Ibstock vs Emanuel

[Justrunningaround]

Having survived this year’s SW London 11+ round (even though I think I’ve aged about 20 years 😳😬), it’s a huge relief that DD has had offers from Ibstock Place and Emanuel. I’d love to hear honest feedback from any parents with kids at either school ... it’s a tough decision!

Choose the one with the easiest journey to school. Emanuel is very well served by public transport whereas Ibstock is not.

Congratulations on both places! I have friends with children at both, and both are happy.

The main differences are Ibstock have a vertical tutor system which means children are in a tutor group with older children rather than just children in their year group. Some people say this is a good thing, others not. They also HAVE to take two languages at GCSE, or at least that’s what we were told at the open day. I would also say sport is not as good as at some other schools, however, the children who probably wouldn’t have made a team at another school do get into teams and have opportunities to play matches etc. We didn’t apply in the end as it didn’t feel right for us.

Emanuel, I know many parents with children there. It seems to be a busy, fun school with good all round provision and obviously draws a huge number of applicants due to its location and being so near Clapham Junction. We applied, and got a place which we will be declining. The sport is apparently good.

Honestly, I think they are both excellent schools and your child will be happy at either.

Thanks both - we are an easy bus journey from both so not much to choose there. I’ve heard IPS has a fantastic dance provision... does anyone have experience of this?
I was impressed with the new Emanuel head in the open day (less so Ibstock) but then it seems the Ibstock academics are way ahead. Other DC I know at both schools seem very happy there. How to choose?!!

Ibstock has excellent dance - if your dd is serious about her dance she’d be able to access very good training on site before and after school and at weekends. Ballet is the main focus, but also contemporary, jazz, musical theatre. It’s all run by Mary Goodhew, who is well known and respected in the dance world.

Based on the latest GCSE results, academically they are on par with 72% and 73% A*-A grades at Emanuel and Ibstock respectively. We toured both and liked the feel of Emanuel more but sadly didn’t get an offer.

Dihappy, sorry to hear about your DC not getting an offer. I wonder if Emanuel has become harder to get into in recent years? Based partly on old threads on this site I naively thought that Emanuel would be easier to get into than some schools in W/SW London but my DS didn’t get an offer either.