If you live in Tunbridge Wells and your DS applied for any of the grammar schools and didn't get in...

[SweetDCofMine]

... what did you do if:

a. you cannot afford private?
b. you are not religious?

I would see if your DS's 11plus score could get him into another Kent grammar and then check out the travel involved. I think he could use the Kent Freedom pass to keep travel costs down.

I forgot to ask if you have appealed.

Hi sue52, thank you for replying. I am not in that situation at all, well, not yet. We are considering a move to TW but I am concerned that if my DS doesn't get into a grammar school we'll be stuffed as we're not religious and cannot afford private. I am very interested to know what people do in such situations. Cheers.

bump

Find out more about the likelihood of his getting a place, and do it NOW.

Ask in detail about the admissions policies, which tests are set (are they the same for the whole county?) and historically what scores have been required as the threshold for an actual offer of a place. (this is not the same as a "pass" in some local authority's language).

Then find out how likely it is that he might achieve such an offer. Am presuming that you don't live in Kent atm, therefore his school would not be able to advise. You'd need an educational assessment, possibly via a very experienced ed psych who knows the area. AND get him tutored if it seems he has a good chance.

Only then think about moving.

I take it your DS hasn't sat his 11plus yet then. Competition for places in West Kent grammar schools is fierce but if your son can travel to Mid Kent, you might find grammar schools in mid Kent will offer a place to a child with a lower score. Private schools round here are very expensive but Sackville School is a local day school and more affordable than the likes of Sevenoaks or Tonbridge. The only comprehensive I have heard good things about is Bennett Memorial school which I know is COE but I'm not sure how religious you need to be to get your child in. West Kent is a great place to live in but education is a minefield round here.

At least you live near the grammars, unlike Sevenoaks where you may get offered a place at Folkestone .

If you live in Tunbridge Wells itself and your DS passes the 11+ then you will gain a place at Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar regardless of what he scores - it is not as restrictive on distance from school as Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls. However just passing would not gain you a place at one of the 'super-selective' schools (Skinners' and Judd) which this year had cut off marks of 407 and 417 respectively (out of 420).

Choices for those who don't achieve the 11+ in TWells aren't great - the new Skinners' Academy may prove to be fab but it's an unknown entity at the moment and is usually the last choice. You could look at East Sussex comps such as Beacon (Crowborough) and Uplands (Wadhurst) although Uplands is increasingly difficult to gain places and Beacon is rapidly improving and may also be hard to get into outside of county within a year or two.

You could think of Tonbridge as they have better regarded comprehensive schools (Hayesbrook for example), although you do have to bear in mind that they're not really 'comprehensive' as the top 25% are streamed off to grammar. But they do operate what they term "grammar classes" within their class settings for those children who just missed the 11+.

The thing is, DS is only in year 2 at the moment, it's just that we LOVE Tunbridge Wells and really want to move there and make this our 'last' move as a family. Having looked at the secondary schools situation, I'm just concerned about my DS not making it to one of the grammars and having a very poor plan B as alternative.

ShellingPeas I was not at all aware of that (re Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar). So how exactly does that work?

Thank you all so much for you answers.

There is also Cranbrook School, if you want to live further south. 13+. But very tight catchment.

Really really like TW though Bonsoir. I would like to live within walking distance to the town. So how does the TW Boys Grammar operate, is there a catchment area?

I know nothing of catchments in TW, but it is true to say that there are lot of very well off people in TW and lots of private schools as well as grammars, and so many able children are catered for in the private sector or grammars, which means that the remaining state schools are not very interesting.

Are you sure you could not afford private?

There's a lot of number crunching at home at the moment. We could just about afford private for my DS for either primary OR secondary, not both, but I also have a DD...

We had a look at TW and for the reasons you pointed out decided not to go with it as the only private schools we liked (Sevenoaks and Tonbridge) if dc did not get into GS we could not afford. A lot of people in TW put their dc in private for primary in order for them to be tutored to pass 11+ if I were you and really wanted to live in TW I'd go for that route and most private schools have a natural year 3 entry anyway so could be a good time to do it.

It sounds as if you need to work out carefully which state primary catchment you will fall under before buying a house; if you get a good one, and add in a bit of tutoring, you will maximise your chances of getting 1 child out of 2 into a grammar and then you can send the other to a private school...

Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar is not a super selective so does not select on score - if you pass the 11+ you could pass with 360 (minimum) or 420 (maximum) and apply for a place. They do then select on distance but because they tend to be the third choice boys' grammar after Skinners' and Judd the distance they take boys from is far larger than, say, Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls which has a similar oversubscription criteria but has a distance radius of under 2 miles. Boys Grammar will take all boys from the areas of Kent which operate a selective system (not all do - for instance Paddock Wood is in a comprehensive area within Kent) based on direct line distance from the school. They then take children outside of the Kent selective area and out of county, IF they have spaces. Bearing in mind that Boys Grammar takes children from as far away Sevenoaks and further north (around 10 miles away), if you live in Tunbridge Wells and pass 11+ then Boys Grammar is a definite option.

But I would probably avoid Sevenoaks as in recent times not all children from Sevenoaks who pass 11+ have gained places at a grammar school on first allocation - there's quite a bit of movement on waiting lists but it's a gamble.

If you're set on TW (very nice town) and have a DD to consider too, then look for places to live as close to the Girls' Grammar as possible, certainly within 2 miles. Last year's distance cutoff was around 1.7miles and regardless of Bonsoir's comments that grammars in the area are 'not interesting' they are highly sought after and the Girls' Grammar gets excellent results (100% A*-C GCSE for example) bearing in mind they are not a super-selective and take on distance not score.

I think it depends on how you think your DC will stack up in the 11+ testing and whether you are prepared to take a gamble that they will pass and avoid the necessity of either private or some not so desirable all ability schools.