Elevenplus vs Eton

I hadn't thought of it like that grovel! I guess the almost-unconditional bursaries must be a vanishingly small proportion of all the bursaries that happen.

However - given their stated aims one would hope that the number of bursaries might increase year by year. Freeing up more that don't wait upon an academic award.

It's so difficult to give advice when every family's experience is marginally different to everyone else's. (I last thought about Grammar Schools when I was perhaps six years old; so wanted to go but they were wiped out in the areas I lived in. And also in the area we had to consider lately. So they don't tend to figure in my calculations ... I can see that having that possibility complicates any decision.)

I know Muddler but this couple need full fees remission, I think. Eton had 44 boys last year whose parents paid no fees at all. That's 9 a year. I assume at least a 3 or 4 a year are Kings Scholars or exceptional musicians. That leaves 5 or 6. The school offer up to 4 New Foundation scholarships per year which presumably accounts for the majority of the rest. Since the NF scholarships are targetted at boys like the OP's, I'd go that route (as suggested by the school).

Happy to be corrected.

" If your son does get in don't expect everyone you know to congratulate you."
Dani - if your son gets into Eton I will certainly congratulate you and him! That school was the best thing that ever happened to my Ds.
You've had plenty of good advice from those in the know and I hope your DS will be happy and fulfilled whichever school he goes to.

Currently bursaries are not conditional on being awarded a KS.

(If the OPs were going down the prep route they would have been well advised to try to get him into yr 6. But I think deadlines for the most relevant schools will have passed.)

If the boy goes to a prep on a bursary he then pretty much has to win a KS to Eton to get all his fees paid by the school. From a state school he can try for a New Foundation Scholarship. The latter is more based on potential (to catch up with Kings Scholars).

I would definitely do the NFS route which does not jeopardise the Grammar route.

That's certainly not how I read it LIZS. OP has said they are relying on bursaries, you would only have a hope of a prep school bursary for years 7 and 8 if your DS already had an Eton place following the Eton test at 11.

But op is talking about prep from age 10 ie year 6 so results in year 7 would be too late for state 11+ and they'd already be committed to independent sector.

Also you would need to consider what might happen if you took up any prep school offer but a place at Eton didn't ultimately come off.

I can't see how this would happen. Surely you would only be looking at the prep school option if your son took the standard test at 11 and was offered a conditional place. The only thing likely to go wrong then would be if he completely messed up his CE - which doesn't seem likely - although you may change your minds of course.

Dani Forgive me again but your colleague with a child at the school you linked to will be flabbergasted that you have the chance of getting your child to E. Sorry but that's the truth. If your son does get in don't expect everyone you know to congratulate you.

It's a tough choice - which most people never have to make.

Staying put and waiting to take the NF Scholarship does seem the less daunting option now.

But the advantage of moving to a really stellar prep (assuming a bursary to the prep) is that a boy will be working amongst several others who all have the same goal. There would be dedicated teaching towards a King's Scholarship if appropriate. This sort of prep might send 15-20 boys per year to E. (I guess this means that statistically the odds are better taking this route? Though there are no guarantees.)

LIZS I'd hope that the prep would guide the child into another "comparable" senior school if E didn't work out. If they gave a bursary for prep they'd want the boy to leave in a blaze of glory.

I tend to agree with grovel here.

Surely the least stressful path for you is let your boy sit the 11+ and hopefully go to the Grammar School. If he likes the school, you may want to forget Eton. If he doesn't like the school you can apply for a New Foundation scholarship at the beginning of Year 8.

Also you would need to consider what might happen if you took up any prep school offer but a place at Eton didn't ultimately come off. You might know before year 8 but other seniors would pretest in year 6/7 , you'd be hunting down a bursary/scholarship and he'd have missed out on 11+ grammars.

The important thing is whether the prep school you mention a) can provide a sufficient bursary and b) has a consistent, recent record of sending boys to E.

I do not mention parental determination and optimism for want of anything else to talk about. The entire process of applying (particularly if seeking a bursary or hoping for a scholarship) can be taxing, exhausting, intrusive... Read any of the current threads for London private school admissions - and quadruple it. There would be no point in beginning this process if you dislike being questioned, do not care for being under pressure or are ambivalent about the possible outcomes.

.... horrifically confusing to anyone reading who hasn't been through it.

grovel Only just seen your post. I wasn't intending to imply that the NF was based on CE. (I must try to write more clearly!) I was trying to suggest the alternative route to taking the NF.

(This must seem quite horrifically confusing to anyone who hasn't been through any of it.)

Not so far as I know summerends (although I have to admit that even I'm getting confused now!). As I understand it, if you do the assessment at 11, you have to take CE. The NFS is only open to boys from the state sector.

Danimirj it may be that you will not have to choose between 11+ and Eton. Perhaps you should take 11+, and (depending on how he does) choose the school you feel is right for you son, then you can decide in a year to two if you want to give Eton a try, depending on how happy and settled you all are by then.

the costs of the two years he will need there may well be included in your bursary.

Indrid I think the OP was relying on this possibility (taken from a now defunct scholarship) but I don't understand it to be the usual route now - since, obviously, a child not already at a prep has the option of the NF Schol.

Dani If you decide to investigate prep school possibilities I am sure E will be happy to guide you in the right direction. Believe me - prep schools want boys who are likely to successfully proceed there. There are, admittedly only a few with the funds to offer really helpful bursaries - but it is far from impossible.

Indrid I thought there was an appropriate state school entrance (not CE) for those who remained in the state sector even without getting the Foundation scholarships?

Ah - before the NF scholarships they used to offer to pay for a prep school from 10, that's what you're thinking of.

But either way, your DS would have had to change schools twice, and with the old scheme you'd have been effectively committed earlier. You don't enter for the NF until year 8, so if he settles so well in secondary school that you don't want to move him at that point, you just don't enter him when it comes to it.

Definitely watch the documentary linked above - it's what convinced my DS he definitely wanted to go. Don't be surprised that some of the families look pretty well off though - guess it just shows the NF is open to anyone who can't afford £35kpa and has a son at state school, and that's a lot of people!

Danimirj if you can move I would consider either a very selective (superselective) school whether that be grammar or private with full bursary. He will then be with more DCs like him. Personally I would pursue both options of Eton and appropriate superselective grammar at this stage to keep his and your options open. If Eton and the advantages of boarding life with amazing co- curricular activities and societies are right and appeal very much to him that will become apparent in the couple of years or so when he has the pretest and you get assessed for a bursary. Don't worry about the steps after the pretest, other similar boys have trod that path.