6th form admission 2014...

[Indigoberkeley]

DD has applied to a few independent schools for sixth form, however she has not heard back from all of them. We are not entirely sure whether to expect schools to notify us if she has been unsuccessful in gaining a place and so don't know whether to accept an offer she already has or wait to see if she has been accepted to any others.

Does anyone know whether schools generally notify unsuccessful candidates?

Thanks in advance!

Do the school websites not say how the application process works, and when the deadlines are for sending out offers?

Private schools usually acknowledge all applications, and provide in that letter/email details of what happens next (though that info is usually on their website too).

You need to ring the registrars early in the New Year (they're often working a day or few before term starts) and find out what is happening.

Most will publish a timetable for applications and offers on their website. Give them until early next week then call.

Oops, sorry, I did mean 2015!

We live overseas so I'm just a bit unsure as to whether letters will be late or whether they just don't notify unsuccessful applicants which does make it a bit difficult for DD to make decisions about schooling.
Many of the school websites are a bit vague about deadlines.

Thanks very much for the help.

They do normally send a yes/no/waiting list letter. May not be done until just before next term starts though, when staff return to work.

Has she sat entrance exams?

Some schools only offer places once GCSE results are out unless you get a unconditional offer based on the schools entrance exam.

She sat some entrance exams which I think were around late November/early October. She's not doing GCSEs since we live overseas. Hopefully we will hear from the schools soon!
Thanks again!

At ds's school for 6th form entry conditional offers are made on the basis of an interview & their current school report.

Assuming an interview isn't practical they may be awaiting information to arrive from your dds current school abroad.

You should check. Certainly the very selective schools (SPS, SPGS, Westminster and possibly CLSG) have made their offers and the deadline for acceptance has passed. Other schools offer later, but are likely to expect a quick decision from parents, so they can get their wait lists moving. Perhaps a short email. School admissions staff are often there during school holidays.

At this point co-eds tend to be harder to get into than single sex, as girls who feel they have outgrown their current school, press for a move. And in London there tends to be a movement away from boarding.

Conditions attached to offers tend not to be too taxing, no worse perhaps than sixth forms of selective state secondaries/grammars, though many will require good grades in proposed A level subjects.

"We live overseas so I'm just a bit unsure as to whether letters will be late or whether they just don't notify unsuccessful applicants"

Yes, schools normally send an acknowledgment that application has been received. And then a separate letter idc with outcome. Often by email now.

You need to contact the school/s because this does sound as if correspondence that normally would be there has gone missing.