How competitive are private London schools for in-year admissions?

[Shmanmonet]

We're thinking of relocating back to London in just over a year for entry into 2023 academic year. My DD will be going into Year 5 (currently Year 3).

It looks like it'll be really hard to get her into a state school, certainly we won't be able to arrange this before we actually move which I really don't like as it'll add to all the uncertainty. We've done this before with older kids when we returned from a relocation and was extremely stressful finding a state school - ended up on waiting lists and moving mid-year - never again! So I'm thinking of putting her into an independent school for years 5 and 6. (We could stretch for secondary - would rather a good state secondary but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it)

She's very bright, in extended learning in her current school and reading more than a year above expected and maths at Year 4 level too. I think she would do well in a more academic school, she enjoys being challenged. So I was looking at NLCS, Habs, South Ham High, City but they all look very competitive and probably very little chance of a Yr 5 place.

First, would they even be interested in a kid achieving like my daughter or are they ten a penny for them? We've no experience with selective schools so really have no idea what level they are looking at. She seems clever to me but certainly not genius smart.

Second any idea of whether this is something that is feasible in terms of spaces coming available?

Or other potential schools in the North London(ish) area that could work for her? The good thing about going with an independent school is that we can settle on the school and then find where to live whereas with state schools you need an address and then you find a school. As of now, we can cast the geographical net very wide, even make other parts of London or Herts work.

A space in year 5 of the Schools you list is dependent on someone giving notice and leaving so you need to register your dd at the prep, find out the date of the entrance exam for the year 5 place, find out what the exam will consist of and prepare her. For less competitive preps you may find it's a test that can be taken individually at any time and they will let you know if she has a place soon after.
The main consideration of the schools you have listed is whether there is automatic entry to the senior school if she gains a place in year 5 therefore you need to focus on the senior school and all that it entails, NLCS/city being some of the top girls schools in the U.K. and all the extra baggage this brings. There is no point going to NLCS prep in year 5 and not plan to stay.
You may be aware that most of year 5 and the autumn term of year 6 in any prep school is spent on entrance exam preparation. Once the exams are out of the way the rest of year 6 is more relaxed.
Due to the number of families that have moved out of the London and the falling birth rate you may find the state sector is not as full as you imagine and an easier transition for your dd.

I dont know why you think it will be hard to get a state school place, most state schools in London, even really outstanding ones have places, due to covid and brexit exodus of people. I dont know about tops private schools but lots of preps have spaces for the same reason, certainly in South London so either way I think you will be fine.

Really?! Why would covid mean schools have places??

I'm basing my thinking on our nightmare with school placement for primary for the older siblings in 2009. I guess things have changed!

So has Brexit and covid meant that the independent primaries/preps are also less competitive?

I threw out names of the top independents that I'd heard of previously but I'm not set on DD going to those schools - they're just the ones I know from friends having goen to them when I was growing up😀. She's currently in a non-selective school and, with the extended learning challenging her, she's very happy and thriving and I'd assume any good school, state or private, should be set up to give more advanced work to the more able children.

I still don't think I can handle all the uncertainty of having to move first, get an address and only then get a school in the state system. At least for years 5 and 6, I would like to know where DD is going and prepare ahead of time. Also have an older child who would be going into 6th form in 2023 but that seems to be more straightforward to arrange.

All our outstanding primaries around here have spaces in year 5. Lots of kids move to private for year 3. In the last 2 years so many families have moved out of London or even out of the country. My eldest’s year 5 class has 24 kids in it currently. That said, our secondaries aren’t all outstanding so parents are moving out. Maybe if you want to be right next to a brilliant secondary school then the local primaries will still be full. It is definitely worth asking though. If you’re not planning on going private for secondary I’m not sure i’d go private for these last two years though. As previous posters have said the focus will really be on preparing for entrance exams or in any ‘through school’ most of the kids will move onto the private secondary.

I'm open minded about secondary. If there's a good state secondary, that'd be great but we could stretch to independent. Certainly if she did get into a school like NLCS it would be crazy to give up the place.
What does it mean that Yr 5 is exam preparation? Are they not learning any new material? Doing anything other than numeracy and literacy? It sounds quite depressing if that's the case!

Hi OP

Do you feel strongly about co ed vs single sex schools? If you don't feel very strongly about her going to a school that goes right the way through to 18, you will probably find a space in a prep school.

Based on the schools you've mentioned, I would look at St Paul's Cathedral, St Christopher's and St Christina's as well as the schools you've mentioned.

My daughter is at one of the schools you mentioned and had new girls in her class every year in primary, though mostly at the start of the year. They all hold lists for occasional places so you need to ring up and put your kids on those lists. The 'Y5 is all exam prep' thing is just for prep schools doing the 11+, not for through schools like Habs and NLCS where the internal girls don't do the 11+

Also try St Margaret's in Hampstead, they are a small school and flexible with year numbers as long as their total is correct e.g. they might take a new girl in Y5 if they'd had a leaver in Y2

No preference for single sex althuogh I realise the list I originally gave was all girls' schools. They were just the ones which came to mind!

That's good to know! I guess in larger schools especially there will be some movement of children. We will know ahead of time if we're relocating so will begin the process in five months or so to prepare for Sept 2023 (also for 6th form entry for older DD) .

One thing in your favour is that schools like NLCS are keen to have children who have lived overseas in their community (though this may not be the vibe you get from admissions staff). When my DD was interviewed at 11 by one of the top London girls’ schools’ Heads she actually commented after that these girls have so much to offer in terms of their experience and the staff at the Prep where my younger DD went also experienced appreciation for having a girl who had a different life experience to the other girls. I see no harm in contacting them to ask? They will also to some extent discount a knowledge gap (whilst it is important that they have the knowledge to keep up once at the school) in favour of ability and potential . Having said that we did work through the Maths curriculum via workbooks and had a teacher provide literacy tuition plus of course lots of reading, both classics and modern children’s literature. I have known parents being taken aside when they moved their DD to a more academic prep at 9 with the suggestion they use the summer to do more reading.

We didn’t have the nerve to move back then seek a state school place without private backup either

I don’t know what type of school your DD is in but my DDs time at a lively International School with a holistic focus on the individual is their favourite memory of schooling. They found the more formal and competitive culture in their U.K. schools quite a shock, along with the different social and other norms.

@Emilyontmoor Yes, international school which follows (broadly) English National Curriculum up to Year 11 (then IB). It's proudly non (academically) selective and I actually like that, especially since they do push DD through the extended learning for literacy and numeracy. And it's quite nice for DD to be one of the smartest in the class (she has a reputation as the best reader which her lovely little classmates happily tell me when I see them - it's very cute) whereas maybe at the uber selective schools in the UK she'll have quite a shock that she's perhaps not that good!

Maybe we should look at the less selective schools now that I'm thinking about it, even she could get into one of the top selective schools. What matters is the teaching environment, making sure she continues to enjoy school and has her needs met.

I would contact the schools your interested in directly but equally just had a look on my councils site and appears there's yr5 vacancies in quite a few schools which would definitely not been the case a few years back...

Every council has to publish its in year vacancy list but the numbers are derived usually...so would need to double check..

Start with your preferred area and whittle down...
I would focus on your secondary preferences and work back from that....London secondary kids often tube/ bus it to secondary so be careful with admissions info..
If you want very academic state there's henrietta Barnet, or churchy Twyford in Acton but unless v musical will need religious references...if ur thinking west London... am sure there's ones all over London like that..
If more 'good/outstanding' state mixed then 3 in Ealing.
Or private girls NEHS, or Latimer for co-ed

My experience is, if she's good, they'll snap her up, and the fees that go with it.

Op I don’t think any of these schools would regard themselves as having a horse race with some pupils in the lead. They appreciate that pupils have different strengths and weaknesses and they especially come to the fore they move up the schools. At my DDs school the bottom set in Maths all got the same high marks as the top set, it was more about different teaching styles than top or bottom. Quite a few noses out of joint when the selective schools did not necessarily select on the same basis as parental perceptions which tended to be based on achievement rather than the ability / potential the schoolw we’re looking for.

11 was a good time to change as there are many others starting anew including others coming from abroad. It was much harder for my younger one to fit into a prep school cohort.

i strongly believe you go with your gut about what is right and you only get that “feel” when you visit.

How do you find the vacancies list? I only see for Reception entrance

@Emilyontmoor I think it's more that feeling of being one of the best (and kids do know even if the schools try not label) to being quite average or even at the bottom of the class, particularly if she has gaps. I wonder how that might affect her and her confidence.
Our original plan was to stay where we are and move back for 2025 when both our older kids will then be at Uni and finished with school and DD could start Year 7. Makes a lot more sense really. But things happen and we might need to move back earlier for 2023.

Top private schools are extremely competitive and will likely be full. Spare places will be taken up very quickly and with a very high standard for admission. Your daughter would need to do additional exam prep to get to the level expected for the most selective of the schools you've listed.

State schools in general have spaces in most upper year groups as a lot of people have left London and withdrawn their children following Brexit and Covid (remote working allowing people to move out of the city and keep their jobs).

Less competitive preps will have space for the same reason.

I definitely wouldn't send her to NLCS etc if you plan to move her to state at 11. Find a primary school (there will be plenty) then keep your options open for 11.

Is your dd definitely in Y3 at the moment?

Where I live Y3 is a very under subscribed year. (Because Year 4 - where my son is - is very over subscribed - allegedly because of 50 Shades of Grey which reached the height of popularity in Summer 2012 leading to lots of babies born in Spring 2013!)

@Mumoftwoinprimary Why wouldn't she be in yr3? Yes, she is DEFINITELY in Yr 3!

Options are open. If she were lucky enough to get in and the school was right for her, I wouldn't move her.

@ConfusedaboutSchool Less competitive schools are fine too! As long as they're good for DD, that's the main thing. Presumably if there are fewer kids about overall, then the competition even for the top schools would be reduced too?
Looking at the 7+ exam entrances, DD could do them easily although of course that is for the level required a year ago. Not sure where we could see papers for 9+ entry as it doesn't seem to be standard.

For less selective although good private schools which are likely to have places (you'd still need to sit an exam) try Northbridge House Prep (co-ed) or Belmont. The former do focus on 11+ but you have the option of NBH Seniors as well to follow, most from Belmont go straight onto Mill Hill.