Admissions for independent schools

[Cat111]

My DS is 7 and at a local primary school. We are very happy with this school. However we are concerned about the local secondary school as it has problems recruiting and retaining staff. This seems to lead to problems with discipline and disappointing academic results.

We are tentatively investigating secondary level options at the moment. In an ideal world the local school would pick up, but this would go against the downward trend of the past 10 years. We are considering boarding schools and private day schools in Scotland and England.

1. When do we need to put names down or apply?
2. What is the typical age for an interview?
3. Is it typical to be charged for an interview - we were recently told by a friend that she had been charged £400 per interview by Harrow, Eton and Winchester
4. How common is Common Entrance now? Do most independent schools have their own assessment?

Thank you!

1. It depends . Contact the admissions office, some will close interest lists up to 2/3 years ahead of any tests.
2. Will vary according to whether 11+ or 13+ intake, up to 2 years ahead and nearer the time for scholarship applications.
3. There is normally a registration fee to enter the exam/interview process which can be £100 + then a deposit payable on accepting offer of a place plus a term in advance.
4. CE is still used for traditional public schools but ime day schools and increasing mixed day/boarding set their own entrance tests. Those using CE at 13+ often pretest during year 6/7.

If you are looking at public schools for 13+ intake you may want to consider a traditional prep school with experience of sending pupils to that school for years 7 and 8 .

Cat do you live in Scotland? If so, you may want to look at a proper prep school which would prepare your DS for public schools like Eton, Harrow etc. There really aren't that many proper prep school in Scotland that can prepare adequately for these top Public schools. The Curriculum for Excellence would in no way prepare your DS for the rigours of their entrance exams, imo, and the huge competition for places at these oversubscribed schools also all these schools start at age 13 so what would you do for a year between state school finishing and Public school starting? There is a lot to think about.

Thank you Lizs. Very good advice. I agree about year 7 and 8 as I'm not sure I see any point in sending him to the local school for a year, then moving him again.

Motherstongue –Thank you. We are in Scotland. Not only looking at the schools listed – I just heard that there was a fee to interview for those schools and wondered if that happened everywhere these days. Our knowledge is a bit dated. We know a lot of children who have gone to Harrow and Eton from Edinburgh schools so I don't think we necessarily need to send him too far away. One friend's child recently went straight from a Scottish state school to Winchester, but he does come from a very clever family so I suspect that may not be typical!