High achieving DS - schools

[UserIDnotidentified]

We've been on the expat route for some years. DS11 had been to a variety of schools and we're now in Europe where he has been assessed as being in top 1% nationally.

We're thinking about moving back to U.K. (Near London) in next couple of years and I'm clueless as to what to do for his education. Should he being applying for scholarships? How does it work? I have no familiarity with UK school system

My child attended the top grammar school in the country and had to transfer to a private sector due to our relocation. I can assure you that the schools are worlds apart. The atmosphere is much more academic, kids working hard and the most important thing - home work appropriate to the subject and checked regularly by the teachers.

What I am trying g to say is that "academic peer group" is much stronger in my son's new school. The kids are scary bright, around 25% come from families that could not afford the fees and the children are working extra hard to keep their bursaries and scholarships.

I wish the OP would come back with an update!

The timescale might be different for younger ones, but my daughter secured a scholarship for Sixth Form starting Sept 2017. We were very late submitting our applications (Oct 16), DD sat the entrance exams in Nov 16 and we got two offers in Dec 17. I'm guessing your more concerned what's best for him academically rather than fee reduction, but one scholarship came with a 35% reduction, the other with a 10% reduction, so certainly worth having along with the extra curricular activities which are covered for DD and the support and experience.

Going back to submission dates, even if you're late, it's still worth talking to the school if it's a possibility.

The timescale is different for Sixth Form, and those timelines won't apply.

But do remember some schools have competitive entry at 13+, so it would be easy to register for those. The ones that spring to my mind in London are Alleyns (co-ed) and Dulwich College (boys) but they only work if you want a school to the south of London. You simply need to have registered by the deadline for both those.

OP: could you tell us how near and which side of London is likely to suit you? And give us some idea if anything posted so far has been remotely useful?