Would you do this?

Glad to be of assistance - Google is my friend :-)

Personally, I'd leave her where she is right now and move her for A levels.

I thought the research showed that state schools outperformed private schools for 'improvement' of grades, and that the better grade average of many private schools is down to selection and other external factors.

talkingpiece2

That's a brilliant link.

OP - we had a bit of this. DD went to a top 100 comp for two years. She was in top sets and got a 7b at the end of Y8. We had issues with poor behaviour which is why we moved her. She is now at a nurturing Surrey indy. When she joined at the beginning of Y9 she was put in top set for maths and languages but was behind and we had to put in some tutoring for her. She finished the year flying and we are very glad we moved her - she is happier, there is far less disruption and bad behaviour is dealt with.

TC I got the same impression from the opening post. Go for it teta, hope it works.

OP, think you have answered your own question in your last post. Sounds very much like the private option is the one that you favour. If this is your gut feeling then whatever research you do will be coloured by this.

Have you spoken to other parents at the private school to see what they think of it?

If your daughter is happy and thriving then I would not move her just because of a career choice she will almost certainly change her mind about in a few years time.

Do not assume that a private school with good results has good pastoral care or good careers advice. Help with your UCAS form does not equal good careers advice.

Go and observe teaching in the two schools - do they use a variety of teaching methods or are pupils just dictated to and expected to answer Qs from a book. How often is the curriculum updated? (Are they still teaching the same content from the same textbooks they were over 15 years ago - and yes I know for a fact local inde school is doing this!) What do they offer in terms of PHSE/Citizenship?

And also - if she needs tutoring and intensive help to get A*s etc to get into uni - who is going to tutor her when she gets there?? If she is hard working and motivated she will do well in any school she is happy in, and she will get the results she deserves. I agree there are actually benefits to keeping her in state in that she will stand out as exceptional, as opposed to being average in a private school.

What are the class size differences? What teaching methods do they use in the respective schools? How qualified are the teachers? How much homework do they assign? Would the volume of homework leave any time for other life? What is the school's reputation for pastoral care? How awkward is the commute for her to undertake independently? What are the discipline procedures like? Does she have any friends in the new school? Does she actually want to do any of the ex-Curric activities only on offer in the private school?

I would want reassuring answers to those questions; more important than results.

I think I would feel the same as you teta. Whatever people think about school-life balance etc., if your DD aspires to being a vet she will need top grades just as a starting point, and as a parent I would (and am) be prepared to do whatever it took to give her the best chance. I'm moving my DCs to private schools in 2013 and even though it will mean we don;t go on holiday for the next few years I am utterly certain that this is the right choice for them. In fact I'm really excited for them as I know they are going to thrive.

The other thing about good private schools I think is that they are much more helpful on the careers front. As I say, top grades are just the starting point for highly competitive careers like vet, doctor, etc. My old babysitter, a lovely girl and very bright, wanted to be a doctor and got all A*s throughout (super selective grammar) school but didn't get an offer for med school. This was because she had no relevant work experience - her school just hadn't explained to her that she would need this. Lucky for her she took a year off, got some work experience, re-applied and is now in her 5th year

I went to an academic private school where I was in the bottom set for maths (top set for everything else). It didn't bother me. I got all As at GCSE (before the days of A*) apart from Maths, in which I got a B, which I considered my best result!

I would agree you have to go with what your DD wants to an extent. Does she feel confident she can get A* across all subjects in her current school with extra tuition? She will need top grades to be a vet. Personally I incline to the view that being in an environment where everyone wants to do well - which the private school sounds like it offers - is more likely to breed success but that is just my view.

My girls moved to the private sector at 11. Eldest was in set 4 of 5 for Maths (got an A at IGCSE). Youngest has always been in top set.

At first parents night for DD2 her Maths teacher said to me two things - she couldn't believe she had not had private tutoring to bring her Maths up to top set standard and she also couldn't believe the gaps in her knowledge - its only partly about levels of achievement - its also about the breadth of topics they've already covered.

It's unlikely that your DD will have covered enough topics to perform well in a compArative test at this stage. Less likely to be about ability than exposure to a broadrer curriculum.

She has spent the last 3 years gaining in confidence in her current school and has made a lovely group of friends.

Why on earrth move her then?

Stop looking at overall results, look at your daughter and how well she will do.

I wouldn't worry about the maths set, they will quickly move her up if she's not in the right one. But if she's a hard worker and has an ambition and motivation, she will do fine at a good state school and she'll be in top set with others who want to work. She'll also get lots of positions of responsibility in 6th form as she'll stand out rather than being one of many and teachers will go out of their way to help her. Universities are likely to favour state school kids with good a level grades - tutor if necessary to fill in any gaps. Of course it's up to you and her and you know the schools, but don't write off the state school too soon.

That Guardian Page is crowd sourced - not verified
so schools like my lovely local Oasis Academy are not included. Funny that.

I got this page from the Guardian results for a school local to me. You could try yours?

That table is the best I've seen! They could have a column for selective and one for IB though to make it even more informative.

In addition to the wealth of tables out there, when we were deciding on secondary school for DD every school - state and private - was happy to provide complete results by subject so we could see eg how many A* in each separate science. (it was quite revealing - some schools were clearly doing more subjects which were easier to get top grades in).

GCSE A* and A data for state secondary schools - there is a sub table for ones without 6th form.
All the data is there.
pp.include-digital.com/table/state-secondary-schools

You can get the A*/A % from state schools in the league tables. Or is that not what you meant?

This is a tricky one. I wouldn't worry about your DD being in the bottom set if she moves-you can discuss with her the reasons for this and she will likely move up anyway. I would imagine she would still be able to get A/A*.

My DD is in a good comprehensive and we have tutored where necessary but I still think being at a comp. has cost her several A* grades. Yes you can pay for tutoring but you have no choice as to when your child actually sits the exams. My DD sat a large chunk of her English Lit GCSE in October of year 10 and it was too early for her-had she sat it later she probably would have gone up a grade.

My DD is not interested in doing anything competitive[wants to act!] and should still get mainly As so it doesn't really matter but one of her friends wanted to be a vet and sadly won't get the number of A* required.

I think you should discuss the pros and cons with your daughter and come to a decision together.