Harrow School

[Rache101]

Hello
My son is applying for a sixth form scholarship to Harrow school and have 3 exams and a interview, does he stand a good chance of getting in?. He does Cadets, debating, Prefect, part of a classsical society, shooting, part of the Labour Party and represents his county at Cadet football. His predicated grades haven't been released yet but I reckon he will get around 3-5 A*'s and GCSE. Do you think he stands a realistic chance or am I living in a dream world?

Thank You

[Heatherhills]

Scoff at Fettes being 'best school in Scotland' where did you hear that?

[Abitwobblynow]

Colleger don't be horrible. She is asking for contact and reassurance.

Rachel, good luck. Why didn't he sit maths etc? Not too sure that bodes well. How did the interview go?

Did he go on a rave about how wonderful the Labour Party was and how they had the Vision for the Future!!!

[MollieO]

I don't think it is unreasonable to ask about the pass mark on here as I'm sure there must be some MN readers whose sons have sat for Harrow scholarships, especially considering how many on here choose private schools for their dcs!

Rachel you may get an answer if you post on the eleven plus forum, independent section.

[MollieO]

Here

[Colleger]

I'm not being horrible - ive wished her good luck twice! None of her questions on the Kane scholarship have been answered and it would be easier for her to go directly to the school. If she'd asked about a Win Election or Eton KS then she would have got the responses but there has to been one poster who has been able to assist. So for her benefit it would be better to ask the school or the website MollieO mentioned.

As far as scholarships go: there is not a pass mark, the students with the highest marks get it so there is no point looking at a pass mark.

[Abitwobblynow]

Colleger you are right in a narrow sense and I don't disagree. But she is also asking for companionship on a wider level. Her family have taken a big risk and that is quite a lonely place!

Rachel you are so right to go for it - another place I think you should try for is Christs Hospital. I think there are several?

Colleger is right about there being no pass mark. The best person gets selected.

[KaneHarrow]

Funny story, I actually was awarded the Kane bursary, and discovered this while trying to google the Kane family, during prep time at harrow school.

Rache101, I don't know much about you, but I knew when I read this thread that I couldn't just let it go by unnoticed. It's great to see a mother with such great determination and obvious support for her son and I wish you both the best.

What I know of the application process, and I warn you that I may leave out specifics because of our school's code of conduct, isn't that great. I know that there is a selection process that narrows it down to three or so, but you'll already know that as your son has gone in and sat the exams, and that from there it really is a big guessing game. If you had asked me when I left the examinations and interviews if I thought I'd got in, I would have told you no, the two other finalists were wither incredibly gifted athletically, or musically and academically. My main selling points were my academics (10 A's, 2 A's, predicted 11A's but that's Eng Lit) and my public speaking/debating (Jack Petchey Speak Out grand finalist and Whitmore debating society). It sounds like your son has a great mix so he certianly has a great chance.

What I felt they were looking for most in hindsight, and I'm really sorry this didn't find you before the interview, is a genuine enthusiasm for the school. I was honest with them, told them that I hadn't been involved in sports for quite a while and that what I was looking for was an environment where I could get back into sport. That went down well. I think the interview stage was possibly more important than the examination stage, although that is entirely my opinion and as you said, there has been a change in senior management since Headmaster Lennon interviewed me.

On an interesting note, I don't know any Kane scholars who have ended up in Moreton's, the two so far that I definetely know of (inc. myself) have ended up in Lyon's and Headmaster's, though really it is of little difference as they are all great places to be.

I found out that I had received the bursary in early March (same day I got my copy of Dragon Age II, that I can now only play in the holidays...) and around a month after that I found out which house I was going to.

The reason it's so hard to get information on is that there have only been two years so far where they have offered the Kane bursary, and I'm just glad I could get the information out there.

There will still be a small percentage of the fees to pay, but it's nothing to worry about when you consider how much you'll save on food and the ilk.

Friends coming up to the hill... is slightly frowned upon. They have no qualms with family visiting on Saturday and Sunday but they can be iffy about just inviting your friends up, obviously you'll be involved in sports games and there is no harm in inviting them to those, but just inviting them up and 'taking the day off' isn't smart. If only because it would be a slight waste of the resources that the school has, ecspecially when considering that they will get the chance to see friends every exeat and all the holidays, so I'd say home matches early.

So good luck again, I wish you the best, I know it's a difficult process and the wait is the worst thing, but just hold on and hope for good news. And if not, the sixth forms around Harrow are getting better each year as it is, I was going to go to Whitmore Sixth Form if not Harrow (Saint Dominics turned me down for being atheist).

Also, for those people that used this thread as leverage for a public school debate, this isn't the right place. This was an earnest call for help from somebody who wanted honest help. I respect your right to an opinion, but the amount of useful posts in this thread can be counted on one hand, that's not useful for the OP, and really that's what sites like this are for.

Hope I helped.

[Rache101]

U did, thank you! My DS did not tell them that he did all the debating etc but we sent them a copy of his CV when we first sent if the application, will this count for anything KaneHarrow? Also, what plays a bigger part, the predicted grades or the enterance exam? What subjects did u sit for Kane?

[hkyan]

Does anybody know exactly how competitive it is for Sixth form entry at Harrow? By this I mean any statistics?

[Rache101]

quite, I think the CEE pass mark is 70ish %. Also, I think that it is 3 boys for every place, not sure , think it is though (Memory is not what it used to be)

[Rache101]

Does anyone know roughly how long it would take to get the results out? It is really killing my son :)

[happygardening]

Rachel01 have you heard yet?

[antioxidants]

I'm thinking of putting my son down for sixth-form entry and am keen on Harrow over similar public schools due to the large-ish cohort joining in the sixth form (20-25 boys each year I believe).

Would anyone with experience of the school have any advice on this? I'm particularly interested to know whether new sixth-formers have had much of a struggle to settle in.

[happygardening]

Other schools have a largish intake I believe St Pauls boys does but it?s unbelievably competitive to get in. They come from all over the world and obviously board. The boarding is very 21st century more like being at uni.

[antioxidants]

Thanks - Im not sure he'll be up for St Paul's though. He's fairly bright but no genius and the competition for SP sounds rather alarming!

[happygardening]

I don't think you should under estimate how difficult it will be to get into Harrow's 6th form. Harrow is exceedingly popular and over subscribed at the 13+ and is fairly selective. Many schools are much more selective at 16+ because of league tables etc. There are also quite a lot of excellent applicants from abroad and many independent schools take them because they get good grades at A levels (league tables again).
I'm not trying to put the dampeners on it but you certainly would be wise to have a 2nd/3rd choice. Many schools have an entry into their 6th form so you've got a reasonable choice although schools that only offer proper full boarding like Harrow are few and far between.

[kerrygrey]

Antioxidants - unless you're set on the London area have a look at Oakham. The 6th entry requirement is 5 Bs or more, and a good number join then for A levels or IB. DD loved it, and in spite of being naturally lazy, did well and is at an RG uni

[antioxidants]

Many thanks kerrygrey and happyg. Sprog is happy at his private day school (with limited boarding facilities) but eager to spread his wings at a full boarding school with more extra-curricular activities (& no doubt to get away from farve and murve!).

To be honest, I was quite reluctant to fix something that isnt broken but respect his wishes to try something new. His form tutor seems to think 6-8A's for GCSE are within sight (with a few A*s if he knuckles down next year) - not quite SPBS/Westminster or scholarship calibre. Some sport, no music.

I was really wondering if Harrow's sixth form is quite welcoming to new students and whether they often have problems settling in?

We're also planning to visit Wellington and maybe Charterhouse and King's Canterbury.

[Colleger]

I think they will be looking at A* candidates for Harrow.

[happygardening]

I suspect Kings and Charterhouse will also want lots of AS*'s.

[veronicalondon]

Hi, Labour party and Hilton at £500 a night? Please put New Labour, otherwise the deceased labourists would turn in their graves!