Sevenoaks school merge

[thermosbananas]

"Two Kent schools merge and promise 'world class' education for children aged three to 18"

www.kentlive.news/news/two-kent-schools-merge-promise-9902196

DD is hoping to apply to Sevenoaks school next year and this article has got me worried. Are either schools struggling in any way with the VAT on tuition fees that they've had to make this decision, or am I overthinking things?

I imagine it is more to support the prep school. Preps not linked to seniors will really struggle as there is no buffer and profit margins on them were small as it was.

Sevenoaks is a strong school. Although all schools are feeling VAT and it hits in different ways/levels depending on the size of the school.

Seems an increasingly popular way of supporting feeder preps and sharing some of the overheads and resources. Prep pupils often bypass 11+/13+ selection process to the parent secondary, assuming meet expectations.

Yes, I certainly got the impression it was to support Solefield (which I don't know, but from what I can tell is a very small school) - rather than the other way round.

Thanks all. Slightly relieved but what @LIZS mentioned about bypassing 11+/13+ is still worrying. Sevenoaks entrance exams can be quite challenging and Solefield pupils won't have to take them to get in? Makes me rethink about the quality of students changing in the next few years

They tend to wheedle out those less likely to suit the senior or advise applying elsewhere. Longer term the prep may become more selective. do Solefield pupils often take Kent 11+ ?

No idea. I hadn't even heard of the school before I read the article.

What do Sevenoaks get in return then? Surely there's got to be something good for them as well

I imagine there’s an agreement that Solefield pupils are guaranteed a place at Sevenoaks if they want it. Guaranteed income for Sevenoaks.

Thanks. That's my concern. Will they keep the same educational standard that they are providing now I wonder.

They might be wanting a similar arrangement to Caterham and Reigate Grammar, with their feeder preps.

Sevenoaks? Of course, I would imagine the numbers are relatively small compared to its intake.Might also be an opportunity to take pupils at 11 from state schools and bring them up to speed by 13+ . Brighton College have done similar for years.

Being such a selective school, I doubt that they would guarantee all Solefield pupils a place. But possibly rather offer those children who have consistently performed at the tequired level/meet CAT- score thresholds an assured place in advance. Similar to Hampton Prep and Reigate. It wouldn't be fair on some children to offer them a place if they weren't then going to be suitable for Sevenoaks in the long run.

I think it is a coalition to support the prep school - Solefields may be struggling financially (like most preps right now) and it's a literal neighbour of Sevenoaks School.

Sevenoaks has clearly mentioned that Solefields students have to take the exam just like all others and the admissions process will not change. There won't be any advantage to writing the exam from Solefields versus others, is what we are told as parents at Sevenoaks. So not a feeder and no assured place, just a financial merger.

No skin in the game since I don't & won't have DC at either school.

Solefield is very small - I think it's still less than 200 total across the eight years even after expanding recently and going coed - and Sevenoaks is already their most common independent leavers' destination (a significant portion go on to local grammars). And unless there's a big shift in Solefield's makeup, a lot of their leavers also just simply aren't going to want to choose Sevenoaks; it's a very large school that doesn't offer A levels with an environment that is simply the wrong fit for a lot of students. Given Sevenoaks' size there just wouldn't be a massive impact from giving Solefield leavers preferential admission even if Solefield's results weren't strong. But they are strong, especially given that the prep is at least on the surface not academically selective.

Sevenoaks doesn't want their strongest local independent feeders to end up in dire financial straights, that's bad for their long-term outlook.