Lady Eleanor Holles (LEH) and Headington School Oxford

Any tips on leh interviews pls? My dd is going for one next Tues

People are moving children to state at 16 because of this

@DorotheaDiamond , 100% agree, I heard informally that Tiffin Boys got 37 Oxbridge offers this year. Surbiton High have 7, amazing if they have exceeded LEH.

I will say not to put too much stress on Oxbridge - all privates are seeing huge drops in numbers. If you think that’s on your radar go to a state school and use school fees for tutoring.

Grapevine says LEH has 6 Oxbridge offers this year…

• SW London schools

@tinywhisters we didn’t need to have a private tutor . On the whole the teaching was very good in our experience . Inevitability we had a few teachers who were not as good as others or where the teaching style didn’t suit but on balance it wasn’t an issue. Most of the girls are pretty self motivated & would probably look something up or ask for help . But I don’t want to give the impression that tutoring doesn’t happen since it almost certainly does but I suspect it happens at many SW Kondon schools !

We found the 6th form great - very supportive for UCAS/ careers but in a way that made the girls own their decisions and applications which I think is very important . Our DD is at Oxbridge and got 4 A* at A level but I really would not use absolute numbers of Oxbridge places as a comparison for the following reasons :

• London girls school like LEH lose a number of very able girls who want a co Ed experience to schools like Westminster & Kings College many of whom would have been ( and indeed are) successful Oxbridge candidates - as a result the LEH sixth form is much smaller than many sixth forms so an absolute numbers comparison is unhelpful if another school doesn’t have this movement .About 10% got Oxbridge places last year which was much lower than “normal” but this was a trend seen across the indies as Oxbridge seeks to inc state school %. Last year ( and I guess this year ) there was a contextualised admission process because of assessed GCSE grades/ few indie candidates fished out of the pools who in past might have been etc . So girls who might have in past got places / interviews didn’t .
• a number girls got onto very competitive courses like medicine and vet med - just as tough to crack as Oxbridge - and many ended up at unis like Imperial , UCL , LSE , Durham, st Andrews etc so all great outcomes . Indeed last year A level results were pretty much one of the best so a focus on Oxbridge is not the full story .

It was my daughters sixth form teachers who very much encouraged the Oxbridge route for her - it wasn’t a particularly early aspiration ( she was wait listed at 11+ and never an academic scholar so fair to say not on our radar ) . They recognised her intellectual curiosity & genuine passion for the subject and there were many opportunities to exploit it . And really that’s the thing - she exploited those opportunities. For me the biggest thing LEH gave my DD was the confidence to give everything a go without a fear for the outcome . And most importantly she loved it . I realise not everyones experiences will have been the same but for her it was a very good fit.

My daughter left LEH last year & is now at uni. She was really happy there & we were really happy as parents too . She was given so many opportunities to extend herself and try new things - for her the LEH approach really worked . I’m not sure who the new Head is but I hope that many aspects of Mrs Hanbury’s legacy endure. She wasn’t universally popular but we thought she was brilliant . We very nearly didn’t apply to LEH because we didn’t like the ethos under the previous head, but I’m glad we did. I don’t know Headington at all but both schools have lovely campus .

DD is in year 9, so your DD will be joining her year group.

We are very happy at LEH and cannot find any particular cons. LEH offers great range of extracurricular activities including lots of lunch time/after school clubs and most of girls find their favourite activities and enjoy them. Girls are highly motivated and self independent.

LEH parent here. I cannot say about the support for Year 10 joiner because it is not their main intake and probably just one or even no girl join at that point. I highly recommend you to ask LEH directly once your DD got an offer.

Headington is a bording school. They obviously take day girls, but would you like your dd to board/could afford it if she wanted to? For financial reasons we were quite clear that we would only consider the day option but the head told us that almost all girls wanted to flexi board to have a lie-in in the morning and we got the impression that they were really pushing it. We moved away and dd is now a day pupil at a different boarding school and again we find that the school is pushing for her to weekly board by advertising to her how much fun it is and how much more convenient. I don't mind her boarding, but it is significantly more money, and we find ourselves in a position where dd is constantly nagging us and claiming that she is losing out as all her friends are boarding.

@tinywhisters , no I'm at Hampton school parent with a ds who uses the coach network and I work in education (but not as a teacher).

Yes LEH is getting a new head of the senior school in Sept. Yes once you get the offers you need to talk through GCSE selection, many of the curriculums like Geography are taught from Year 9.