North London secondary schools

[ScorpioMum]

I can't think straight. My husband passed away and I need to relocate back to London. I can't commute; I have to take my son out of the school he loves. We are going back to North London; my son will start Y9. Exams for all academically selective schools are over; I am not sure that he would have passed them anyway. He is very bright and academic but he is not very focused. I need to find a good academic school, either private or state, and co-ed. I don't know where to start. Please help!!!

I'm so sorry for your loss. Can you narrow down the area a bit? Catchment areas for good secondaries tend to be small so it really depends where in N London you're heading.
The good news is that there are lots of great schools in London so you've got a good chance of finding somewhere really good.

Hi- I live in LB Haringey and know loads about the schools here as have just been though the process of choosing one for my son. Where were you thinking of moving to exactly?

Thank you for your kind words. We are in N6, HIghgate.

Sorry for your loss.

It depends what you are looking for. Highgate wood (state comprehensive ) has a good reputation and is local, as is Highgate school, which is private. They may have an occasional vacancy.

Further afield, North bridge house canonbury is private but non selective if you are worried that your child would not get into a selective school. State selective schools (Latymer and QE boys- all boys) are unlikely to have any vacancies, but you could enquire.

Sorry to hear tbis OP. At Y9 it will be down to whether school has a spare place so it's worth checking lots of them.
Look at APS, SMMA and don't discount the state selective, they may have places available if he can meet their standards.
Privates you can look at Mill Hill and Northbridge Hampstead, both may have Y9 places available.

Highgate school, university college school in Hampstead…

I was impressed with Highgate Wood. However, it may be a matter of where there is a place if you are looking at state as other have said. Grieg City is more Hornsey way but often undersubscribed and does Mandarin, sailing, robotics, coding and has it own bee hives. Seemed to take learning seriously. If you are going for state I would ring Haringey, Islington, Barnet and Camden and see where they have in year spaces. If you post back here where there are vacancies in Haringey as I have seen them all nearly.

Barbadosgirl, thank you so much. I am thinking of moving in July, aiming to start a new school in Septemebr, so are you saying I need to check availabilities closer to the date, and not now?

I don’t know the process very well for in year moves so others may have pearls of wisdom. I would not have through there would be any harm checking now- they might also have an idea how fluid the situation is I.e. whether it will be very different now than July (and if there is anything you will be able to achieve over the summer hols). If they think they roughly know where is likely to have places you can at least start some research. What a stressful and heartbreaking situation. I do hope it works out for you.

Do I need to put my school preferences on the applicaiton form? In which case it feels like catch-22 situation. I can't check out schools from Kent, I am now a single working mum, I have no one to leave my son with to go to Open mornings.

Do you already have your home in N6?

The LA are highly unlikely to offer you a place until you are in residence / can show you have the address / are paying council tax. And would usually expect you to accept the place within 2 weeks.

The population of London is quite mobile and people often move over the summer school holidays. But might not decline the school place until the start of the new term. So you could end up not knowing about a state place until September. But being in residence in July, ready to apply for places that are already vacant or as people move out is a good tactic.

So sorry for your loss and need to take on such big changes.

I have a house in N6. Can I apply to other councils rather than Harringey such as Westminster for example?

If you can go private there are lots of options - UCS, as someone else mentioned. Highgate. Get ahold of the Good Schools Guide and read up on options.

Then there are lots of good *state options for girls, but in terms of coed that aren't grammar, Alexandra Park Secondary in Muswell Hill is considered the best.

So I was out of the country with my DC and needed to come back to UK and the council wouldn't process my request for DC school places until I was actually back. This drove me down the private route (as mentioned a couple of the less famous privates will be more accommodating and don't have long wait lists) as I needed to know around April time where my DC would be going to school in September.
This wasn't possible with state as given it was not a transition year for my DC ie reception or Y7, most of the secondary schools didn't even know what spaces they'd have the following September. Setting aside they would not be able to guarantee a place until I was back in the country/borough.
I think you will be fine in terms of state schools, north London churn will mean almost certainly one of the schools mentioned will have a Y9 place available over the summer. But if you can't cope with that level of uncertainty then private is the way to go and I'd just call a few of them and see where you can get a place

If you're going private you can. For state schools, catchment area is usually quite tight so not much point in looking out of borough. At 6th form you can apply further afield.
For state schools, Highgate Wood has a good reputation. You might also be in catchment for places like Parliament Hill and William Ellis, depending on where your house is.

Thank you all! I really appreciate your help.

Yes, you can apply to a school anywhere.

But they will keep their waiting lists in the order that applicants meet their admissions criteria. But far fewer people are looking for ‘in year’ admissions.

The LA you live in has to find you a school place somewhere… but of course it might not be your favoured choice.

OP, a lot of the schools mentioned (UCS, William Ellis - are boys schools, unless that has changed recently, in which case still likely mostly boys). Nothing wrong with that, but you said it's not what you are looking for.

You can apply to any borough, but spaces are usually allocated based on distance to the school. To bear in mind Haringey usually close their waiting lists over the summer and don't reopen till mid September. So you may not have a school place at all for a few weeks into term. You cannot apply from an address until you have proof that you live there. The first thing the council checks is who is on the council tax, and then you need other proofs of address eg utility bills

Beacon High, close to Camden/Islington border

This school has a very poor reputation, as wells poor exam results, and is very undersubscribed as a result. It likely won't be what the OP is looking for.

Sorry for your loss. We live in N6 and made an in year application to Highgate Wood School when DS was in year 8 (moving from a school that wasn't right for him). It has been a great experience for him, he found good friends and had decent teachers, and we are very glad he went there. It took about 3 months for the place to come through for him so do make your application as soon as you can. If you'd like to ask more about the school please feel free to message me directly.

Highgate Wood is (from personal experience) a good school. Depending on where you live, you could also consider Fortismere in N10 - also good? APS is too far from N6 to be realistic (small catchment, nearer Bounds Green). I can imagine it might be good for your son to have a short commute and build local friendships. I don’t know the private school sector very well so no insight there. Very sorry for your loss.

The Archer Academy, Fortismere or Highgate Wood.