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Original poster

Moving from independent school to Grammar school after GCSES

69 replies

Ontheredeye · 04/10/2022 12:09

My DS is currently in year 11 at boarding school and we are considering moving him to a Grammar school next year. We are in Kent so have some good options, this depends on him getting a place of course.

The fees were always a stretch for us and if I'm honest I regret going down that road in the first place. Has anyone moved their DC to a state school after GCSES? .

I haven't mentioned it to DS yet and I'm also not sure how to bring it up with the school. We will need to give a terms notice at Easter. He would then have to sit his exams which would be very awkward for him. Otherwise it would mean paying almost £15,000 for a term after he leaves.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

OP posts:
crazycrofter · 05/10/2022 11:13

@Ontheredeye my dd moved from a selective girls independent (usually in the top 10 for results nationally) to a boys grammar (mixed for sixth form). The only thing I'd say is that I started putting the idea into her head in year 10, so that ultimately it became her decision, not one we forced on her. We would have struggled to pay for two more years, even though she was on a bursary, but would have done if she'd wanted to stay. However she recognised that her school was a bubble (although there was a fair bit of social overlap with the grammar schools) and actively wanted to be in a more 'normal' environment and to be with boys too. It worked out well for her and she did pretty well (one A star and two As). What are your main worries?

crazycrofter · 05/10/2022 11:13

PS dd was at a day school not boarding, so not quite the same situation.

Buckland123 · 05/10/2022 12:42

We will be doing the same thing next year for my dd who is currently in year 10. We can’t afford 6th form there any more - she is currently boarding but will come home. I am hoping she will get into the grammar school but not 100% sure so have to look at other local options too (which aren’t great) I am thinking of the other opportunities that she will have at home (being able to get a pt job, learning to drive sooner etc) that she couldn’t do boarding, but I’m still worried about the change.
good luck OP & hope it all works out.

Original poster
Ontheredeye · 05/10/2022 13:02

@Buckland123 thank you and good luck to your DD.

OP posts:
Bayviewsky · 05/10/2022 19:59

@Ontheredeye and @Buckland123 we did this and it was without a doubt the best decision we made regarding DS's education. He now has a place at Oxford to study a very competitive degree, this would never have happened if he stayed in his previous school. They just didn't see him as a possibility. He settled in immediately and admits now he was unhappy but never told us. He just went under the radar, I agree with so much of what you said @Ontheredeye .My DS was supposed to be delighted to be accepted into their 6th form ,they weren't particularly helpful when we told them he was going elsewhere. He moved on quickly and settled at his new school better than we could have hoped for.. The sacrifices we made were definitely not worth it but we thought we were doing the best for DS at the time.

Best of luck to your DC s , I hope this helps.x

Original poster
Ontheredeye · 05/10/2022 23:31

Thank you @Bayviewsky. It's not just the fees, I don't think my DS gets enough from the school to warrant him being away from home. The pastoral care is not great for my son , it might be different for others. I know that his outcome will be better for A level at a day school. We hope that he will get into Grammar school but if not he will go to a less selective school.

I don't think he will be aiming as high as your DS but I think he can do well. Congratulations to your DS and good luck for university.

OP posts:
ballonsinhightrees · 05/10/2022 23:52

We're in west Kent, eldest at small local independent but will most probably be moving to very highly rated local comprehensive as they are mixed for sixth.
He is also aiming for the local grammar (not the science & maths one, but their brother school down the road).
If you are over this side of Kent there is so much movement in the summer post GCSE, I wouldn't be too worried about it, just get your DS to a sixth form that will suit him best.
(DM if you are in this part of Kent and want some help as I am in education in this area)

Xiaoxiong · 06/10/2022 06:42

If you say it's because of fees, in this economy, no one will bat an eyelid. If you start in on the pastoral care being sub par and DS not doing well enough - even if it's 100% true - then it might be a bit frosty for the last term and worst of all, your DS might feel like it's his fault for not working hard enough.

I'd just give notice, use the fees as a justification and leave it at that. Most teachers/matrons/housemasters wouldn't be able to afford the fees themselves without help so they won't think twice about it.

Bayviewsky · 06/10/2022 12:47

I agree they will be very frosty.
DH runs his own company and didn't want to say it was due to fees, we could have continued to pay but it wasn't worth the sacrifice.We left it until the end of term but we had to pay a term in lieu of notice.We just said that we thought it would be better for DS to be at home for A levels.

We barely got an acknowledgement and nothing formally from the school. I expected better but I'm not sure why.

Original poster
Ontheredeye · 06/10/2022 15:24

Did think about doing this @Bayviewsky but I really don't want pay them anymore than I have to. It might be easier for DS if we did.

I have sent a PM @ballonsinhightrees thank you.

OP posts:
MarzipanMarmite · 06/10/2022 17:35

I sympathise with your specific situation OP and I don't think you are trying to game the system. However, as a more general comment but I really don't think it is fair having DC switch systems when their GCSE grades have been achieved in a different context from applicants applying for sixth form grammar places from state schools. These applications should be contextualised in the same way as universities consider university applications.

Original poster
Ontheredeye · 06/10/2022 17:51

You have a fair point. I would have moved him this year or even last but we feel trapped until the GCSE's are over. Only ourselves to blame.

OP posts:
MarzipanMarmite · 06/10/2022 18:05

Definitely better to let him do GCSEs first. Too disruptive otherwise. You can't blame yourself. We all just do what we think is best for our DC with the best intentions. FWIW my DS's grammar takes in quite a lot of external applicants for sixth form and they settle well and tend to do really well academically too. The year group is happy to have some new faces and is very receptive to the changes. My DS is now at Uni but some of his closest friends from school joined in sixth form. Good luck.

Original poster
Ontheredeye · 06/10/2022 18:08

Thank you @MarzipanMarmite .

OP posts:
Soma · 06/10/2022 19:28

I don't understand the comment about being unfair when DC switch between school types. 7% of DC are in the independent system up until Year 11 and then it increases to 20% at 6th form. Is it unfair on the State school pupils who swaps to independents & public schools for 6th form? As PP rightly said, very few Grammar schools qualify for contextual offers. If you are comparing schools in some areas of Manchester, like Openshaw with Westminster then I completely agree that the experience and teaching will be chalk and cheese and the Openshaw pupil should be given some consideration...

Soma · 06/10/2022 19:32

But that is not what the OP is asking, so sorry to derail.

My advice is to give notice at the end of the Michaelmas term, stating financial reasons and that way your son can apply for any school he wants without any nervousness of being outed. When we were changing from one independent to another, the new school contacted the old school before we were ready to tell them and they made it super awkward. Including withholding a reference for over a month and wouldn't respond to the new schools emails.

MarzipanMarmite · 06/10/2022 19:57

@Soma I will just answer your question before the thread moves on. The reason I raised it was because others were talking about gaming the system and other wider issues. So, if a state school DC is entering a top independent for sixth form, they will be competing against other DC from the independent sector, who will have benefited from smaller class sizes etc. so they are getting a place despite the playing field not being level. So, of course they deserve their place. Conversely, if a DC who has been independently educated until the age of sixteen is applying to a grammar school for sixth form, they will be competing with state-educated DC who are hoping for a grammar school place to get a better sixth form education. Hence, the independent school-educated DC is applying with the advantage of their previous education, smaller class sizes etc. Logically, the results with which they are applying should be viewed in the context in which they were achieved. In this scenario, if a DC from a state school has the same results, they should get the place.

ballonsinhightrees · 06/10/2022 22:48

Hi @Ontheredeye did you say you had DM'd me? Not ignoring you, just not seen a message from you!

Original poster
Ontheredeye · 06/10/2022 23:21

Hi @ballonsinhightrees I've sent it again.

OP posts:
listsandbudgets · 07/10/2022 12:32

DD has just done this and is glad of the change. The grammar school is very good and IMHO better than the independent would have been for 6th form although the rest of the senior school was excellent.

One thing to watch is that the grade offers for grammar 6th forms are often very high. DD is doing 3 sciences and maths. She needed 8s in the sciences, 7 in maths and at least 4 6s in anything else. She did have a back up offer from a local college just in case (because anything can happen) but in the end she got in without a problem.

crazycrofter · 07/10/2022 12:45

@MarzipanMarmite in our case, we turned down two grammar school options for year 7, as dd had a bursary at the independent school, which was nearer. If she’d gone to one of the grammar schools she’d not have needed to be applying for sixth form. Someone else got her grammar school place in year 7, so I don’t feel too bad that she might have pushed out someone from a comprehensive at sixth form.

The grammar schools round us don’t ‘contextualise’ for year 7 entry but they do prioritise pupil premium children. They don’t do this for sixth form, but I’d be very happy if they did. I think it would be far too complex to try to contextualise based on previous school?!

listsandbudgets · 07/10/2022 12:47

Sorry seem to have accidentally deleted part of my message.

DD's school were not frosty at all - in fact, they kept trying to tempt her back to the 6th form. They went as far as offering her a scholarship and also writing a letter saying she was welcome back if she didn't get the grammar results for any reason but she really wanted the change by that point. We told her she could choose and either was fine.

Independents need their exam results to be good so they're not (or should not) undermine GCSE students just because they won't be takng A Levels there.

PettsWoodParadise · 08/10/2022 07:11

DD has been at a grammar not far from Kent but not in Kent since Y7. She is now in sixth form and yes private school pupils do attend too. It is fairly well integrated. I would say that all her class have jobs tutoring or Saturday jobs except for a couple and those both came from private schools and get handsome allowances and really haven’t made much of an effort to fit in. They do get some mild jibes about this but then they do throw about that they are disdainful of those who work in garden centres or restaurants etc.

one thought is if you are moving from a school that does IB (I know you haven’t said but there is a big boarding school in Kent that does) and your DS wants to continue with IB the choices of grammar are fairly limited but I think Tonbridge Girls Grammar takes boys in the sixth form and fhey have a good reputation for IB results. They also get more movement than most as some want to do A levels so probably more mixed on new and existing pupils.

Original poster
Ontheredeye · 08/10/2022 09:16

Thank you,@PettsWoodParadise . DS's current school is in Hampshire , they sit A levels. Your description of the boys regarding jobs etc doesn't surprise me and we will be happy to leave that behind.

OP posts:
TizerorFizz · 09/10/2022 11:36

@Ontheredeye
We moved DD2 to another boarding school for 6th form. Despite paying full fees for 2 DDs at the school (from age 11) with DD1 staying into 6th form and having a scholarship, they refused to appeal DD2’s French gcse result. There had been issues in the exam room and it was important that was taken into consideration. They were clear that, as she wasn’t staying, too bad. So just be aware, you are left on your own. They’ve had your money so when term ends it’s bye bye.