Highgate School N6 Admission Fraudulence??!!

[Idea]

I applied for Highgate for my son four years ago, he was rejected one week after we paid the registration fee for no reason. Again, my daughter was rejected this time, Again! Two weeks after we registered, (the registration fee was around 100 pounds), No proper reason, except they stated that they had too many children signed up! They took the registration fee, no interview, nothing, but a rejection letter. I found this is pure cheating! If a school can only take certain number of students, they shall stop when they have too many applications, rather than still taking the fees, then a letter says no! I found this insanely money grabbing and should not be legitimate at all! I am sure there will be some lucky parents getting the interview and even send their children into the school. However, I wonder if anyone has the similar experience as me, and should we do something (legally or morally)? The school should know it is so so so wrong!!!

That doesn’t sound right at all. So no exam, meeting, interview - nothing for £100?

Highgate only takes the registration fee (which is £150) after they have recieved all applications and picked the ones invited for interview. Only people invited for interview pay registration fee. So I think you have this very wrong.

Thank you, Fekko and Thank you newmummycwharf1. I know, it is completely wrong! And my son's classmate, the Mum registered her older daughter a couple of years ago, same happened to her! Just knew it today! It is definitely so wrong, but I don't know the way to sort it out. And even if they sort out this individual case (which I don't think they will do), how many parents have been treated this way? That is why I posted here, and let parents know, something there is so wrong!!

Yes, nothing for 100 pounds, just a letter saying no. I will find out the letter and post it on tonight.

Have you asked for your money back? Rather than making a scene here...
Check what it said on the registration form. This is on a current form on their site:
"We enclose a cheque payable to Highgate School for the application fee of £150. This sum is returnable only if, because of
oversubscription or other reason, the School is unable to accept the application or is unable to offer the applicant the opportunity to
participate in the admissions procedure."

Ask nicely, get your money back.

I'm a single parent was invited to meet the Headmaster at Highgate school after my child has passed the exam. He took one look at me looking up and down and said: ''So what does your husband do?'' My son did not get offered a place not that they would have accepted any offer.

It definitely says on their website that they refund the application fee if they are oversubscribed. Have you checked to see if they have cashed your cheque? Just ask for your cheque back.

Incidentally, if you're too late for entry now, you can always try for entry at a different stage. They accept applicants at 3+/7+/11 and 13.

I sympathize with the sentiment, but this is typical of all oversubscribed schools, so nothing wrong about it. You can forget about the Nursery, but that is not such a bad thing. There are better ways to prepare your child for the next level. We are glad we were forced to choose differently, it gave us an advantage in Junior School.

We did not even get a reply to our expression of interest for the Nursery. But then we took the test four years later for the 7+, and were accepted!

So moral of the story is NEVER GIVE UP! Keep knocking, and keep prepping, and you will have your chance to show what your kids are made of. And if anything, standards are (ever so slightly) more lenient at the School, since it is aimed at universal appeal and is much more than academics (Sports, Music, and Drama hold equal importance in your child's education.)

We are totally sold on the place, despite having to bloody our elbows and jump through hoops of fire to get there. We can only urge you to do the same. It's not too late, neither for your son nor your daughter, so please keep trying, never give up!

Sadly same experience for us down the road at UCS for 4+ entry to pre prep. Took cheque. Letter. Only space for siblings or ex old boy children. No interview/assessment. Not right. Sad fact of living in London & trying to get children to these schools which are way over subsrcribed.

Sorry to disagree, but I think I should share our positive experience on this point just to balance out the perspective to anyone who is new to the school.

The nursery pre-prep is not the main entry point for the school, and as such, it will be unfair. It is. We didn't even get a letter back from our expression of interest. It is basically the backdoor entry for people who have siblings at the school, or for billionaires, or those with connections, that's about it. It is also run completely separately, so there is no advantage being there. The kids are not treated in any special way after they continue to the Junior School.

The Junior School is the main point of entry, and everyone can take the test. The test determines everything. Not your name, not your income level, not your previous school, not your report card, nothing but the test score. It is also set at such a high level that the kids who come in are about a year ahead of the kids from nursery. So, that is your sweet revenge. Not being bitter about not having a backdoor key, we didn't either. Most places do have backdoors, Oxbridge famously so. Harvard equally. But the vast majority, and the ones that shine, are the ones who are there for their intellect.

Unfortunately they sometimes receive so many applications that they can't interview everyone. They should definitely have returned the cheque. Can you check first that they have cashed it? If not, I would ask for it to be returned to you. If something really has gone wrong here, it will be an error, not deliberate.

I disagree with Hoverparent about the nursery- it's not just for siblings (in fact, there isn't a sibling policy) and billionaires at all. IME most of the children there tend to be very local and it was simply their parents' first choice of nursery (with the added benefit of avoiding having to do 7+). It's hugely over-subscribed so very hard to get in but the school genuinely tries to select those children it thinks are most suited. I know it can feel like a stitch-up when a child doesn't get in but it really isn't- it's just a consequence of having so many applications for so few places.

Chances for 7+ and 11+ are much better.