Camden Secondary School Admissions distances 2019

I'm interested in the comments earlier in this thread about how representative the banding at CSG actually is. Although they do state on their website that there is no point in taking the test unless you live within the existing catchment, they don't actually prevent people taking the exam who do live well out of the catchment. Some of the prep schools like Sarum Hall, encourage all the girls there to take the CSG exam as practise because it's before the 11plus exams of the independents. None of them have any intention of taking a place there and mostly aren't in the catchment anyway. I'm not quite sure how this sways things but assuming that as they've been prepped these girls will do better in the test and the fact that they live further away is what will make the catchment for band A a bit wider? Perhaps they should put a distance criteria on those taking the exam, unless they are also going for a music place, for which you can be out of catchment.

I am really not expecting that call until September if ever!

To answer your question dee73 I swore to myself I wouldn't bother Camden more than fortnightly but so far I've totally failed to hold to that and have ended up speaking to them once a week . Not particularly proud of that as they have enough on their plates already.

I think council admissions teams are just really busy at this time of year so if they sound annoyed it's probably because yours is the nth call they've had that day from a stressed-out parent. And let's not forget they're working on primary admissions at the same time, those offers will go out in a couple of weeks, and then they'll have a load more parents to deal with as well. They must be heartily sick of the lot of us!

How often do you ask wait list position everyone. My council sounds annoyed when I call and ask

Don't worry not the same as yours!

It is grim! I really wonder which one you are holding out for! Nosey I know!

I caved and called the admissions office. Second round offers have gone out, and DD has gone a few places back up the waiting list as a result (having only gone down since offer day). Still in (low) 100s though so not exactly holding my breath!

Chinks will do!

Daren't find out where we are on list. I know it will be in 100s. Feeling miserable because it seems like most others are satisfied with what they have. Hoping something will crop up. Send any chunks of light!

Thanks BHS. Ugh. I knew it would be a very, very long game but all the same it's a tough one!

Has anyone heard if second round offers have gone out yet from Camden? Too depressed by DD's waiting list placing (which goes the wrong way every time I ask) to call the admissions office again...

I have to be honest @JC4PMPLZ I didn't look at Haverstock as it's a pain of a journey from us, but people I know who did, or who already have kids there, were/are very positive about it. I do know from a friend who's very involved in the school they are trying extremely hard to turn it around. In your position I'd definitely go and look. Haven't heard about the music thing but will ask around

If it's anything like our borough, where many go private and so waiting lists move a lot, the Sept 1st distances will be more useful than the March 1st distances. You might need to put in an FOI request for them though, as they're not usually published.

I see Haverstock are offering modern music scholarship for THIS year. Clearly a way to try and fill up empty places and to create a buzz. I am a bit tempted to put DS forward, given how unhappy we are with our offer. @Zinnia I think you reckon it may be on a turnaround from its Requires Improvement. Anyone got any thoughts? I like that corner of town!

There's an interesting discussion on another thread about banding tests; they don't in themselves predicate a more able cohort, but in practice the more barriers to entry you put up around these schools, the more socially selective they become. St Marylebone & Grey Coats have a similar entry system (+selective places + church, of course) and a similarly vanishingly tiny number of low prior attainers.

Personally I think it's iniquitous that the ability range is not benchmarked against that if the area as a whole rather than just those who apply. That leads to very able girls, as you say Patience, being classed in "B" or "C" bands. To be fair to CSG their progress figures are superb, but - not to take away due credit from the teachers, who must be very good at their jobs - it must be considerably easier to teach an able cohort.

Ha BHStowel I know exactly what you mean re. Camden Girls' bands. The untutored/less tutored top table girls in their school were B and C bands. They are no way second or third quarter academically in the country. And they all the girls that took the test were v v middle class. One not-so-middle-class girl who lived right in catchment didn't even bother with it in favour of Holloway.

I think it's very self selecting and obviously high achieving. And it works for them - if you look at those taking GSCEs last year on www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/100054/the-camden-school-for-girls and their prior attainment (at ks2) it's 66 high achievers, 33 middle attainers and precisely zero low attainers. Hmmm very reflective of area/society as a whole.

@PatienceVirtue it's really striking from that radius thing they have on the CSG website when Camden (Borough) started cracking down on address fraud!

I wonder if Camden would give out last distance offered as of - say - 1st September or even 1st October 2018 for Y7 entries? Worth asking perhaps.

@Vinorosso74 to be fair the equal preference system mitigates against putting your local comp first choice; many people will put a whole wishlist of schools in places 1-5 on the form, on the basis that the one they will actually be allocated on 1st March will be the local (and that's the sensible ones who do actually put a banker option down!). Putting the dead cert in first place makes it essentially meaningless to list any other schools at all. Which is one reason why the first preference/offer stats for London are as low as they are, so many people are hedging their bets.

Yes I agree the actually admitted distances would be very helpful. You don't want to waste a space on the form if there's no chance but don't want to miss a school off if there is a chance of a space albeit after allocation day.
Our nearest secondary is undersubscribed and results are crap but from talking to parents those who visited liked it; that said none put it as their first choice.

I can help with one aspect of that - last year I think that the Band A for CSG stopped roughly at 0.8 miles and ended up offering to 1.2 miles. Or something like that according to my rough calculations and juggling my poor abilities with imperial measurements.

In other words the final distance offered is 50% more than the original one. It might be that Band A is more likely to have people turning it down due to going private or waiting for grammar places.

My knowledge of Camden Girls is that they live all over the place, really nowhere near the cutoffs you'd expect. Partly historical renting/cheating, also the fact that sibling places operate for sisters of those in the Sixth Form, also musical aptitude.

yes, I agree - would love to know the actual distances in the shakedown. I guess that is for ever moving though - given in-year transitions, which I am already looking into. Ho hum.

The distances do fluctuate year to year as these historic figures show - and (as has been much discussed on this forum) the birth rate variations play a part obviously, as do schools' reputations, Ofsteds etc etc.

The really interesting figures would be the last distance actually admitted for each year (as opposed to the offers on 1st March) as that seems more relevant to me. Also find the London Schools Atlas useful as that maps where pupils live (though the data is a couple of years behind, so as with all these things serves only as a rough guide).

Yikes! Those cut offs have shrunk-here's hoping they grow again in a couple of years. We live in a neighbouring borough to Camden but had hoped on a chance with at least a couple of those schools. CSG always being unlikely.