by parents, despite the fact that all hold 'Good' or 'Outstanding' OFSTED ratings. In part this is to do with having nearby Sutton/Kingston super-selective grammars on our doorstep and one of the most highly rated comprehensives in London, Graveney, just down the road in Tooting. I have it on good authority that this year 60% of parents with Year 6 DC put an out-of-borough secondary school as their first choice.

teddygirlonce rightly mentioned that the two most local (and indeed only) boys secondary schools in Merton are both in SW19: Rutlish (Merton Park) and Wimbledon College (Wimbledon/Wimbledon Village). The latter is a faith (Catholic) school.

The primary schools in the vicinity of both secondaries are all well-regarded and highly sought after: Pelham, Merton Park Primary School, Poplar and Wimbledon Chase all close-ish to Rutlish; with Bishop Gilpin CofE, Dundonald and St Mary's RC Primary School closer to Wimbledon College.

Note that Wimbledon traditionally has had 'black holes' for primary schools with some families' children not being eligible for any of the local schools. Instead offered places much further afield (in Mitcham and Morden). This phenomenon has to some extent been addressed by local schools moving over to two if not three form entry in recent years.

However, it is worth doing lots of checking with [email protected] before you determine where you want to live and which schools you are interested in.

Lots of families will move in/out of borough during the school summer holidays (only three months away), so there will movement on waiting lists/vacancies at local schools ahead of the new academic year.

Good luck.

Kate

[LooseAtTheSeams]

I have 2 boys at Rutlish (Y7 and Y10) so pm me if you want any info. They have a lovely circle of friends, the teachers are by and large great and the head is very well regarded. Places are based on catchment and siblings but there's a lot of movement on the waiting list by September!
I have friends with dcs at Wimbledon College and they are also very happy but I think you'd need to fill in the supplementary form on church attendance to be considered.

[MagicMarkers]

Frankly it is a terrible time to move and you may just have to take what you can get. Have you applied in time for schools where you are now?

If you want Wimbledon your best bet is probably to move as close as you can to Rutlish School (it is in an expensive area though) and keep your fingers crossed for a waiting list place.

I don't think you can just waltz into any grammar school two months before school starts without doing the test at the usual time. My older son is in year 9 at one of the Sutton grammars and I believe that only one place has ever come up in his year for waiting list children to take a new test for entry and that was in year 8. However, It might be worth going on the schools' waiting lists just in case a place comes up.

[LocalEditorMerton]

But don't think the OP's DS could go on a waiting list for the Sutton grammars at this stage - only once the new academic year has started and the dust has settled from current waiting lists relating to DCs who've done/passed their 11+ exams.

I know of several pupils at one of the Sutton grammars who've left. New boys have filled their places from the waiting list (but having been tested again, with the highest scorer(s) getting the place(s).

But it's a gamble. There are plenty of bright children (many of whom just missed out on places at Year 7 entry point) waiting in the wings and places don't come up very often. Wallington Grammar used to do a 13+ entry point but think that entry point option stopped a few years ago.

Agree that OP would need to move very close to Rutlish indeed to even stand a chance of getting a waiting list place come July/August. There does seem to be some movement over the summer hols but it's unpredictable.

[MagicMarkers]

Yes, you're right. The current waiting lists for boys who have sat and passed the grammar schools' exams are kept open until Christmas. The OP would have to go on the waiting lists after that and her son would have to get the best scores in the new exam. This information will be on the websites for individual schools, eg.
www.wilsons.school/admissions/y8-11admissions/

[teddygirlonce]

So thinking DS has the grammar school option is a very long-shot at best. And if he's not done the 11+ exams for super-selectives, you'd not really have any idea of whether he'd stand a reasonable chance of being a top-scorer anyway.

Rutlish does have a 'gifted & talented' stream (the top 10%) for their brightest boys. And I think the school is very invested in ensuring that their 'poster boys' do really well (have friends with sons in the 'stream' across different year groups).

[LooseAtTheSeams]

Rutlish uses sets for most subjects after the first half term of Y7 and the pace in the top sets for maths and English is pretty fast. Top two maths sets do triple science at GCSE. My only gripe is that although their French and German results are strong, the boys only get to do one MFL. That isn't a view shared by my dcs, though!