Is this the year to be ambitious with applications?

[tachetastic]

I was at a parent/teacher event yesterday when I picked DS up from his boarding prep for half term, and I mentioned senior school options as a bit of an aside, as I think we are already settled in our first choice school. What I found interesting was that two of the teachers commented that, following the VAT announcement, this is not a bad year to be applying to schools. One suggested that this might be a year to aim high, as schools are likely to be open to a broader range of applicants; the other's comment was more that we could simply be comfortable that DS's current first choice is safer than it might otherwise be because of the impact of VAT.

I hadn't thought about this before and apologies if this has been discussed to death, but is this the year that we all apply for aspirational schools in the hope that the competition will be lower due to the fee hike?

I'm not sure this is a good idea, as I am not convinced kids will thrive in an environment where they only got in due to money if that also means they are bottom set in everything, but I would be interested in being challenged on that.

Not sure if this should be on the Boarding School forum or the Private School forum, but as my kids board, here we are.

I'd heard that argument... but I also gather that this year was a bumper one for 4+ applications (obviously not boarding!!), even though it's a lower birth year as well.

Plenty of people still have money, and plenty of them still have clever kids, I guess!

If by ambitious, you mean a more academic school, I think it depends on your DC, because as you say, some DC will hate being in an environment where they're clearly bumping along the bottom and may lose confidence/ give up, whereas others may benefit from a more challenging peer group, especially if they're a bit lazy but also don't like getting told off (my DS's headmaster advised me to "send him to the most academic school that will have him" for this reason and to be fair, it's worked). What I would say is that prep schools may have one eye on their "leavers destination list" both in absolute terms and relative to competitor schools so while they're right to highlight the fact that stretch applications may now be less of s stretch, if you think your current choice is the right one for your DS I wouldn't necessarily switch target based on another school being more academic, as there are likely to be other factors that influenced your choice.

There might be kids who are currently near misses for very academic schools, who find themselves the right side of the line this year. But, @tachetastic I remember from other threads that you weren't confident your DS would secure his place at your first choice school, and were looking for good back up plans. I should think there might be grounds to relax a bit, with the pressure off somewhat for the school you really wanted. But if you are otherwise sure it's a good fit, I'd be wary of unsettling him by chasing more selective schools which (kindly) were not on the cards before the VAT shock (and too late for the big four in any case).

Thanks @FairlyFarleigh and @LaPalmaLlama. To be honest, for our situation, I am hoping the VAT addition makes our first choice school more likely to be open minded in terms of offers, rather than changing that choice.

That said, I have struggled to find a plan B school that I would be happy with, and this may mean we go for a plan B that is closer to a second plan A school, in the hopes of getting an offer from one.

I have no idea what I will talk about to other parents once DS is in Year 8 and beyond. School choice has been the only conversation by the touchline for a year now. 😆

Our personal experience is that senior schools are very much bums on seats and it's a buyers market. If you child is above average and you have the money you can get in anywhere outside of London.
I asked our prep school where we could apply to for our son and the answer came back 'anywhere we liked would be happy to take him'.
Sadly we don't have the money.

Hi,
Has anyone heard what impact VAT has had on school applications? I have heard that the girl schools (e.g. Wycombe Abbey, Benenden, St Mary's Calne, Tudor Hall, Heathfield, etc.) have been impacted, particularly at Year 7. But I do not know if this is actually true...

I don't think it has any impact at all on the top girls schools. Wycombe for example takes only 85 ish girls a year in year 7. They have no problem filling that. All the school are also recruiting abroad. There had been a few independent school shows in the Middle East and Far East recently to attract foreign students too. Whilst some schools try to maintain a high level of local students, some are willing to increase their foreign student ratio. There are plenty of demand from the Far East, where money is not problem.