G&L, CLSG, SHHS, Highgate? Your honest opinion is needed?

DD travelled from NW london to CLSG by tube from year 7. I wouldn't choose this option again though, with hindsight. SHHS would have been so much easier for her.
Good luck 🤞🏼

@NewMum112 just came across this thread! Are you waiting to hear on an offer from any of these schools tomorrow (Fri 12th)? Did your DD get through round one and sit for the second assessment and interview? Mine did and so waiting to hear...on tenterhooks.

I agree that in an ideal world everyone would be new in y7, I agree, though for us it was a nice to have rather than a must-have. SHHS I think has similar proportions to Highgate, for what it's worth.

One of my daughters has friends almost exclusively from the non-junior school cohort, the other almost exclusively with those from the junior school so I think it makes less difference than you'd think it would after the first half term. Of the new girls in y7, the majority are the only ones coming from their schools (there's a couple of girls preps in the areas the area that are the exception).

All that said, your DD would be doing v well to get offers from all four - if she does, she'll do fine academically wherever she goes. If she gets fewer offers, it makes your decision easier.

I have a daughter at City and she loves it. We were an exploding offer year and I didn’t really give it much thought at the time as it was our first choice school for our DD and the school was very clear to point out what that meant. I would be difficult to have exploding offers this year though if you haven’t been able to visit the schools do I do sympathise. Much is said about the building and for sure It is not the school for you if you want rolling fields, swanky facilities etc. It does however make the most of its location - Pre-Covid spontaneous trips to museums/art galleries etc. And the other facilities afforded by association with the livery companies- Guildhall etc mean you don’t feel anything is ‘missing’ from that point of view. There is plenty of sport for those who want to participate (and the girls are v successful) but also no pressure to have to play sport for those whose passions lie elsewhere - music/art/drama/science etc. Benefits as others have said is a very diverse intake from many different schools. In my DD’s year I think 75 places went to girls from maybe 45/50+ schools so with the exception of the prep girls and a couple who knew each other from smaller N London preps, everyone is starting afresh from primary. It probably wouldn’t suit a very shy girl from that point. It is not a school for a helicopter parent either - girls are expected to think and advocate for themselves as a first point. There are definitely no lines of Range Rovers waiting to collect students at the end of the day either! . I’ve only driven to collect my DD if she is ill or staying late for a performance etc. Teachers are accessible if you need them and there is a very good clinic system for the girls for extra subject help within school run by the older girls and teachers. None of my DD’s friends or my DD have tutors. I think Pre-Covid around 99% got public transport to school so yes it’s a pita to get to if you don’t know London and you do need to consider the CC cost. Girls are allocated classes in y7 according to their home location so all girls Essex/East London in one, N London in another and so on. So friendship groups are established at the start with girls most likely to live near you. They are then mixed up again in y8 and y9 so they do get to know each other pretty well. The girls also seem to know a lot of girls in their year from the other schools you are considering so if you choose one, they’ll still be in touch with old friends. City has a well organised travel buddy system to help the younger girls at the start and a pastoral buddy. The school has great pastoral care, has interesting parenting forums and parent social events at school - breakfasts etc. Homework and pressure levels are carefully monitored and no credit is given to girls who spend hours on a piece of work that 40mins was allocated for. Perfectionism is discouraged. There are lots of joint social events with the boys school and joint performances - music drama etc. Parents are v friendly and for parents and students alike, The dress code is definitely less is more. There is generally an understanding that parents do work so demands on time to be at events at all times are low. Although I am personally not sure of what direction the new head seems to be going (the girls have had some odd-choice visiting speakers such as the Duchess of York) she is very accessible and I have been impressed with the seamless transition to online schooling in the past year and I do hope parents evening will remain virtual as it was much better this year! Hope that helps and good luck with your choice.

No probs @NewMum112 - I guess another thing you can think about when making a decision is the situation before year 7. I think in a way it’s nicer if they are all new in year 7. At SHHS most girls move up from the junior school, so that’s almost half the year who will already be in friendship groups of some kind. The school do mix them up and I hear they do a good job with lots of clubs and so they get to know kids across all the classes too - but it still must be very different to City where I think there is only one class from the junior school and Highgate where there are also a larger number of new kids. Loads from the junior school too but perhaps because it’s so big you don’t notice so much. I think G&L doesn’t have a junior school which must be nice that they are all starting together.

Yes, there's a map of here where City students come from (but the forms are arranged by geographical area so they get to know some people): www.clsg.org.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=599&type=pdf

The admissions booklet says that 35% of new students are from maintained schools and 20% are on bursaries.

I did not say they were identical but academics is the predominant focus and from that viewpoint the are almost the same. They are of course differences when it comes to other things. SHHS is mostly local ish people with corresponding values/interests/profile, e.g music is really great, not just a few trophy musicians but real depth and breadth. City is easy to get to and following nlcs pushed hard in the ranking over the last few years, hence more of a destination school with the Good and the Bad that comes with it. GL seems to have picked up the baton from city in terms of rankings push and has been attracting people from beyond SW. That said as Long as I remember GL always had strong, esp. teams sports, etc...

I agree that CLSG feels more economically diverse and I liked that it had a special state school taster day. Not enough to apply as I was too put off by the exploding offers as it felt like there were two rounds to pass - the exam/interview and the fleet-footed parents finale. I found the 11+ process stressful enough as it was.

SHHS is probably less diverse but the head acknowledged this in a speech she made and in part says that it's due to its location and the fact that it's surrounded by prep schools. My younger daughter's year looks different to her older sister's - less white, different religions etc so I think they're genuinely trying to address this.

My notes were that CLSG targeted 4 forms of 25, SHHS 4 forms of 24, G&LS 5 of 22-24. I believe that Highgate has 7 forms a year, but I'm not sure as we only looked at single-sex. Of course, as PP mentioned, bulge classes can happen (except for CLSG) but I don't believe there is very much difference in form sizes among this group of schools.

Something like a third leave CLSG and SHHS at sixth form, about a fifth leave G&LS, but most of 11+ entrants will stay for A Levels in all of these schools.

That’s interesting @user149799568 - I think some changes since the three years since you looked. SHHS on their website say it is evenly mixed 50/50 between those doing science and those doing arts/humanities A levels. At 11plus though I would only be looking at GCSE results as they may want to move to a different environment at A level. Would be interested to know the Highgate split and whether girls are as likely there to do science subjects as boys.

I think all the schools mentioned are trying to improve diversity particularly in the last year. Highgate has reached out to individual parents of ‘diverse’ backgrounds to ask them what they can do. Other schools getting alumna back to talk about their experiences and see what can be learnt - but I agree I think City probably has the best diversity currently of any of these schools.

Also something to think about is how big the school is - how many forms per year and how many in a form. For example I know not mentioned here but I was surprised to discover that Habs Girls has I think around 30 kids in some forms and not much smaller than a lot of state schools. Highgate I think has around 180 per year which is also huge. So I guess the size and environment is something to consider if you get the choice.

If you have a strong preference for co-ed, then you might have a clear first choice. As for the girls schools, while I agree that all three are in the same league academically, I don't agree that they are practically identical. For example, my recollection is that when we looked at the numbers, we found that a much larger fraction of girls took STEM subjects at A Level at CLSG than at SHHS, with G&LS in between. Also, G&LS offers the IB at 6th Form which none of the other schools do.

As for non-academic issues, I very much agree that friendship groups are mostly a matter of luck. However, there are other relevant considerations. When we spoke with the girls at the open days, we came away with the impression that CLSG had the largest effective catchment area, with many girls taking the tube for an hour (or more!) from all points of the compass, whereas most girls at SHHS lived far more locally and G&LS in between. This can make a difference for how easy it is for your DD to meet up with other girls on weekends to form and sustain strong friendships.

As for "fit", our considerations included how much the schools engaged with DD's interests, and there were major differences. As an example, we came away with the impression that a girl who wanted to do a lot of sport might prefer G&LS to CLSG. G&LS just seemed to do more of it and have more teams than CLSG, besides the differences in facilities.

Finally, at the open days, it was clear that the schools had substantially different mixes of ethnic and national origins. SHHS was the most white and British and CLSG the least of each. Furthermore, while it wasn't visibly obvious, we certainly had the impression that CLSG was more economically diverse than either SHHS or G&LS, with a larger fraction of girls coming from state primaries as well as a larger fraction of girls on bursaries.

It's up to you how much you care about these various differences and, if so, which you prefer; but they do exist, or at least we thought that they did three years ago.

Yes just to add that aside from not thinking exploding offers is something you will need to worry about this year - as the others have said, just go for the closest/easiest to get to of those that offer you a place. I know parents with children at all of them and every one of them is really happy - people talk about finding the right ‘fit’ for their child. Truth is if your child is academic then any one of these schools will suit them academically as they are all strong. When it comes to friendships then it’s basically a matter of luck as to what friendship groups they get into. Any year or any class can have a child who causes problems/bullies. My understanding is that in Recent years all of these schools have improved their pastoral care and their offerings when it comes to mental health etc. So you can’t really make a bad decision if it’s between these schools. Go for the best journey. Having local friendships is a nice to have. If you end up with some wait lists you should target the school that’s easiest for you and let them know you are their most local option and that you’d be ready to pay a deposit straight away if a waiting list place comes up - hopefully you’ll have the choice on offer day - good luck

Choose Highgate as you're closer.

These are all great schools that are very similar in profile apart from Highgate which is co-Ed but very similar academically to the other 3. Personal preferences usually determine choice if you have it and them.

I can not stress enough though the importance of getting to school easily and fully independently from the get go. E.g if you are in West or South Hampstead, SHHS is a few min walk away which is a godsend. CSSG is 20min by Met line, also easy. Highgate is quite difficult as driving across could take 40min instead of 15 and public transport is poor. GL is pretty difficult too unless you commit to driving most days because the 20min train to Olympia is not for everyone and tube takes 40-45 min vs 25 driving. If you are in the village, Highgate is much easier I guess both in terms of both car and bus.

I really don’t think you need to worry. As @user149799568 says in Feb 2018 there was a big issue with exploding offers at Channing and City specifically. People lost their places at these two schools who got a lot of bad press. The schools who suffered were those who decided to honour all the offers they had made. These were Francis Holland Regents Park and South Hampstead High School who each took an extra class - FHRP had 4 instead of the usual 3 start in September 2018 and SHHS had 5 instead of their usual 4 form entry. As you can imagine all schools have learnt from this and there were not exploding offers in 2019 or 2020 - Channing were chasing people up last year two weeks after offers went out to see if they still wanted the places that they hadn’t accepted yet. SHHS, FHS, City and Highgate have all gone to waiting list even if only. by a few places in the last couple of years. So I think 2018 was a bit of a one off and I don’t think it will happen again - good luck and let us know how you get on on offers day

Exploding offers don't mean you have to accept the hour the offer is made.

At 10:00 on 9th February 2018 (the Friday before the half-term holiday), we received an email from CLSG offering DD a place. The email stated that there would be an offer holders tour on 20th February (the Tuesday after the half-term holiday). The email further stated that the school preferred for the acceptance form and deposit to be returned in person and that it would be open from 9am to 3pm Monday to Friday during the half-term week to facilitate this.

At 12:45 on 13th February (the Tuesday of the half-term week), we received an email from CLSG informing us that our offer was withdrawn. Fully three weeks before the nominal deadline and one week before the offer holders tour.

One family that we knew claimed that they had posted their acceptance form and deposit on Monday, 12th February, and had them returned because their letter arrived too late on Tuesday!

So, no, you didn't have to accept the hour the offer was made. In 2018, you had almost one and a half working days as long as you went to the school in person.

CLSG received a great deal of bad press that year and I know that at least one parent in 2019 took great pleasure in informing the school that they were declining their place because, as they had the luxury of a choice, they preferred a school which honored its promises (I know, I know, the school did make clear that they would withdraw offers once they had enough acceptances). CLSG subsequently stopped over-offering by such an enormous margin and started using their wait list again.

I'm not saying that something similar will happen this year. However, I know that something similar could happen this year, so I agree with OP that it's best to be ready to make a decision quickly.

Pretty certain that City no longer has exploding offers. Lots of students from NW London, nearly all of them get there by tube.

Almost all the girls at City travel by tube. I did when I was a pupil and at that point even most of the Preps did from the age of 7.

Exploding offers don't mean you have to accept the hour the offer is made. Talk to the schools who can advise. You sound excessively panicky. If you are concerned call and speak to the admissions staff.

In general I'm assuming that when you applied to the schools you did so having got a bit of a sense of each of them even if you couldn't visit in person. What does your daughter think? Is she at a prep school who can advise?

Without knowing your daughter no one can really make a recommendation - let alone how you prioritise co-ed v single sex, whether it's all about the academics or whether sport, outside space or music are priorities. Is she happy with a commute? How much would it bother her if her friends were spread over a wide area?

I know three of these schools pretty well. They are all great but right now you haven't even got an offer from any of them so my advice is wait and see what happens and take it from there.

I cannot stress this enough - you can't drive your secondary school aged child to school in London. It's just not a thing.

There are lots of reasons. Firstly the traffic. If you're in, say, West Hampstead (no idea if this is true) and you drive to City and back twice a day you're looking at 3.5 hours a day.

Then, the cost. Do you want to pay the congestion charge for City? For the others, you'll have to pay parking.

Car use direction of travel. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are sprouting up everywhere. The streets around schools are being closed to traffic at certain times - this is definitely true of SHHS, wouldn't be surprised about the others. The congestion charge zone might well expand.

Most importantly, your child won't want you to. They'll feel like an infant. I wish my children could walk to school but given that they don't, I'm glad that they have a relatively easy (5 minute walk, 12 overground, 5 minute walk) with loads of other kids. Honestly I can't think of a single child at my kids' two North London private schools who is driven. One had a driver at the beginning (super rich) but now goes by tube.

Have you contacted City and Highgate to ask about exploding offers? You won't be written off as an annoying parent, just say you love the school and want to know how quickly you need to act should you be so lucky as to be offered a place for your daughter.

Given what you say about where you live, I think SHHS or Highgate would be a no brainer. It's not like the other two aren't great schools, they're just not great enough to merit the extra travel. At this level they're all more than fine.

I also give a lot of credit to schools that don't do exploding offers so depending on the response you get, that would sway my decision. It's so rude, given that you're going to paying shedloads.