City of London Girls withdrawing offers

[Leo12345]

Hello! I was surprised to receive an email today from City of London Girls that their offer to DD is now withdrawn. I opened their original email with the offer and read that indeed this is their policy: first-comes-first-gets.
We are much more prone to go to LEH or if not Kingston Grammar, and now I bless this decision as I learnt something about City of London Girls character and aptitude towards its pupil.

My question is: do other schools (in particular LEH and Kingston Grammar) practice such policy?

We would accept the offer in LEH today then, though we are waiting for the tour in there.

[Tissunnyupnorth]

Yes, I checked, those schools and all others we sat for are not interested in the exploding offer debacle. Whilst it won’t affect us, in that DD has not applied to those school I have a few friends waiting for state offers. This really affects them.

[PatienceVirtue]

Oh and from what I gather NLCS, SHHS and FH have explicitly said they won't be doing exploding offers.

[PatienceVirtue]

Hello as far as I know Channing, Highgate and City are doing exploding offers but it might be in varying degrees - for instance I know City over-offered wildly while Highgate is a bit more conservative so there may be more time.

City is making its offers later than everyone else, the Monday after half term (rather than the Friday before half term). This is better in some ways as it doesn't clash with holidays and it people should know what they're choosing between by then.

However, it means that if you get an offer from Channing/Highgate but want City, you're a bit stumped as do you accept or do you wait and run the risk of no offers?

Or do you just opt for one of the dozens of schools that don't do this horrible practice?

NB double-check all the information above with the registrars though. Oh and both Highgate and Channing offers can be accepted electronically. Don't know about City.

[Tissunnyupnorth]

Should read ‘a bit of a zombie thread’

[Tissunnyupnorth]

Hi

I know this is a of a zombie thread, but as I am currently going through the London eleven plus with DD2, I thought I would ask! I have been told CLSG and Channing are using the ‘exploding’ offer system again this year, does anybody if any other schools are taking this (horrible) approach?

[user149799568]

Someone I know got a waiting list offer late last week, presumably as people who paid deposits on 12th and 13th Feb withdrew before they became liable for the autumn term's fees. They were told on 22nd Feb that they were mid-30's on the waiting list.

Anyone else hear anything?

[TheInvisibleHand]

That is interesting LondonandUSA mum. We have not had an update, though I have continued to express interest. Will chase (though I suspect lost cause)

[LondonUSAmum]

I’m assuming as they offered places many declined as they had decided on another school already. I didn’t ask how many places were filled from the waiting list.

But interesting as last year they took only 6 from the waiting list but we don’t know how many thehbmlve through to get to those 6.

[Lotsofsighing]

That's interesting LondonUSAmum - did she explain why? i.e. is it 20 people who have removed themselves from the waiting list or is it that 20 people who had accepted places now no longer want them. I'm not sure it can be the former - why would people remove themselves from the waiting list since there's no disadvantage to them being on it. If the latter, then that's quite a high proportion of those that accepted the place before the deadline which would suggest that they were doing so as insurance.

[LondonUSAmum]

For those still interested, we finally heard back from CLGS. DD has moved up about 20 places on the waiting list so seems there was some decent movement from the list.

The new registrar apologised for the lengthy delay in her response and said she is just starting in the role and doing her best to catch up. Hopefully a sign of better communication to come.

[Lotsofsighing]

That's good to know about new registrar Sunbabies, I'm sure it's hard juggling admissions but they did seem to find it harder than other schools.

Dd off to GDST school in North London...

[Sunbabies]

Btw, they have a new registrar again. The new one seemed to be better at responding to my emails. But hoping that they do deliver what they promised about waiting lists etc.

Which schools have you accepted @londonusamum, @lotsofsighing?

[Needmoresleep]

No. Not at all and sorry if it sounded like that.

I was simply saying that these schools charge big application fees. They are charging for a service. People paying have a right to a service in the form of replies to emails etc. On this level alone you are being treated badly.

[LondonUSAmum]

Needmoresleep,what is wrong?

When did I say anything about being entitled to a space?

[Needmoresleep]

LondonUSAmum, this is wrong. You don't necessarily have an entitlement to a place (though the way places were allocated is obviously somehting for discussion) but the admission fee ought to entitle you to a reasonable level of service and consideration. It is a service they have charged you for, but that you don't seem to be getting.

[LondonUSAmum]

I have no expectation they will be offering DD a place as we were so far down the waiting list so haven’t even entertained the thought. DD still loves the school but out of principal I can’t imagine we would now.

But I am curious to see how it all plays out so am keeping in touch with the school.

Why they keep promising communication and responses and then don’t bother continues to be frustrating. But I guess they have their numbers and haven’t cared how they’ve treated anyone, especially the girls, in the process so it shouldn’t continue to surprise me.

[Lotsofsighing]

LondonUSAmum would you take a place if offered now or are you all (in the words of that song that my kids sing incessantly) ciao, adios, I'm done?

Presumably you've accepted elsewhere. If Channing were to ring us up to offer us a place I wouldn't accept (mostly because I think the school we've accepted is better) but even if it had been my favourite, I might have felt like it was accepting back a faithless boyfriend.

[LondonUSAmum]

Applicants on the waiting list were promised an email last week but we’ve heard nothing, even after emailing them to ask for an update.

[Lotsofsighing]

I'm bumping this to echo Chocolate Wombat's question.

Now that the state school offers are out, has anyone who got in their acceptance to City quickly now decided to reject the offer?

Has anyone on the waiting list been offered a place?

Has anyone heard anything about how they might be planning to handle in future (given that I think this model is unsustainable)? I've got a younger child and if I have to factor in my ability to run to the Barbican clutching a piece of paper with both parental signatures, on the off chance of getting an offer in the first place, I think it would put me off applying. It's not as 11+ isn't stressful and uncertain enough in the first place.

[ChocolateWombat]

In response to the question about me and why I moved from being very negative about Citys exploding offers last year, to being more understanding of what they did it by this year, I never had a child involved - not this year or last.
My change of view was simply because I thought longer and harder about the issues created by lots of parents applying to lots of schools and the particular problems for a school which can only take 75 girls, with a very space limited site, whilst also being very popular due to academic success, but often not the first choice for many of those many applicants.
I think not having a child involved made me look at it differently......I think the whole system of independence to schools in London increasingly struggles to get offering right,nits just that people don't know because they keep their worries about bulge classes and about going far down the WL very quiet....but big struggles nonetheless. I just saw City as acting to minimise them.
As I've said before, the lack of crystal clear communication from the start about it all wasn't acceptable, even if the practice can be explained. And I di t think they will be able to use it in the same format again as by nature it will fill sooner and sooner and camping out isn't what the school will want.

What I would be interested to know at this point (but we will never know) is, if all the girls who applied, now they have all their offers, how many would have turned City down if they had an offer? And how many of the top perhaps 100 would have said 'no'? And of those who had offers explode, how many would have eventually declined anyway?

[TheInvisibleHand]

Teenmum - sort of. School emailed directly about arrangements for offer holder day before 5pm.

[Teenmum60]

Did HBS issue offers before all the other London schools (5pm today?)

[TheInvisibleHand]

User - no accounting for tastes! I really wanted to like HBS. It is much nearer to where we live, free and academically great. But there was something about the atmosphere I wasn't keen on. Kids felt a bit focussed on the ends, less the fun of learning so a bit joyless. I know that may be wildly unfair and a snapshot, so will go see it tomorrow. But City was the school I walked into and felt like DD would slot right in. Lots - that may be how it goes!

[User223344]

Oops the former is a prestigious grammar I should have written..

[Lotsofsighing]

For reasons of self-interest, invisiblehand, I think you tell City they're not worthy of your awesome daughter and go for SHHS...