11+ so confused!!! Help!!

Top schools do not automatically get you into the best universities. A state school 9 is so much harder than a top school one to achieve. If she’s happy where she is she’ll get the grades and probably much less pressure.

If she's happy and motivated where she is, don't move her. She will be just as capable of getting a grade 9 in any given GCSE subject at a top 100 (but not top 50) school as she will at a top 50 school. The grade 9s she gets won't be of a lower quality. Being settled, happy and motivated at a school is 80% of the battle. The rest relies on her own work but with that foundation, she should be fine. There's no point whatsoever in destroying that secure foundation.

Step back, and let her go for it.

If you can afford for her to stay at the current school then I’d let her stay- exam results are good, she’s happy and this is her preferred option. She can also try for the available scholarships there. I wouldn’t move her from one private to another just because it’s ranked marginally better when she doesn’t want to go. If, however, you’re struggling to afford the fees and a move is a financial necessity then that’s something else entirely.

Why do you want to move her? If it is the scholarship thing, then her own school might offer her a scholarship if she stays. Top 50 vs top 100 is meaningless. You need to look at where your individual child will thrive. If you move her and she is unhappy, I can guarantee her grades will be worse. Start listening to you daughter!

First, I agree with a pp that there is no real benefit in moving from a top 100 to a top 50 school, unless there are other things offered by the new schools that your DD would value (eg better sports or music). Academically your DD can do just as well at either - they are all selective private schools and will have similar intake, ethos etc.

Second, I don’t think it will harm your DD’s prospects for a scholarship with her current school if she applies to new schools as well. If anything it may encourage a scholarship as they may feel the need to tempt her (you) to stay. Although I expect the scholarships will be offered 99% based on merit and only 1% on any strategic reasons like this. So most likely it would neither harm nor help.

If your DD is adamant she wants to stay at her current school, and there is nothing wrong with her current school (it’s just a bit less highly “ranked”) then I would go with what she wants. Why put her through a bunch of other exams for places she doesn’t want to go? I imagine she’s smart enough that she won’t try very hard for those exams anyway if they are not where she wants to be.

Oh and additional question - does she have a male sibling that you are hoping to get both dcs in the same secondary school (for sibling discount, family harmony or logistical reasons).

Can you afford her current school all the way through to 18 without a scholarship?

What’s it like pastoral wise? Are many of her friends taking 11+ for other local private schools or moving to state? Are some friends likely to leave at 13+? (It is worth having a chat with other parents.)

Many kids like the familiar. I read an article last year talking about a study that said even allowing for selection/intelligence, girls do better in single sex schools than mixed. I’d leave her where she is unless you have concerns/her friends might all leave.

Why do you think she should move?

I agree actually @BlueMoonIceCream the opening sentence makes it sound as tho @wat2dodontkno's DD is already at secondary school (GCSE results, doing well in STEM subjects) but then she would not be looking at sitting the 11+.

So I assumed we were talking about an all-through private school that selected students at age 4 or 7, and thus the OP can already look at the GCSE history of her DD's school. It’s not super clear tho.

What are the schools' progress 8 scores like? Given what you have said, I'm not convinced that the schools you are thinking of moving her to, would universally allow all children to achieve better than the school she is currently in. Presumably she is happy at school, so there's only any point moving her if you really think that she would do significantly better at the other school, like is bound to get higher GCSEs results etc. From what you have said, maybe overall the other school gets better results, but there doesn't appear to be anything to suggest that she would be unable to achieve her potential at her current school. Also school's results tend to vary a little year on year. If you move her, but then her current school or one of the other schools gets better results next year than the one you move her to, will you move her again?!

I must admit I am confused. You are saying " She currently attends a selective girls school which is among the top 100 schools in the UK for GCSE results, and she’s very happy there."and that suggests that she is in secondary school. Yet you are talking about 11+ exams.

11+ exams are taken in year 6 before kids go to secondary school

If she is already in year 7 she can only take 13+ now and her only path then are private schools. Until Six form choices of course later

I am assuming these are all private schools? What year is she in? If her current school is selective, when did it select and how?
ETA: I assumed bc of scholarships the Op was not talking about state grammar but if so then apologies. I still wouldn;t move her unless fees were or were going to be a big issue.

As long as the fees are not an issue, I would really not think about moving her; she is happy, achieving well, sounds as though the school is very good, and most of all she wants to stay there.

Are there other reasons you are thinking of moving her? Is the scholarship a draw (as in, wrt fees? tho as I understand it, scholarships offer very little in the way of fee reduction, more like the chance of extra activities like music lessons or sports coaching as appropriate). Is the journey to current school an issue?

Or is it more than you want her to move from top 100 ro top 50? Honestly (and I am speaking as a parent whose DC went to the local comprehensive, and who taught at similar) I wouldn't worry about that. Sounds as tho she will do well, and frankly a top 50 as opposed to top 100 school (whatever that actually means) is unlikely to afford her higher grades. Especially if she doesn't want to be there.

You don’t need a scholarship for an 11 plus grammar OP

it is state

How old is she?