Accept 7+ place or wait until 11+

[RWYCT]

We have places offered from the 7+ for my son & daughter at Hampton Prep & Lady Eleanor Holles. As both of these schools go through until 18 I would welcome views on whether it’s wise to accept the places with the possibility of avoiding the stress of the 11+ process for both children, or, remain in our excellent prep school which prepares children very well for secondary school exams. I would also welcome any views on these two schools both prep / juniors and the senior schools, especially LEH as I am more familiar with Hampton.

It’s a financial question really isn’t it.

Do you want to spend an extra ~£200k on them going at 7, or roll the dice again in 4 years with the risk they don’t get a place at those specific schools.

Yes agree - it really comes down to cost.The state primaries in the borough are very good so do you want to go state and tutor or take the year 3 places; writing down the costs will help.

If doable financially I'd take this option all day long to avoid 11+ stress.

Why did you put them through 7+ if you don’t want to move them?

I have one at Hampton Prep and one at LEH juniors and we bit the bullet to avoid the 11+……
If you can afford it, I’d really recommend taking the places for ease and reassurance of a place. If you do want to move you’ll have to tutor but you would do anywhere….
happy for you to PM me x

Thank you, have sent you a PM.

A number parents at our prep school seem really eager to jump into 7+, despite near assurances of a good spot in the 11+. In this case, merely avoiding the uncertainty of 11+ doesn’t seem like the only consideration.

To me, it comes down to whether or not the child is happy and settled where they are, as well as how certain you are that you know what senior school you want at this stage.

I wasn’t sold on private primary school until I realised how stressful and competitive the 11plus is. Since we could afford it and our DD got offered places at through schools when she was 4, we went for it. It’s lovely knowing she can just focus on learning and having fun without having to do prep for 7plus (just saw some people go through that) and later 11plus. In the end though, it’s all about affordability. I do occasionally think about what I could have spent the money on instead!