Argggghhjj missed 13+ admissions independent school

[Elsielouise13]

I cannot believe we have done this! Lockdown, COVID, not being sure where we would be living means we have missed closing dates for year nine entry in 2022!

In my head the closing date was year seven January! I mean that is still 18 month’s beforehand.

Has anyone got any experience of dealing with such a duck up!

No experience, but there is no harm in controlling the school and asking for flexibility. Unless they are overwhelmingly oversubscribed and already have to turn away hundreds of children who are bright and enthusiastic, I suspect they won't mind letting you join the admissions process a little late.

I know of one family who only found out in the January of their DC being in y6 that they would need to move to a new city, and it turned out the entrance exam for the school they were most interested in was actually only 2 days away but the school allowed them to apply and register for the exam in that short timescale. I would guess that vastly oversubscribed schools might be less accommodating though.

I don't know why autocorrect turned "contacting" into "controlling" - sorry

Ring the school and explain. They will probably still accept your application.

But - are you sure they want you to apply now for September 2022? That’s horrifyingly early! A whole year earlier than the school I work in.

Lots of schools that admit into y9 will do pre-tests during y6, and December deadlines are entirely normal for that. It's not especially early.

When was the deadline?

Just phone the school and explain. Schools are used to people relocating and that not everyone can possibly manage the insanely early timetables.

It is a bit bonkers I am trying to predict which school ds1 (currently yr5, not 10 until just before yr6 starts) will suit in yr9. The yr6 pretest is convinient for schools but fairly mad in the logistics/ child development departments.

I have learned from parents of my son’s classmates that schools do take people later than the admissions deadline. It depends on the school but, in particular, those who select in year 6 for year 9 entry will ofren consider people later, eg year 7 or year 8. There will be shuffling around as people’s plans change. So dont be deterred that you have missed the boat. You have just missed the early boat! It just means you will have to take a more bespoke approach, discussing with admissions departments what approach they take to late admissions. Also, if you cant participate in the current round and have to apply in a later cycle it is unlikely you will be able to hold onto an offer for long without pa6ing a deposit and, unlike the year 6 round of applications for year 9 you wont have a window of several months to receive competing offers from schools and decide between them. As they will all be operating on different timetBles for late applications you may face a dilemma over paying a deposit when you are still hoping for a better offer. If this happens you may have to pay a deposit whilst holding out for your first choice offer at a later date.

Are you sure? My dd's school does a 13+ and they haven't even opened registration for it for 2022 yet.

Some are early, especially if they pretest and use ce. Those schools with their own 13+ papers are often later for registrations. Having said that there is usually an alternative route for later or overseas candidates. Prep schools are usually good at prompting parents for the relevant deadlines.

Thank you all. And yes sadly, completely sure. The three we are interested in close almost two years ahead for Y9 standard admission.

They are over subscribed and its own papers not common entrance (my son did CE in Y6 last year for a local ind secondary to test his capacity).

He actually did the CE for Y7 entry then and was offered a place in a pretty big standard Indy but we wanted him to stay at his prep till the end of Y8.

I didn’t sleep last night I felt I’d let him down so much but with our 60 hour working weeks each during COVID for my husband and I it feels like we have failed him. His prep school is generally brilliant but I do feel a bit let down here.

Am sure we will resolve but still... something else to add to the overthinking list.

Reading this has really touched me as it is so completely the sort of thing I would do. Ring up admissions and explain! They are also human and have experienced lockdowns etc, I am sure they will be sympathetic. I am also sure you are not the only one in the same position. Keeping fingers crossed for you

Any chance that he might be scholarship material for one of the schools you like? My DS was turned down by 2 schools in yr 6 and by the end of yr 7 we had a provisional offer for one school and a backup offer. He then went through the scholarship process for three schools and ended up at one of the ones that didn't offer a place in yr 6.

It was tough on him but the extra maturity he'd gained from 10 to 12 meant that he knew what he wanted and it turned out he had the ability to get it.

I hope you can find some reasonable options to apply to. Fingers crossed some of your targets can give you some leeway.

I missed the 11+ deadline for two schools my daughter was applying to and they were very understanding and allowed us to apply anyway. Try talking to the admissions office.

OP - any joy? I missed the 11+ deadline for an independent (SW London) and they wouldn’t accept a late entry (despite the exam not being until Jan).

I actually have got a Y9 boarding offer for 2023. If I change my mind that I want to start earlier, does a school in general be flexible to convert it into Y7 for 2021?

@uk2020 it will depend on the school. You may also find relatively fewer y7 boarders to y9 especially if it is mxed day/boarding. Are you looking at full or weekly boarding?

Full boarding. The school is 90%+ full boarding.

TBH, I am horrified that your prep didn't go over the deadlines with you, they have let you down. Surely they noticed that no references were requested, were these schools that do not use the ISEB pretest? I think that the prep's head should write to the schools on your behalf, I know of many boys that found places in Year 8 when the dust has settled and everyone has found a place.

@nylon14 I am really fed up too!

He could be scholarship material, his NV a nd VR scores are 140 so we could look at that. My husband has written to the head cos I was too angry. We don’t want boarding but don’t know if that will make any difference.

I couldn’t sleep when I found out, still feel like we’ve let him down and I haven’t told him yet.

We’ve just been so busy with work both of us it’s been insane.

Will update if we get a anywhere. He’s not going into the state system here as he’d never get a place at this stage in the only grammar we could get him too and he’s completely not going into the alternative.

In year admission maybe possible but still v risky.

I am an idiot!

Sounds like the prep has a lot of work to do to make up for this. Did you speak to admissions at the schools you have missed the deadlines for? Have other DC actually sat entrance exams for these or is it simply that you have missed an arbitrary deadline? If no exam has yet taken place I am sure you will be able to get him onto a list with an explanation of why this has occurred. I have no idea of your job but if you were a consultant in respiratory medicine then I am sure they would let you off as something tells me they would have been slightly busy over the last year! There are plenty of professions who have been ridiculously busy and focused elsewhere than on home admin. It shouldn't be a case of computer says no- the people in admissions are humans too and schools have been ridic busy this term so they should have some understanding!

All parents at our prep were invited to meetings in y5/6 to plan all of this for each child. You have an utterly crap prep and I cannot imagine why they didn’t talk through destinations with you and make the necessary plans. It’s dreadful. I’m wondering if other DC in the school don’t have ambitions for early closing schools? Are you an outlier?

I’m also aghast that you think he might get a scholarship but surely if the school thinks this, they would discuss it with you and look at possible schools? This strategy is planned too. Our old prep had numerous scholarships every year so prepped DC for this and chose schools where success was a real possibility. It’s advertising their quality as well. You don’t seem to have received the service you’ve paid for.

I would contact the schools as you have been advised. I would ask to zoom call the head of your prep and ask what they intend to do to help. This really isn’t your fault. However, what have other parents done regarding schools? Was there no chat about destinations? Usually you get chat about the ins and outs of the application process.

Unless the schools you want are very lofty, they might stretch the deadline. I would expect your head to grovel to them personally! Good luck and hope you get somewhere.

I am an admissions manager in an independent school. Send your application in today. It will be absolutely fine. Do phone to put your mind at rest. The head etc won't even know. X

Did you have any luck OP?

I also missed 13+ deadline for a top London indie and they weren't flexible. ironically their 11+ deadline was later than the 13+ and so we just applied for that (turned it down after as we were more keen on boarding)

Top London independent schools are massively over subscribed. They don’t need to recruit. Other less lofty schools almost certainly would be ok with missing a deadline. I’m still not sure why the prep didn’t help with this. It’s what you pay for, surely?