Habs girls Vs nlcs

I guess my point being that having a string of Grade 9s at GCSE is no guarantee of an Oxbridge place and you can “afford” to have a few 7s and 8s in there. This is, indeed, even stated on the Oxford University website. So what does it really matter in terms of the % points above? Having a happy daughter in a school she loves should be priority.

We all know that Oxbridge are trying to level the playing field and actually these days simply getting 3 A* isn’t enough. You need to prove yourself at interview (which is probably why SPGS does so well - they really are individual free thinkers) and have a great personal statement too. I think the Oxbridge stats are actually a good indication of the way girls at these schools are taught and show perhaps rote learning vs independent thought?

Yes. It’s usually in the mix location wise if you are also considering Habs / NLCS from Herts.

St Albans as in STAHS?

Interestingly, the number of Oxbridge offers changes the “rankings” of these schools.

SHHS - 11
City Girls - 12
Habs - 13
St Albans - 17
NLCS - 21
Wycombe Abbey - 24
SPGS - 37!!!!!!

Habs 9-8 80%
NLCS 9-8 94%
CLSG 9-8 92%
HBS 9-8 94%
all the schools have very good results. But i think the person above was just clarifying that the Habs results aren’t as high as the others.
Habs 9 54%
NLCS 9 80%
CLSG 9 they don’t publish
HBS 9 75%

i am sure there are lots of happy
girls and parents at all the above schools

I don’t believe NLCS supports the Tier 4 application process so it’s hard to understand what you mean as “international” and question your statistic.

Many girls at Habs come from Indian and Pakistani backgrounds and do not speak English at home. This is bound to have a knock on impact on English Language results. It does at my DDs boarding school with a large Chinese contingent (who get sixty billion GCSEs at grade 9 but fail to get the top marks in Eng Lang).

I do object to the Habs bashing though. My DD didn’t get an offer from Habs but did from NLCS. We actually preferred Habs as it felt more rounded and not just about exam results. NLCS felt a bit cold and overly competitive in comparison and we turned it down. Everyone told us we were mad, but we just knew our DD wouldn’t be happy there. You can’t get that feeling from simply comparing exam results.

Look at the 2002 9-7 GCSE pass rates:

St Albans - 90%
Habs - 92%
SHHS - 94%
Wycombe Abbey - 97%
NLCS - 98%
CLSG - 99%
St Paul’s - 99%

I would be immensely happy for my children to attend any of these schools if academic results were my only criteria. It matters not one bit that any of them might get an extra couple of percentage points higher in these statistics. What does matter is she is extremely happy. To describe Habs as somehow second rate I just find laughable and I have no connection with the school at all - as per the above DD was rejected 😂😂😂

@BookwormButNoTime both schools have a very healthy mix of parentage as does HBS, the English results at Habs aren’t great in comparison and the other two schools have a much higher percentage of grade 9s.

Not an NLCS parent here I hasten to add- in similar position to OP

20% of NLCS’s cohort are international students- so unless they are all first language English speakers, I’m not sure that is it.

perhapsLAter- well done to your DD. Maybe the more worrying thing is all the negativity on this forum and elsewhere about Habs Girls. Can any currents parents share their views?

A huge number of girls at Habs have English as a second or third language. It’s all about context.

Hi, all 2022 gcse exams were sat as normal and marked externally, the results are found on the schools websites.
The previous years A level results, that you refer to, for internally marked papers were checked again this year and all up held.

Does that take into account the Covid "uplift"?

It depends how academic a child is. If your daughter was offered HB and NLCS, she clearly is. There’s a significant difference in grade 9 attainment at NLCS to Habs, have a look at the results. English in particular at Habs is low for grade 9, I think it would depend on your child’s ability.
just from memory, I think Habs is 54% 9 and NLCS is 80%.

@parietal I’ve never heard Habs Girls as being described as “second tier” before 😂😂😂.

@perhapsLAter Ignore parietal’s comments above. Both are exceptional schools for very bright girls. They do have a different feel though. NLCS probably feels slightly more academically focussed but the differences in academic results are arbitrary.

I would highly recommend visiting both schools in person (if you haven’t already been) and going on gut reaction. Where does your daughter feel most at home and fit in?

NLCS is significantly more competitive and academic. Habs is fine but probably second tier.

NLCS has the option of IB (international Baccalaureate) instead of A level which is good.