Anyone with experience of Eton waiting list?

[JeffVadar]

If your DS went to Eton from the waiting list, how soon before he started did you hear that he had got a place?

I am expecting to hear during the summer term before he would be due to go, but did anyone hear earlier than that?

Thx

I went to Rugby.

Ask your current school. If they are used to dealing with Eton they will know the process.

Thanks Rocky. I have discussed this with them (at some length) and am expecting it to be a fairly last minute thing.

I was just wondering if anyone had personal experience.

Some of DS's friends are going to Eton this year but sadly cannot remember what the process was. What about calling Eton and asking them. Wont he have to take the CE and pass before he gets a definite place or I am wondering if he is actually on the 'Waiting List' for this year and you need some boys to drop out at the last minute. It is very very late in the day to start offering places for this year tbh. We had a situation like this with Harrow. DS on the Harrow Waiting List where apparently there are only 15 boys. We were warned we might hear at the VERY last moment (we havent!) and he is already sorted.

Just remember that if you get a last minute place you are very likely to have to pay the school fees for the school he was going to before he started at Eton.

Sorry, not sure if I have made my self clear!

Dont worry about calling Eton, they would fully expect you to be enquiring now... I wanted to ring the school DS is going to to get the CE results before they came out. I was convinced 'someone' in the school would know. Another Mum persauded me to just wait a couple more days and all would be revealed....

He is actually on the list for 2012 entry, so I am being very premature. And, yes he would certaily have to pass CE before going. I think that things don't really start moving until people start winning scholarships to other schools.

Eton did say that although there is no order on the waiting you would be given a clue if they thought your DS had a better than average chance of getting a place. They were very complementary about DS, and said they 'hope to see him here in due course'. I'm not sure if that is such a hint, or just politeness.

I did hear about some parents who were unpacking their DSs stuff at his new school when they got a call from Eton to say he had got a place, and they packed up straight away and headed off. I must admit I was a bit at that, although I'm sure their DS was happy too.

Harrow told us we might hear as late as July or August. CE is not the issue here. Good prep schools would not recommend schools that their pupils had no chance of getting into. However, you definitely need a back up plan. If you are in the South East there are tons of fab schools, Harrow (although late to apply) Charterhouse (again late as their list is closed approx 3 years in advance), Radley (one of the only schools still taking children onto their list from birth!). Are you able to share the school that has accepted him? Happy to share my knowledge.

I would say be careful about managing your son's expectations on this. To have a school accept him, get the uniform, choose a house, meet some other new joiners and then SUDDENLY say that is all cancelled and he is going somewhere else will be difficult for 1 13 year old to accept IMHO

Thanks again Rocky!

We do have a back up, he is down for Sherborne (we are in the South West). DS is very happy about that and several of his friends are also going there - in fact he says he prefers it to Eton!

If it was just down to me I think that I would forget Eton now, as like you I don't really like the idea of such a late change in plans; but DH points out that we have nothing to lose by hanging on.

It's quite possible that we won't have to make the decision as we may never hear from Eton again! If we do get a place at the last minute then the ultimate decision must be DSs. The worst outcome would be for him to be at one school and wishing he was at another!

I do know how you are feeling, you just want to know one way or the other. Your DH is right, you have nothing to lose, however what if you did get a last minute place, what would you really do? Imagine it is Aug and Eton call and say there is a place, your DS has said he prefers Sherborne....

Actually I found that things sort themselves out. Harrow and Eton as you are aware are full boarding schools. Boys come back once every 3 weeks or so and that is not for everyone.

Whilst I dont really want to reveal which school DS is actually going to we are delighted with our choice. They are all excellent schools around here, think they would be run out of town if they werent bearing in mind the fees!

Really it came down to choice for us do we want full boarding, co-ed, weekly boarding, a school that is largely day with some boarders etc etc.

The more we see the school the better it looks, we have met the boys that are starting in Sept, the housemaster (obviously!) and really feel part of the momentum. Eton is not for everyone, DS has a friend who has won a Kings Scholar place, his parents were given a full scholarship three years ago to prepare their son for entry. They have 100% of the fees paid, plus uniform, furniture (dont ask!!), however this boy has stress problems, he often storms out of class and gets frustated and angry, his parents are as proud as anything but the boy has a haunted look in his eyes. If I am really honest although my son has done boarding before I think that weekly boarding gives you the best of both worlds but then perhaps I would say that!

You are right, I think we will have to set ourselves a cut off date. OUr (very good) head says we will get some feedback from Eton during the final year though. I will just have to forget all about in the meantime (it would help if MIL didn't ask about it every time we meet .

How does it work then, getting a place a Eton? Is there not just one route in, ivolving some kind of test?

Sorry - no experience. Just v. nosey

I have nothing helpful to say but how can you be on a waiting list if you still have to sit the entrance exams? how does it work?

If your son prefers Sherborne then why not forget Eton and have the decision over and done with. You say the final decision would be up to DS anyway and it sounds like he's already made it!

Soup - Eton have their own assessment when the boys are 11. You are either offered a place, put on the waiting list or rejected. If and when boys who have places drop out, boys from the waiting list are offered places.

Everyone who has been offered a place then has to pass Common Entrance at age 13.

minipie - ATM he likes Sherborne, but he might change his mind if he was offered a place at Eton in 2 years time. In fact, now I think about it he changes his mind with tedious regularity - even about what he wants in his sandwich! We might as well keep the option open for him.

I really just posted because I know there are a few Eton parents on MN and I was wondering if any of them had been through this process and was interested how it had been for them.

one of my old uni friends teaches at sherborne - has lots of very good things to say about it, and my dcousin went there and loved it so i'm sure your ds will be very happy there if that is where he ends up

Thanks Loshad! That's interesting to hear.
TBH Sherborne is really our first choice with Eton being a bit of a flyer really. It's a very good fit for DS and quite a few boys from his school go there. It's also much nearer to home and keeps up the West Country links.

Hi, sorry to hijack the thread but I want to apply for a scholarship place for DS for entry in 2016. Should I apply now?

JeffVadar, my nephew is about to start his second year at Sherborne and he's had a fantastic time there! He got accepted to Eton but still chose Sherborne and hasn't regretted it once. His parents weren't very happy about the decision at the time but now they know they did the right thing by letting him decide.

Thanks jennyee, I'm glad your nephew is having a great time. I was very impressed by Sherborne when I went to visit it, it has a really great atmosphere.

I think I would be a bit disappointed if he was offered a place at Eton and rejected it (and DH even more than me), but he is he is a very thoughtful boy and I know that he woud make the decision that is best for him, and we have to accept it.

Forever - don't really know about scholarships I'm afraid, but all the info you need should be here. Good luck to your DS .

Forever - do you mean a scholarship or a busary. When I first got onto the private school roundabout I didnt know the difference. Scholarships dont give great discounts tbh, however busaries do providing you meet the criteria re earnings. I have heard (someone please correct me if I am wrong) that earnings much over £40k per year will make you ineligble for one. One of DS's friends won a full scholarship to Eton (uniform etc) but his parents live in a council house and his mother doesnt work so I think you have to be a genius (with low income parents) to really have a chance tbh...

A couple of people I know have been on wait lists for schools with comparable entrance procedures to Eton.

Essentially it seems that in Yr 6 or early year 7 you are offered either a place conditional on getting around 70% in Common Entrance or a wait list place.

The first real movement happens at the stage when parents have to pay deposits. This can vary from school to school so there may be a trickle from Christmas in Yr 7 to Christmas in Yr 8. Another real movement may happen when a terms fees become payable, but some (presumably rich) people wont decide until after CE - and some boys may fail to do sufficiently well to secure their conditional place.

One reason for parental indecisiveness is that in Yr 6 their child genuinely does not know whether they want to board or not. By 13 they will have different ideas, so parents may hold onto places both for London day schools and boarding. CE is taken quite late in the summer term and so some parents may feel the need to keep two places, one as an insurance policy.

Demand seems to vary from year to year, at least in London. A few years back St Pauls infamously let a number of boys down in June despite the fact they had conditional places. because they had got their numbers wrong. Kings Wimbledon seems to be the school of the moment, and as a result their wait list is understood to be moving much slower than St Pauls.

Keep talking to both schools. If Eton think they will be able to offer a place they will want to encourage you. Similarly boys change a lot in those 2 years (my son suddenly "got" English much to our relief sometime during Yr 7) and the prep should be telling you whether your son would make Eton CE requirements comfortably or whether you would be best focusing your interest elsewhere. And depending on the extent the Prep is a regular feeder for Eton both schools will be talking to each other.

So it depends on where you sit on the wait list, how great the demand is that year, and how your child is progressing. You could still be in with a chance late in the term before a child starts. I think it would be worth talking to Eton and letting them know when you will need to make up your mind.

Being on any wait list is frustrating and the OP question seems reasonable. And I cant see what was unreasonable about my response.

I only know two families who were offered Eton wait list places, however know others on similar wait lists for other CE schools, including one family who finally got a place for their much preferred school two days before having to make a substantial payment to their second choice school. The advice from the preferred school had been that there would be movement right up to the end of the summer term before entry. Amazing in that this implies that some people will be shelling out not only 2 deposits, but two sets of very expensive fees, simply to retain a choice or an insurance policy.

Needmoresleep, I cannot see what is unreasonable about your answer either unless we have a lurker around who hates private schools (especially Eton and such like)!

We had a Harrow waiting list place, we wouldnt take it now even if offered as we are very happy with our choice of school. I agree as well, if you cancel your current school at this late stage you are then liable for TWO sets of school fees for the first term. I guess if you are rolling in money it doesnt matter but lots of parents of DS's friends are nothing like this even though his current year are going to all the top private schools in the country so I guess times are changing.

Presumably your ds is about to enter Year 7. Do Eton not pretest in Year 6 then offer on condition of CE/Scholarship exam results in Year 8 ? Not sure of Waiting List entries are included in that system or not.