LEH OR G&L

Maybe your daughter found the LEH entrance exam easier because the school was a better fit for her style of learning? Maybe that's a good match?

I would never send my dds on a 3 train journey. We live near LEH ( where my dds both attend) and my dh and I both work in central & west London, each with a 2 train journey. It is exhausting and sometimes very problematic for us as adults to negotiate and deal with. I would not contemplate my dd having to cope with that as well as the homework, clubs etc every day. She may say it'd be ok now, but a term in, when she is tired of getting up in the dark to commute to school, you WILL regret it.

It would be a no-brainer for me, with the distance, local friends, travel and music scholarship too.

This really is a no brainer - both fab schools ...., really nothing to separate them. My daughter is at LEH and the music is outstanding - truly awesome.... She also travels a distance and though it's easy on a coach it's still an hour between school ending and her getting home. I think the girls at G&L are probsbly a bit more 'city' types - catchment of west London rather than Surrey - they can hang around town after school - my daughter can't and I'm kinda glad about that right now ! Good luck with your choice but I can't see a good enough reason to choose G&L over LEH when academically they are so similar ???

Nor is there going to be a shortage of Mulberry handbags at LEH, the buses serve some very wealthy areas of Surrey, private estates where mansions with swimming pools are the norm. You will obviously get some wealthy parents at all these schools but equally both G&L and LEH work quite hard to encourage and enable pupils from state schools and less wealthy backgrounds, and their status makes them an aspiration for a lot of families who put education the top of their financial priorities.

There are certainly some very glitzy kids at G&L, I hear some pretty amazing stories about birthday parties etc. That is true of all London schools to a certain extent, but I imagine less so the further out of the centre. But the OP may want her dd to mingle with celebrity offspring, her shout!

Lynharvey I'm a current G&L parent and my handbag comes from Accessorize! The families you're talking about do exist at the school, but they are a small percentage and their presence really is not reflected in the ethos or day to day experience of the school or girls. I'd be surprised if LU's intake is significantly different - I think the fact that they are relatively central means they both attract that demographic to some extent. The vast majority of families are perfectly grounded though, and I've yet to come across one that has staff!

cristalclear how much of your preference for Godolphin is based on what you've seen of the school and how much on its perceived superiority? There are quite a few old threads on the differences between the schools - they do seem to have a slightly different feel, but much as I'm a G&L fan I don't think it can claim to be 'better'.

And there are plenty of citizens of the world at LEH, quite a significant cohort who are expats, have been expats or are from different cultural backgrounds. They are just not ones that live in Chelsea

One of my DD's peers travelled to G&L from Teddington, only two changes but an early start, and they regretted that decision and the journey. It really added to her levels of fatigue. They have busy tiring lives at these schools especially if she is a serious musician, why add to that needlessly? I have actually known girls leave G&L and LEH in year 9 because long journeys had become too much. Added to the tiredness was the fact that they were doing the journey alone and none of their peers lived locally.

Just one morning's encounter with the journey and the Hammersmith roundabout convinced me that the Hammersmith schools were not really an option beyond Richmond.

Whilst I know that some girls chose G&L over SPGS, LEH because of the bus network actually has a bigger catchment so you will get some very bright girls who cannot access the Hammersmith schools.

Not that it tells you anything LEHs results tend to be infinitesimally better than G&L generally, don't go on last year's A2, it was a blip due to the cohort. The destinations are down to the girls, G&L have a Central London catchment so their girls tend to favour US universities more but girls do go to Yale etc from LEH, especially the rowers, plenty of experience should you need it. Again don't go on last year's destinations. The new Head at LEH is making a lot of changes for the better and is well liked which will make a difference as well.

They are both schools that enable bright girls to achieve their potential so it should come down to your DDs gut feel about where she will be happiest, taking into account a journey that she will without doubt, when she has a lot of homework for public examination and after school activities, come to hate?

She also found LEH maths exam very easy.

Cristalclear, we accepted LEH, but we never applied to G&L as it is too far from us. Our decision was very much influenced by the proximity of the school as we understand the studying will be demanding so to have much sleep is crucial. Regarding the comment that G&L produces the citizens of the world unlike LEH, I can only say my daughter is a truly multicultural child. She is of mixed background, with non-british mother and she comes from the international school in Asia, from the country some people in Britain never heard of.

IT sounds like you're based somewhere round where I grew up. I went to G&L although LEH was a much nearer option. I had a bit of a monster commute (bus, train, tube) or one very, very long slow bus. Took an hour and 15 usually.

It was a big deal - it meant I didn't see much of friends outside of school because they all lived miles away. I loved the school and was quite a self-reliant child so got on with it - but I also I started when I was older (joined in the Upper Fourth). I think it would be too much for a younger child.

FWIW I live in the centre of town now - early commuting put me off for life!

I have heard from a friend whose DD just left that the G&L intake has become much richer than it used to be with the IB attracting all the wealthy West Londoners whose DDs are aiming for top US/Canadian Unis.This also seems to be suggested by the Good Schools Guide which says " Lots of Gucci and Fendi handbags at the school gates as well as the odd chauffeur dropping off a daughter of a Russian magnate". Although we liked the G&L site a lot and are impressed by G&L's recent academic performance, this "super rich" reputation rather put us off and we feel that DD (who is currently at a state primary) may be more comfortable at LU where she also has an offer and which seems very down to earth. Can any current G&L mums confirm that their handbags cost under £1000 and that there are plenty of normal local girls there without chauffeurs/butlers etc?!

Nightmare commute, please don't do it. You're - politely - bonkers to think G&L is somehow "better" than LEH, they're both great schools, plus LEH has given you a scholarship. Absolute no brainer.

A journey to school involving 3 changes of train is just not sustainable, sorry. I wouldn't consider it as a journey to work and it would be even harder for a teenager to cope with the necessarily very early start. They don't DO mornings as a general rule!

Not sure why you applied to a school which is so difficult to get to unless you are planning to move. You would be setting yourself up with serious problems if you go for G&L. It is very likely that you would quickly be faced with an exhausted DD and you would then be frantically searching for an occasional place at a closer school.

Save yourself the anguish and choose the school with a reasonable commute.

I wouldn't worry about the academic status of LEH. There are very few private girls secondaries in the area that are more selective and it is consistently close to the top of the league tables nationally.

Basic rule. No more than two types of transport.

Play with TFL journey planner. Look at starting a few minutes earlier or later. Look at journey time AFTER orchestra paractice. Consider what happens with a tube strike, a train strike or road works. A crash at the Hogarth roundabout? As well as bad news you might even find that there alternatives beyond the obvious tube, such as the fast bus that goes from Slough to central London stopping in Hammersmith.

Even in sixth form DD claims they wont visit a friend who lives too far away.

Honestly both schools are good. You can't know where your DD will find the close knit group of friends or the inspiring teacher.

My daughter was offered SPGS and not LEH a couple of years ago so I don't think you can or should get hung up on which is more competitive or "better" based on one entrance exam.

Two different head teachers have said to us that a child should never have more than one change of transport for a journey which they are taking twice every school day for seven years....I think they are right.

If she wants to do IB she can always leave LEH at 16 and do 6th form at KCS which takes girls at that point. The G&L music scholarship is 40% off ALL fees so is very competitive. Go with the school which is easiest to reach.

Showing my age... My youngest daughter far more reliably informed me that there are around 15 academic scholars but more music ones in her year!
Hampton/hanworth is hardly country club area!

Sorry, just realised it wasn't you who said the "country club" bit - I do apologise.

Ahh I thought I remembered you from your thread re. LEH and SPGS.

I'm strongly getting the impression you really don't want to send your DD to LEH, which is a shame, as its music and drama facilities are phenomenal; I'm pretty sure it's still as academically selective as it used to be, but also hot on sports.

I don't much like your description of it as a "country club" - whatever gave you that impression?

But again, I'm still getting the idea that you are really looking for reasons to send your DD elsewhere, so perhaps that's what you'd better do. :)

G&L don't really offer scholarships at all though. They don't offer any Academic Scholarships at 11+ for example, and from memory, I think the website says "we offer a music scholarship" which would seem to indicate that there may only be one available. The exam is definitely a complete red herring as G&L are in a consortium of schools which use the same paper so you actually have no expectation of what the pass rate for each school in that consortium is. In fact, a friend of mine commented that her DD had found the consortium 1 papers harder than the consortium 2 papers (which G&L use) when she sat them both this year which goes against the general belief. It's all relative and personal to the exam taker.
I recall a friend of mine informing me that her DS had found the Hampton exam much more challenging than the KCS exam. Her DS got an offer at Hampton and was rejected by KCS.

FYI academic scholars at LEH get 10% smischa...

How many music scholarships are offered at g&l? In my time of 11 plus there were around 20 but only 5 academic scholarships at leh. Music scholars receive 10% off and free music tuition but academic scholars only 5%. I think that demonstrates that they expect everyone to be of a high academic ability and that they value the contribution musicians make to enrich school life more. My daughter, not me, chose leh over spgs because of the sporting opportunities. She does every sport going. There is considerable added value to the school.
Unless things have changed dramatically, possibly, if you go for a pecking order leh was always considered a slightly more academic school choice than g&l anyway. As I said I think there is little between all these schools but your thinking that g&l must be a better school because they didn't consider your dd for a music scholarship and it is more central is just plain strange. To then consider throwing 3 changes on your daughter, who you have never once said prefers g&l and hugely so because of these reasons is rather selfish in my honest opinion. Unless she is desperate to go to g&l she will in all likelihood resent you later on for adding what could be quite unbearable journey time to her already long day for no good reason whatsoever.

Although you perceive G&L to be a better school because the entry appears more competitive time spent in complicated commuting is going to detract from what she can achieve there. By the time she gets to sixth form she may be contemplating a move anyway whether at G&L or LEH. If you / she wants to keep that option open check the conditions of the music scholarship to make sure it does n't tie her in to staying at LEH for all seven years.

I understand your agony as we have a choice too and time is running out! I have to say I agree with others though that 3 trains is far, far too much. Your DD says she doesn't mind but as a child she won't really understand the implications. I would go with LEH with the scholarship.