11+ entry or 13+ for boarding

[pandemoniumpalace]

Does anyone with more experience have any idea what I have to consider to make this decision?

I really want dc to stay at their prep to year 8. For several reasons, quite a lot of dc leave then, I want my dd to stay a flexi boarder until year 9, it's also more convenient to stay at prep as it's close by for me. The fees are also less at prep considerably less

I'm stuck between prep wanting us to stay and the boarding schools saying they prefer 11+ entry. The boarding schools I looking at do all have a year 9 entry though.

It totally depends on the school. The older coed boarding schools (Marlborough, Oundle, Teddies, Stowe, Wellington) then 13+ absolutely fine.

However, the most prestigious girls boarding schools (Wycombe Abbey, Downe House, Benenden, Cheltenham Ladies) now have their main intake at 11. They all have places at 13+ but they are much smaller, friendships and sports teams have already been in place for two years etc.

I would say look at the specifics of the school(s) you are interested in and decide based on that.

IMO girls are ready to leave at 11. They mature much quicker than boys and are ready for that next step. But not everyone is the same and you have to go in gut instinct. Whilst helpful financially, staying to 13 might not be the best idea depending on what school(s) you want.

Thanks @BookwormButNoTime thought that may be the case. It's the girls schools you've listed we are looking at. May have to rethink our plans then.

Starting at 13 at WA means you miss the first year of being together with all the other new 11 year olds in Junior House. That can be really helpful for forming new friendships - just being with such a big group of new starters. Joining at 13 means going straight into mixed age group forms.

Joining at 13 at Downe House means you miss the term in France.

We didn’t look at Benenden and CLC as they’re too far away but I imagine there’s similar “perks” to starting at 11.

Thanks again @BookwormButNoTime do you think it might make a difference if there are usually a few that come from dd prep at 13+ I can see there is an advantage at 11+ but I'm wondering if I can still make it work with a confident dd and the fact that every year a few do go to these schools from our prep so dd wouldn't be alone when she started at either entry year.
Would it still be difficult to blend in when the other girls have already done two years?

It depends on your daughter and the schools. Your prep will always want them to stay on but what REAL benefits would your DD get from staying (removing things like finance and convenience from the equation)? A lot of girls feel things are stale by the time they get to Y6 and are ready to move. Not all schools obviously, particularly those geared up to when everyone leaves at 13, but just dig a bit deeper.

Y7 and 8 are great settling in periods before things get serious and GCSEs start. If your child is struggling with homesickness, friendships, hormones and just the change in school life, then it’s surely better it happens in those less important years? Some schools start GCSE courses in Y9 so having to deal with all that as well as crack on with work could be tough.

Every girl who has gone to WA and DH from our prep went at 11 apart from one. She fitted in just fine at 13 - I think they had about 20 new starters so “enough”. She was very sporty and failed to make the lacrosse A team (whereas she had been captain of the A team at her prep). It was a hard pill for her to swallow.

Only you know your daughter, what her current school offers and how big the intake is at 13 at the schools you are looking at. There’s no easy answer but IMO I would always move a child, girl or boy, at the entry point with their main intake.

We've chosen 11+ entry for a few reasons. My DD is ready for a step-up in academics; she's less socially confident and I want her to have the best chance at settling in while everyone else is new; and this route avoids having to sit common entrance at the prep on top of the senior school entrance exams.

I think there are benefits to staying at a prep to have the experience of being the oldest in the school and exam preparation, but only if you are happy with the academics/environment in general, you think she's confident enough to fit into an already established social group, or of course you really want to put off full boarding until she's older.

I'm keen for mine to settle into the bigger school routine and get on the GCSE path at the expected academic level as I think there's quite a difference between these particular prep and senior schools.

Mother of boys here so 11+ or 13+ not an issue. But one thing that was blindingly obvious at their prep was that by half way through Y7 the CE curriculum had been covered, senior school places were sorted. and then it was all about scholarship or CE technique. As a result the boys who weren’t sitting for scholarships could get pretty bored and stale, and needed the focus of CE to keep them working. The great advantage girls have with the opportunity to change schools at 11 is they are learning afresh, at the start of a new journey not polishing past papers at the end of an old one. I think girls have that maturity at 11, and there’s a huge amount to be said for being in on the ground floor rather than coming in two years behind most of their classmates.

Agree it depends which schools you are looking at. Where we are most coed schools start at 13+ though the all thoughts have a bigger intake at 11+. We're very happy with the academic standard at our prep and for the DCs to be big fish in a small pond. This is good for DC1's confidence. I'd rather she join a school that starts at 13+ as girls' especially can be cliquey