Amazed at number of parents intending to move from state to private during secondary years

[Macedonia]

I live in SW London, an area where the places at the selective comprehensives, super selective grammars and well regarded private schools are oversubscribed and hotly fought over. In the last couple of weeks, 3 parents have said to me that although their children will be starting their secondary school career at comprehensives, either having not applied for selective schools or having not got in, they are fully intending on moving them, either for the GCSE years or earlier, if they feel they are not happy.
I have resisted asking them how they think they are going to get a place, seeing as none of the schools round here have a normal intake after Year 7 and therefore they would be applying for an occasional place, which is relatively unlikely to come up.
Am I alone in experiencing this? Is this quite normal?

Dunno if normal but agree that finding a place and being able to afford it are big practical issues. Given way cost of living is going , I think the days of scrimping to pay for private school may be numbered.

The grammars and girls' schools don't take extra pupils in Yr 9, and many of the other private schools are mixed and start at Yr 7, so I doubt they would have an extra intake at Yr 9. Obviously there are the boys' schools which have a tradition of taking a large intake at Yr 9, but these are few and far between. Interestingly the parents were all parents of girls.

Most private schools in this area have additional intakes at 12 and 13. Even one of hte local superselectives has a few extra places for starting GCSEs (although not well publicised)

I didn't know that about the super selective, Seeline. However I'm not aware that any of the girls' schools take more pupils in Yr 9, certainly not at G&L, St Paul's, LEH or the GDST schools. Looking at Kingston Grammar, they are not taking any Yr 9 pupils in 2012 but will take some in 2013.

It seems strange to me to not do it in yr7 if you are going to move from state to private. My ds is in yr7 at a GS and they tell me they are already laying the foundation for GCSE work, so it can't be ideal to move a child later. They do take a few students at 13, but competition for these places is even more fierce than it is at 11+, so it woudo seem silly to count on that plan working.

I think it's quite common to move from state to private at secondary though. There is often a lot less choice of good schools at secondary, and a good secondary school is more important than a good primary school IMO.

Schoolsnightmare - in this area there are relatively few schools which start from age 13. One that I can think of also has a junior school, where I think they take a few state school children at 11, to make up for the fact that they have to move at that point.
Outraged - I agree that it does seem odd not to do it in Yr 7 and I think it may be a case of not being able to afford it and/or not having passed the exams. It seems strange to think that a couple of years later that things will have changed so much, either financially or academic prowess-wise (also, where there will be maybe 1 or 2 places up for grabs rather than 120, where your odds, however short, would have been higher)

Lots of people leave private schools for various reasons including:

the fees are too difficult to meet
divorce
the child is not meeting the school's academic expectations
the child is not meeting the school's expectations for behaviour
a special need has been discovered and the school is unable to meet the child's needs.
parents realisiation that it isn't really any better than the state school

Don't know exactly where you are but GDST - Croydon High has a 13+ entry.

Littlefrieda, I appreciate that, but it seems strange to count on that happening at a particular time for a specific school, which is what these parents seem to be planning. Given that there are many 100's of pupils who don't get into the grammars or other selective schools for Yr 7, there must be quite a few who will attempt to do so when a place comes up, so competition is no less fierce. Add to that the fact that the pupils who have been at the schools since Yr 7 may well be studying different subjects (Latin, other MFL, 3 sciences) and it becomes harder to get in, I would imagine.

Woldingham has a 13+ entry (as well as Year 7).

Some schools have an entry at 13, but if this is reliant on sitting the CE, those not prepped for it might find it difficult. The curriculum isn't the same as the NC.

That said, the types of parents at private school are more likely to posted elesewhere so there is some movement. Although, whilst there has been a fair bit of movement in primary, myself and most of the parents I know are committed to remaining put until the end of GCSE. So there won't be that many places that come up organically.

As wordfactory says, most indie schools that do common entrance (yr 9 entry) will expect pupils to be moving up from prep schools. These children are fantastically well-prepped for the exams - and they all know Latin, have very advanced skills in writing and maths. It's naive to think that if your child is failing at a local comp you can switch. maybe, but only with pretty intensive tuition from the start, as they'll be competing with children who have been preparing for nothing else since yr1.
The schools that have places and aren't so competitive will be easy to get into for a reason. No point paying a fortune for a mediocre education.

In SW London Yr 9 places for girls are largely limited to occasional places, though this might be different for 13+ schools further out like Epsom. There is pretty strong competition from girls relocating from overseas, those who failed to settle in their first school, those coming out of 13+ preps (including those who did not get a school they liked at 11+), as well as a contingent wanting to switch from single to co-ed.

From what you say my guess is that these parents are really disappointed that:

1. they did not get the state school they wanted;
2. they cant really afford private;
3. they may not have got the private school they would have absolutely stretched themselves to fund.

Their DC find it difficult because other friends are going off to exciting and sought after schools. So the parents tell them that they can try again in Yr 9, half hoping that by then and with an established friendship group they wont want to move.

If they really intend to move to the private sector at a later point they should speak to registrars and register for occasional places. This gives credibility to an application at 13+, and reassures the school that the move is not because of "a problem".