North London 11+ 2026 entry

[Jos000]

I can't see any support thread for 2026 entry for North london, feeling anxious about the results coming out this Friday! Anyone feeling the same??

He got into MTS which is our first choice :)

Hi, we also have offers for NLCS / Habs / Stahs. STAHS local to us (5 min by car).
Is the 50 min journey on the coach worth it for NLCS? Or can DD achieve equally well and actually have a childhood whilst at STAHS???
Genuinely interested to hear views from parents who have faced similar decisions (local school, lower rank VS top school at a cost of a 2 hour daily commute). Is NLCS a holy grail in girls education and worth it?

Very difficult to say. For us, South Hampstead would be closest and NLCS is 40-45 min commute. But I wouldn’t think of choosing SHHS over NLCS just because it’s local. NLCS is very special IMHO, although it does require a high level of self-motivation which can be tricky at this age. And the commute can be tough, of course. So, it really depends on your child and what environment she would thrive in.

Out of noseyness, did many of you with offers, get a tutor for both exams/interview? Purely because im considering applying for entry next year and haven't started at all.

We applied for St Paul's, Godolphin, SHHS, Notting Hill & St Margaret's.

We are coming from state school and I would say started thinking about this very late just before the summer holidays after realising we were in pretty much a good state school black hole. Very bad planning by us.

We predominantly used Atom for the 11+ consortium and St Paul's we used the provided materials from the school and bought some similar exams online. We didn't do any tutoring beyond ourselves.

We got offers for Godolphin, SHHS, Notting Hill and St Margaret's. We got through to the interviews for St Paul's but didn't get offered a place.

For the 11+ consortium I would personally say Atom is enough, as the test is pretty much identical to their system. When we started DD would just do the topics as suggested but in the month leading up to the exam, we would just do a mock exams every day. Not saying this method would work for everyone. When we first started we were getting low 100 SAS scores and sometimes lower. By exam time, she was generally scoring 130+ SAS, with Maths & Verbal Reasoning generally 142 most times, with non verbal being easily her weakest subject.

Atom however most definitely isn't appropriate for St Paul's. We only decided to apply for St Paul's in September as a last minute decision. The 1st stage exam is pretty straightforward however the 2nd stage is a completely different ball game. I absolutely can see how tutoring would be beneficial here as math expected here is far beyond the equivalent state level or even 11+ consortium level for that matter.

I think either way, you need a motivated child and either a lot of time you can put in yourself or a tutor if you cannot.

Like you we live close to STAHS (6 min drive with no traffic or a 20 min walk), and we’ve just accepted STAHS over Habs due location, though we genuinely loved both schools.

I know NLCS only by reputation so have no insight into just how amazing/how much “more amazing” it may be than STAHS. However STAHS is an excellent school where girls can clearly flourish academically and at sport/drama/music etc. We know a number of families with DDs there who are very happy with the school.

Being able to walk to school is almost priceless, and would give your DD an extra 2 hours a day to pursue her interests or just to have downtime (bearing in mind how bad the St Albans traffic is getting plus all the new housing developments your DDs commute would inevitably nudge up to an hour or more each way). And more time to sleep in the morning! Plus it will give her a more local social life.

I’ve a friend who went to Habs and really enjoyed her time there but has chosen to send her children to SAS and STAHS because of the better quality of life they get (they walk to school too).

Unless NCLS offered something very important to you that STAHS doesn’t (eg a particular sport or language, or maybe a massive scholarship discount) for me it would be a no brainer.

Good luck with your choice!

We used a tutor plus Atom for our DCs, and our DS had a single session with another tutor on interview technique.

There will always be people whose DC got offers with no tutoring/minimal prep but I’d say this is the exception. Most people do tutor and unfortunately it becomes an arms race as you risk being at a a real disadvantage if you’re the only one who doesn’t. That said, we clearly did more than we needed to with DS as he ended up with an academic scholarship which he definitely wouldn’t have got without the extensive tutoring.

There is a fair bit of exam technique in terms of timing and strategy where a tutor can be really useful- eg understanding how adaptive online testing works (the importance of getting the first 10 questions right so the algorithm feeds you higher level questions).

I don’t think you’ve left it too late but as above you need a reasonably motivated child. You could do the free Atom learning trial over half term and see how they get on with that - have a search on the boards here for a discount code.

We also got these schools. STAHS is an amazing school, it has great pastoral support and extra curricular and they do get good results.

i think you should do both offer days and then decide. Most children do have a commute and it is very normal to do the commute and my older child does this and is fine. It is a good way to meet friends.

i would say the difference between Stahs and NLCS is probably the academics, but STAHS is still a very academic school. Of what I have seen they are both just as good at extra curricular and pastoral.

it is HABS I keep hearing mixed things about from parents whose children are at the girls school. But I think they are trying to improve.

If you are happy with either, go to both offer days and let your dd decide. If you have a scholarship with one I would go with that.

yes all children state or prep have some form of tuition. I do know that if you are from state they won’t expect you to do as well as if from a prep (senior staff at Habs girls told me this). I would def do atom if you are writing an online test. And then get a tutor now for exam practice for written papers.

especially if you are in London the 11plus is fiercely competitive.

@BarqsHasBite much appreciated, we are looking at the NL Consortium plus NLCS purely because it came recommended. Id like a single sex school. Im going to subscribe to ATOM this week, and I think my DD would love it. Haven't a clue where to get a tutor from though so might need to ask around. I figure at the very least, it gives my DD the experience of exams as we already are in an independent already so no pressure.

PM me if you’d like the details of our tutor - it would be zoom based as she’s down in Kent. She’s very good but she may not have much availability.

My experience has been that ALL girls who have done well at 11+ in private prep schools have had tutoring, either by tutors or parents for at the best least 6 months. Some parents start way earlier in year 5. It makes you wonder why pay for private prep school and not go down the state primary route + tutoring to gain entry into private secondary??!

Not sure about STAHS. I have friends with DDs at the school and lots of mums very unhappy with senior school teachers, the way they retain the brightest for A levels by offering scholarships to selected few, unclear and misleading Comms from the overarching group...but this is not first hand experience as my DD isn't there.

can you elaborate? Is this purely in regard to scholarships for 16plus? Or what is the issue with the teachers?

Again, just to reiterate my daughter isn't at the school. So this is friends' experiences. Yes, apparently scholarships given quietly to the 10 most academic girls just so that they can stay for A levels and reduce flight risk. Obviously that didn't go well with the rest of the year group at 16+ students and parents ...
As for teachers - lots of last minute substitute teachers, drama class "overseen" by biology teacher etc.

As far as I know, quite a few boys have already turned down their City offers, so you have a very good chance.@NookAndCrannying

I believe NLCS is the most wonderful school and it sits at the top with probably SPGS only. I would say these are in a class of their own.
Good luck to everyone with making the right choice!

Any news @midod ?

No news yet, unfortunately. The school emailed regarding the reverse list, asking whether we would accept the offer if one became available. We replied to confirm that we would, but haven’t heard anything further since.
I’m not sure if others received the same reverse list email as same information. The reserve list is honestly kill me

Argh I’m sorry. We went through it at 4+ a while ago and it’s excruciating. Keeping everything crossed for you.

Oh good luck @midod , I know of at least one declining highgate and I only know about 4 kids who went for indie selectives. So fingers crossed for you. As we're holding out for reserve list materialising as well, I'm resigned to if it materialises, it will most likely do so after the offer deadline once numbers are more confirmed. Do you have a backup? (Sorry if I've missed it) How's DC holding up with the news now?

I’m hoping there might be some movement even next week, as families may begin declining their offers this week.
The waiting list has been tough on him. He was quite heartbroken when he heard, and even his school teachers said it would be such a rare and golden opportunity for him. But we know it’s out of our hands now. We’re just trying to stay hopeful and prepare for all possibilities — and if not, he’ll attend the local state school.

but It’s interesting that not everyone on the reserve list seems to have been asked about immediate acceptance — so it’s hard to know what to read into it. @NookAndCrannying

I’ve found it quite hard to come across anyone who has turned down an offer from Highgate.
On the other hand, it’s much easier to find people who decline City, because many students sit exams for City, Westminster and St Paul’s at the same time, and those who get offers usually choose St Paul’s or Westminster instead.

Our daughter is at NLCS, now in year 8. She commutes 50 mins each way to get there- leaves the house just after 7am each morning and isn’t home until 5.30pm- but loves it. I agree with the PP that a high level of self motivation is expected and the work is academically rigorous with a lot of homework- but it’s 100% the right school for her.
The headmistress is wonderful and the opportunities offered are second to none.

Most people in our circle are actually turning down Highgate, as they’ve got offers from Westminster, SPSG and NLCS (mostly girls). Maybe it’s different with boys.