What age do you apply to private secondary schools?

[willow2]

DS is in state primary (good). State secondaries nearby are dire. (So much so that it's been suggested that their only hope is to get a bit worse so they end up in special measures.) In the vain hope that we can afford private education by the time he moves to secondary education, roughly when do I need to put his name down on the list to take the entrance exam for private school? Birth?

It depends on the popularity of the schools that you are considering. Ring them and ask when they are holding Open Days and also ask the Registrar what the waiting list is like for your year of entry. Some schools charge a hefty registration fee which is sometimes refunded on acceptance of a place.

Some schools take them from 11, some from 13. They normally close their entry lists about a year before entry, but with some schools it's earlier. It will all be in the prospectus. You can visit or put your name down as early as you like really.

You need to find out if it is a Common Entrance or their own exam entry and whether they do 11+ and/or 13+. CE(Year 8) tends to be later in the year I think. Not sure how any secondary lists operate but afaik it is often open competition, with perhaps children from the feeder Prep school if there is one, siblings and children of Old Boys/ Girls getting priority in the allocation of places if they "pass".

We're about to have the initial parent/school discussion re: secondary schools - ds is Year 4. I do know of a few of ds' contemporaries whose names are already down so they get choice of house if they get in but year 5/6 seems to be when the decisions are made. Your best bet is to call any school you may be interested in and ask.

The week before the entrance exam was sufficient in the case of my DS' "premier league" school - though it isn't in London where perhaps registration at birth/conception may be necessary. Ds' school just wanted to know in advance so that they could organise the "interview" part and ensure that there were enough pizzas and doughnuts for lunch.
I would check the schools' websites and phone to double check.

The more academdic the school the less likely entry is by birth and more by brains. In the latter case it's usually about a year before but some schools like I think Westminster and St Paul's like you to do a pre-suitability test 3 years before you enter so you have to apply to go on the list for that quite early on which is perhaps a good plan so that boys who really are quite stupid don't spend time applying later on when they won't go in so do check for anomalies like that.

remember that schools who take anyone who registers probably aren't very good and can barely fill their places. Those who have a competitive academic exam and take the best applicants are probably better schools so in general a requirement to register very early tends to indicate not such a good school.

xENIA TOOK THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH.
Oh sorry...

Thanks.