Would you do this?

[teta]

Eldest dd is doing very well in her current good comprehensive She is in the top groups.After a morning spent doing multi-choice tests a while ago,we have just heard today that she has been assigned the bottom set in Maths in a local private school.She got 7c in her end of term exams in her current school but sometimes gets erroneous low results in tests[ has happened twice now].She has put an awful lot of effort into improving her results over the last 3 years.I do accept that the standards for private schools may be higher [although her teachers reckon she will get a's and a*'s where she is now].I'm really not sure whether to go ahead and transfer her now as the sheer demotivation of moving from top to bottom would mean she may just give up.I may just refuse to move her unless they agree to place her in the middle set.

How old is she? Why are you moving her from good school where she is doing well?

No I don't think I would. If your dd is doing well at a good school then why move her? Unless there are other reasons you haven't mentioned.

The private school gets much better results overall and there is more opportunity to do extra subjects and languages than in her current school.She wants to be a vet and will need the very best exam results possible for this.I would rather send her to the very best school now so she has the chance to get the results she will need rather than hoping that she might at her current school.Obviously though i don't want to totally demoralise her by starting her in the bottom set of the new school.She has spent the last 3 years gaining in confidence in her current school and has made a lovely group of friends.

Pay for a tutor in the exams she needs to be top notch and if the school doesn't offer a qualification then do it privately but don't move her.

My ds was in set 4 of 5 in his moderately academically selective independent ,he still got an A at IGSE maths.I would move ,vet science is hugely competitive and I would want as much support as possible.It has been noticeable how much support with university applications subject choice etc my ds has had at his independent compared to some at our local school.Obviously some state schools have fantastic support ,ours is just very big,15 mins once a year with head of sixth is all you get .

Can you do triple science at both schools because that would be a big factor for me

To what extent are you comparing apples and oranges? How selective is the private school - the 'bottom' set of a school which only took kids of grammar school ability might include kids who'd be in the top set at a comp.

What year is she now? Your mention of '3 years .. in current school' suggest 9 . The levels for maths are a bit different to other subjects, so the private school will probably have quite a few yr 9 children achieving level 8

Are the better results better for comparable kids or is this mostly a reflection of intake? (it could be either).

Can you do triple science at both schools because that would be a big factor for me

absolutely - if she wants to be a vet, extra languages may not be too relevant but the sciences are essential.

My exceptionally academic niece wants to be a vet. She goes to one of the best grammar schools in the country, and she did not get into any of the vet schools for next year. One key factor was that she did not do 3 sciences at A level (only two). You are right that it is hugely competitive and students from big cities seem to be at a disadvantage. For example, you have to have experience working with large animals (eg horses and cattle). She did a month at a farm one holiday to get this experience.

Good luck, I hope she gets her wish!

I agree with colleger.
If she is happy and it sounds as though she is making good progress, leave her where she is and use the money for a tutor if she needs to boost her grades.

Yes, the private school is selective.I would question how selective it is though as not all pupils appear to be brilliant.However it does get 75% a's and a*'s for gcse's and the academic support is definitely there.In her current school only the top ones get these sort of results.Yes you can now do triple science at her local comp.My dd has said only a third of her comp want to work [the other 2/3rds don't really care] and these are in the top group.I am assuming that most if not all of the private school want to work [but dd after a taster day has said that not strictly true] as some of them muck about.DD is fairly positive about it-has mentioned it to her friends[the grading] and they've all said to her that she'll be moved to the top group by the end of next year.She is currently in year 8 [actually got mark of 7b in the end of year test and a combination of 6b and a's and 7 c's across the year].
Veterinary science is hugely competitive i know.This is the main reason why i'm thinking of moving her .We live in a very small rural market town [the size of a village ]and there are lots of opportunities to work with animals round here-especially on farms and horses.

Another option is to let her take her GCSE's where she is now and move her to somewhere more high powered for A levels.

One thing you will have to get used to is that very few independents use the 8a ,7b nomenclature mine are at Independents and I haven't a clue what these measurements are and they are never mentioned ,the school assess on a wide variety of criteria not just NC.

Your daughter is right not all teens in independents want to work,after all the decision to send them there is largely down to their parents not them and unless you are in a very competitive area the selectivity will be just to make sure you can cope with the school rather than competing with others for a place.However if you are not working the staff tend to be addressing it not just leaving you to get on with it or accepting that that is your choice.

She's at a comprehensive school - of course only the top ones get those sort of results!

A selective private school getting 75% A*-C ; good grief
my DCs comp got 78% and was beaten by 4 other comps in the same county
sounds like they are rather up themselves
keep her where she is and invest in specific tutoring

TalkingPeace - The OP said 75% got A* and A. Don't believe there's a comp anywhere that can compete with that.

true - those Bs and Cs are just so dead boring now!!
it will be interesting to see how the grades look in a couple of years time.
I'll have to look up how the notorious comp up the road does on A & A* ....

OK, A & A* DCs school only got 31% - but then its a comp
the highest of the comps I know got 46%

Leecoakley yes it is a comprehensive but we live in a affluent area and most of the local professionals send their children to this school.Consequently there are a lot of bright kids to start with.However i don't believe that her current school offers 'added value'.They do however get extremely good results because of the bright cohort to begin with.This private school offers 'added value' though i don't believe that the kids will be any brighter than her current friends.Its difficult to find out the % of state schools with a*'s as this is not published and is totally anecdotal.
Out to lunch,i'm still getting my head round these scores[as the levels seem to vary depending on the suject matter].I will not be sorry to lose them [but have another 3 dc's left to wend there way through the scoring system].

'Their' not 'there'.

This is a tricky one. I wouldn't worry about your DD being in the bottom set if she moves-you can discuss with her the reasons for this and she will likely move up anyway. I would imagine she would still be able to get A/A*.

My DD is in a good comprehensive and we have tutored where necessary but I still think being at a comp. has cost her several A* grades. Yes you can pay for tutoring but you have no choice as to when your child actually sits the exams. My DD sat a large chunk of her English Lit GCSE in October of year 10 and it was too early for her-had she sat it later she probably would have gone up a grade.

My DD is not interested in doing anything competitive[wants to act!] and should still get mainly As so it doesn't really matter but one of her friends wanted to be a vet and sadly won't get the number of A* required.

I think you should discuss the pros and cons with your daughter and come to a decision together.

You can get the A*/A % from state schools in the league tables. Or is that not what you meant?

GCSE A* and A data for state secondary schools - there is a sub table for ones without 6th form.
All the data is there.
pp.include-digital.com/table/state-secondary-schools

In addition to the wealth of tables out there, when we were deciding on secondary school for DD every school - state and private - was happy to provide complete results by subject so we could see eg how many A* in each separate science. (it was quite revealing - some schools were clearly doing more subjects which were easier to get top grades in).

That table is the best I've seen! They could have a column for selective and one for IB though to make it even more informative.

Very interesting,thank you Talkinpeace. Our local school isn't in the top 500 ,but the school it beat last year is!.Our local results are getting worse not better according to this.I still don't know how to get the % of a/a*'s though.It's pretty obvious its going to be much lower than 30 % though, as opposed to the 72% that the private school got last year.