is Habs still a decent school for a 7+ boy?

[busyteacher1]

Hey mums and dads, hope all is well with everyone!

We've just gone through the 7+ exams & interviews, and now we received the final results, but no idea what to do next, so look forward to some advice on this forum.

We only tried Habs and Highgate, finally Habs offered and Highgate rejected (no waitlist).
We really wanted to go to Highgate, but sadly rejected, now wondering if Habs is a decent choice or not, because of the following reasons,

1. We heard from other parents, that the edu quality of Habs has been trending down in the last few years, and is falling behind others (for example Highgate).
2. From the disclosed university applications and destinations list, Habs is not showing stable performance, compared to for example Highgate, and indeed getting worse?
3. Also heard from people that Habs is not as diverse as Highgate.

Putting these reasons together, we are now hesitant about accepting this offer, please share some thoughts and advice with us.
Thanks very much

Well, if you have no other options it will certainly be better than most state comps in terms of academics and destinations!

Habs is a great school and most parents applying to these schools would do anything to get their kids in!

If you're talking about diversity, it's definitely more Asian which i would say is MORE diverse than Highgate which is mostly white...

@preppingforlife Thanks for your message!

Diversity could be one factor bothering us, and we're more concerned that Habs management & leadership team is not doing a great job in recent years, which negatively influenced the edu quality tbh.

@busyteacher1 , you need to think re what you are comparing your habs offer to? Is it a state primary and tutor and try again at 11 or is it a prep plus tutor and try again at 11 / 13? In your head you need to be clear re the options before dismissing an offer that has a long list of parents on the WL ready to step in and grab. Highgate has rejected your dc so you need to take that on board and get over that hurdle so you can see the offer in front of you positively and not looking on MN for negatives. ( and Highgate attracts more negative criticism than most on MN).

@tennissquare thanks very much for your message!
Indeed these are good questions we need to carefully consider.
As you said, "Highgate attracts more negative criticism than most on MN", may I ask what it means, and why?

@busyteacher1 , because of the "everyone's invited" issues. There is a thread running in secondary education section called Highgate school culture.
Your dc has done well to get the habs offer and that is the school that wants them and feels they will fit in.

How will you feel if you reject the offer and stay where you are and do this all over again in 4 years time? (When vat will be in place on school fees making private education even more exclusive and expensive and less economically diverse etc).

Because you have only just applied for a place at age 7,there is nearly a decade before your child will be sitting any public exams and a lot can change in any school over that time period. You need to put aside your disappointment at not being offered at your preferred school, that is done, unless you want to put your child through 11+to try again. I'd be tempted to accept the offer you have.

Agree with the PP, you need to accept that Highgate rejected your child. Habs is a great school and very sought after.

Where is your DS now? If they are in a crap state school then I’d move to Habs, if they are at a decent prep you can decide whether to stay and gamble on 11+ entry.

But Habs really isn’t a bad school…

Just one point to note, Habs Junior is getting better on diversity intake and its certainly not all Asian if you look at Prep prep, highgate in turn is also getting increasingly ethnically diverse at prep level and new 7+ Junior intake.

Habs is a perfectly fine school and it is still in the top league for GSCE and A levels. there are no major changes in terms of academia.
Everyone invited attracted some negative criticism for Highgate (but you need to read all the details and independent review on this to understand the background of this scandal rather than rely on headlines and Mumsnet), also many MN threads refer to Highgate School in the past which attracted a large number of local privileged kids with associated problems. Things chnaged a lot in Highgate, its going up the exam league tables and its getting very hard to get into, they widened the social/ethnic backgrounds of their intake and they are very generous on bursaries. as a local mum, i also found there is a lot of criticism towards the school as many local families didn't get in and get very sulky about it (also those awaiting the offers tend to spread the rumors to fight off the competition so need to be very careful when relying to Mumsnet opinions)

Where do you live OP and what are your school choices now?

Any particular reason why Habs appear to have opted out from the Sunday times ranking this year?

n my opinion, Habs is not a good school. They told me my son needs to be independent. If he doesn’t understand, he has to ask. Unfortunately, boys are boys; he doesn’t like to ask questions. His results have never improved, and the school is not doing anything to help him to improve.

Hi all
Can anyone recall what they asked at the 7+ interview second round stage for Habs last year ?

Would be really grateful.

many thanks