Location of grammar schools with no catchment areas

[CrazyMaizie]

Hello,

We are reviewing our options for returning to the UK in a few years. We are not tied to any place and so technically could move anywhere. I would like to ensure good schooling. Is there a list anywhere of grammar schools that do not have catchment areas? I would like to be able to apply from overseas then, if a place is offered, move to that area. Is that even possible? We've been looking at private schools but realise in England a grammar school might fit the bill instead!

The Met had changed by the time we left. It became too trendy and popular. Maybe I should move back to Didsbury as I never felt grownup or sophisticated enough for Wilmslow. Maybe I'm more Whalley Range!

"Other selectives may have a defined admission area where they take all the highest scores within that area, and only if all those in catchment who achieve the pass mark have been admitted do they then offer places to highest scores outside catchment."

Just for information- that's not how most Kent grammars work. For most there is a pass mark- if you pass they allocate places on a distance from the school basis until they fill the year.

But that's just Kent- other areas obviously have different criteria.

M4blues get yourself to the Heatons! We are really having a moment here. New boutique cinema just opened and a deli/bar due to open just a minutes walk from me. Loads of good pubs, restaurants. Great schools , lots of parks and open space. Fantastic transport connections. I rarely bother going anywhere else these days

Sounds lovely, TheMightyMing.
Sadly, I am now stuck in the SE and it's unlikely we'll be able to move back north at any point in the foreseeable future. I do miss it though and I say that as a southerner myself. People are more open up there.
Oh and I think the Heatons were always nice. I seem to remember that smart restaurant making a stir but that must be about 6 or 7yrs ago now. I guess it's all change.

All grammar schools will have some catchment area just isn't true. The Gloucestershire ones don't - apparently some children travel in every day from Wales.

But the OP seems to have ruled out super selectives so it's a moot point.

I generally feel like you need a PhD in grammar entrance in some locations and this thread supports that motion. DD recently sat for Bexley, Kent and Bromley and all three are very different in how they make places available. It kept me busy on the trains home for months researching and setting prep for DD. It did work and we now have some amazing choices including ironically our closest geographic secondary school just a mile down the road which just happens to be a superselective. I think it would be a challenge to go through the whole process of SIFs, test registration, test research and prep, visits, test sitting (some two stages) without being somewhere in the UK.

The Gloucestershire ones don't - apparently some children travel in every day from Wales.
But that will take them less travelling time than to get from outer London to inner London

Just to add - the Calderdale grammars in West Yorkshire also operate without a catchment. To answer someone's query up-post it's quite straightforwardly managed as there is no pass mark - just an order of merit. The two schools operate a joint exam process so if you're in the top approx 360 you'll get a place at one of the schools.

Thanks Pix - have actually been reading another thread about the Calderdale grammar. I loved in Hedben Bridge a loooong time ago so it would kind of be like 'going home'. Unfortunately though I don't think the transport links (such as a quick flight from Edinburgh/train from York) to London/Europe will make it possible for us. But will keep watching the threads out of interest. I'm back to thinking a year or two private (primary/junior) when we come back and see what happens then. At least we'd have an address to apply from.

Ha ha re. Typo above - lived, but also loved HB!!