Help!! Moving to UK: good website for school entrance exams?

[NewUKmum]

Hi, we are (hopefully!!) moving to the UK permanently later this summer. I want to start preparing my children for school entrance exams. (son 11, daughter 10 and son 8) and, as an educator, have found real exams the best way to prepare. Also, I can't buy any of the "bond books" as it's ruinously expensive to send here. I don't know which schools my kids will apply so I want to look at different schools' past papers. Are there any websites anyone recommends to see these? Thanks from Trenton, NJ!!

Three kids in London independent schools is going to be a stonking monthly bill. But if you will be living near Bond Street perhaps that won't be an issue...

It really is. I honestly don't think I've ever communicated with anyone so wealthy as to have 3 kids in a London private. Most celebs would probably wonder which one to send to the comp :D

I have just had a look at some school fee costs. Three children in private school in London at £75,000+ a year

This is another world compared to mine.

Even if you live near Bond st to have e.g. one child at Westminster under one at Colet Court ( or whatever they call it now - i.e. St Paul's junior school ) and one at Alleyn's- that is logistically not great.

I would hone down the schools - preferably getting 2 out of three in the same direction .

Also & as you are experienced in education , check what level etc your children are, coming from a very different system - I am sure they are all as bright as buttons , but are they au fait with what UK children would have been expected to learn for those entrance exams.

You said in first post you were thinking about boarding schools - if so then not quite so important where you live - day schools perhaps more so.

I think the main thing is to read about the schools but more important in the first instance rather than buying practice papers is to go and visit the schools and see which one or ones your children would be happy at and thrive - and visiting will obviously whittle down the list as obvs. impossible to see dozens of schools

But as others have said - all best wishes - do let us know what you think !

@ newUKMum how is it all going? I’m in a similar position. Im finding it amazing how far behind US kids are.

Good Day UK!

Thank you all for the recommendations on school consultants, but while the company will pay for rent and schooling they do not pay for this, which is why we’re trying to do as much as we can ourselves.

I’ve had the kids do 2-3 of the admissions tests per day and this has been VERY helpful. Gets them used to UK money, your “metric system”, English history and so on.

From the exams we’ve done it looks like the kids in the UK are about a year ahead of us here, so this has been great preparation for my kids.

Right now we have interviews at Arnold House and a few places in Swiss Cottage. I do like the looks of HABS and Alleyn’s. Any other thoughts most appreciated. We land in mid-August so I hope to be more responsive then. Getting the house packed has been a nightmare. Thank you and good day ahead.

Hi, I recommend to visit all the schools you are interested in if it is possible. Even though the website looks good, you might get different impression when you visit and talk with the staff.

I hope they will resume open day from September. Good luck!

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk

Check this website out and the forum that goes with it.

@mumto3little

England+Wales+Scotland=Great Britain England+Wales+Scotland+Northern Ireland=United Kingdom

to be fair, i think very few uk nationals could recite this correctly. it is not widely known. perhaps people who have been naturalized have had to learn it.

Why not have a look at good state schools in London too? They have no fees, uniform is often a lot cheaper too. If you don't want to go for a state school, the state grammars also have very good academic reputation, they have their own 11+ exams not too dissimilar to the private and independent school's 11+. Hope this helps

@NewUKmum

North London for September - is tricky......
Arnold House is great very academic, Heathside (Dukes Education) also great - non selective, so perhaps an easier first choice for September start?? I know the new Head, happy to pass on contact details - if you message me privately....

Not using a consultant seems an odd false economy on the salary levels you're talking about to get the type of package you're describing.

I'm sure you've already done this but make sure you've had tax advice on the extent to which you need to pay PAYE on the school fees. Paying the best part of 50% tax on Westminster fees is not a small hit 😀

Thank you all (and thank you but no thank you to all the consultants who pm'd me) for your advice so far.

We are leaving TOMORROW and each of my kids has done over 25 past exams for various schools so they are as ready as they can be for the exams we will be set with for the "occassional place."

@Hargao thank you we have discussed this with PWC and it is extensive. When the organization pays the fees that's taxable income to us, but they pay the tax on that, which is also taxable income, so they will pay the tax on the tax. I don't know why it ends there but it does. Being an American has incredible benefits but comes at some tax costs.

We are all looking forward to this adventure in your "four countries"; see you on the other side!!!!

Good luck and enjoy!

It was the UK tax I was thinking of not the US tax but PWC will have covered both. I agree US non-resident tax liability sucks!

Good luck OP - enjoy London! You should have good weather for a few days before the rain kicks in again

Good morning all from a beautiful London day!! We have landed.

Had time to walk around Harrow and Eton: I am hooked on these schools, they are like Princeton!

Thank you for all of your advice, this is going to be a great adventure (I hope).

I haven’t read the whole thread so apologies if it’s already been said, but I know a few people started with the 11plusforum which can be filtered by the area you are looking at? From there you would probably get tips for the 8 and 13+ too?

If your children are in the US curriculum they will likely struggle crossing over to the UK curriculum. I move US families professionally to the UK, and find most children settle / transition best into the American schools where the curriculum is consistent or flip to IB. Below are those I find most popular, catering to a wide range of needs.

www.acs-schools.com/ - they have several Campuses.
www.tasisengland.org/
www.asl.org/
www.southbank.org/

Marymount is another popular choice, depending on the age of your children.

Most have excellent bus networks, but you'll want to think about their commute time, and triangulation of home / office / school as travel across London can be very time-consuming.

If you opt of a UK curriculum school, you'll find most schools will be more than willing to advise you on tests. Some use the Common Entrance, others have their own tests. We did Common Entrance using Galore park resources for study and my daughter did some past papers. The past papers are a little pricey but eminently worthwhile. ISEB is a great resource.

In respect of taxes, it sounds as if you're being moved as an expatriate by your employer vs a 'local' basis. If an expatriate, and school fees are funded by your employer, this benefit would commonly be grossed up for taxes i.e. your employer takes the hit on the US taxes due, as well as any UK taxes on benefits / sourced income / tax gross ups etc. It would be very unusual for the employer to pass any tax burden to the employee under a true expatriate arrangement. Your liability ought to be limited to US federal & state taxes / FICA etc on employment income ( i.e salary / bonus). If on the other hand you're moving on a local basis, you will need to consider that at least for the first year you may have continued residence in the US, in addition to assuming UK residency. Beware that dual taxation can be an ongoing pain point for US citizens and / or green card holders. I specialize in expatriate arrangements, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

@Pinkyxx thank you but one question: If we're living in the UK why would we want to go to an American school?! I'm quite happy with what we've seen. We're all in.

Thanks also on the taxes but PWC has us covered. We've broken residency.

If your children are in the US curriculum they will likely struggle crossing over to the UK

They'll be fine! They are all still quite young. They have time to adjust before anything really important happens.

Thanks @Castoreum for the reassurance. The reason I started this thread was to get a good look at a lot of past entrance exams, as in admissions we understood that this really reflects the expectations of performance at my schools.

And, having each kid do about 2 a day over the summer we really got to understand the expectations at each level, which I agree is higher over here than in the US.

But other than your money/change and your "metric" system, much of the math is the same, if at a grade above. We have 8 interviews set up already so I think we should be able to find some places, even if not at the schools they will eventually wind up at in a year or two . . . .

@NewUKmum the reason I suggested this is that depending on the age / ability of your children you might find they are quite behind compared to UK children. I can't seen to find your children's ages in this thread, if they are quite young then you'll likely be ok assuming they can reach the entrance standard (which varies by school, some are more competitive than others). Depending on how plan you plan to stay in the UK, transition back to a US curriculum can be problematic as again the UK one doesn't follow the same path as the US one. It's worth thinking of the long term unless your stay in the UK is permanent. I'm assuming your stay isn't permanent as expatriates never are, generally employers will support anywhere from 2-5 years thereafter if you plan to stay you'll be transitioned to UK terms which generally won't include rent or school fees paid. Obviously policies vary by employer but the perpetual expat is extraordinarily rare today and reserved only for those at the pinnacle of their profession (where paying the fees wouldn't be an issue anyway based on earnings).

The other consideration is that if your spouse (or you) are relocated elsewhere its good to have consistency of curriculum through out the child's school life as once they get to exams its very difficult bridge gaps.

But that all being said, I moved schools / country / curriculum every couple of years as did my siblings, its entirely doable and I personally now see this as having been an advantage. Taught me to work hard & adapt lol.

Thank you @Pinkysxx, that's exactly why we are moving them to a UK school. Kind of strange that you suggested we keep them in a US school but subsequently recognize the benefits of adaptation.

But I guess you said you're a consultant so you need to have an argument for each angle.

Our oldest has gotten over 50% on the Eton science exams and 80%+ on the Habs 13+ so I think we'll be fine.

As of today . . . . we've got schools for all of them!!!!

Huge thank you to all of you for your advice.

This city is great, but the weather is quite mercurial I must say. In any case, see you all in Swiss Cottage and Marylebone.

Congratulations!