North London Secondary Options

[NL3]

Hi,
I'm new to this site, hope you don't mind me joining in.

DS1 is currently in Y5 and we're currently "school shopping" in advance of next year's big decision.

DS is bright-ish, very articulate, quite confident, wouldn't be the best in his class but is improving as he is maturing. He is also very quick at verbal/numerical/non-verbal tests but his written english lags behind.

We want to find a school that suits him, has a good discipline record, and that will help him realise his potential.

We have looked at comps and selectives in North London and can move out further if necessary (currently N2).

My main question is how good would he have to be to gain a place at a selective school? Are we talking Level 5, or even 6? Are some easier to get into than others? Any recommendations for good comps?

All advice appreciated.
Thanks
NL

hello

My DS is in year 6 now and so are in middle of selection processes

there are several members here who live in london who can answer you better

look out for MARSLADY she has a DS in a london school atm

Having been through all this last year, I can only offer you our experience and obviously it's just an individual perspective. We went round quite a few open days at the various selective schools in N. London and always felt daunted by the numbers of parents and dss and dds going round. I couldn't see how given the small number of places at these schools my ds would ever get any offers. He was not top in his class - probably in the top 25% though - and certainly was nowhere near level 6. In fact he ended up with three level 5s. However, he got several offers at selective schools, all with good reputations. My overall feeling at the end of it all was that it wasn't as difficult as perhaps it had seemed at the beginning.

We did get a tutor who had to fill in the gaps in his knowledge, particularly in maths. His written English wasn't particularly good - in fact his handwriting and spelling is v. average - but I realised this is true of a lot of boys!

I had friends who were going down the same route but with dds, and for them it seemed much more competitive. Hope this helps...