From NLCS to SPGS at 11+

[Runa2014]

Our daughter is 4 and we are looking for a private school in london for her education. We are waiting for the final decision following assessment and would like to know...

How easy or difficult it is to make the switch from NLCS to SPGS at 11+?

Keeping all factors constant - in regards to a girl being academically ready for SPGS assessment - is a prep school better for her preparation ?

We are thinking of accepting NLCS ( if a place is offered) and playing it safe with a view that if at 11+ she does choose to go to SPGS we can try ( and have NLCS as a back up) . But our concern is - will a prep school prepare her better for SPGS assessment?

NLCS is probably the hardest school to get into at 4+. SHHS and Falkner also very difficult as they only have 20 places. NLCS has more places but will be top choice for most applicants, so they can't extend many offers. In terms of difficulty to get in, it is definitely 1. NLCS 2. Putney High 3. Glendower. Does not mean that the school is better, of course, but that you may not get the chance again later.

Sanam, thank you! You definitely seem to know much about this subject. Have you gone through the primary school process personally? or work in this discourse?

I've gone through the 4+ process with schools both in West London and in North London, both prep and all-through. I don't think you can effectively compare all the West London preps and the North London all-throughs in terms of difficulty of getting a place.

IME, the schools did not all look for the same things, so it's not clear that it's meaningful to rank them on a single scale. I know of many examples where child A got a place at school X but not school Y, and child B had the opposite result where, for example, X and Y were NLCS and SHHS, or Falkner House and Glendower Prep.

That said, my recollection is that more girls got SHHS but not NLCS than the other way, and that more girls got Glendower Prep but not Falkner House than the other way. But my samples are not large so I wouldn't draw any strong conclusions.

The number of children who apply to both, say, Kensington Prep or Falkner House, and NLCS, for example, is likely to be quite small because the schools are far apart. I know of only two examples, myself. I'd be wary of any attempt to compare the "selectivity" of schools which have few common applicants.

So true expat96!

What did you decide in the end Runa2014?