Berkhamsted Girls School

[Sampford]

Hello.

I'm hoping someone has some experience of Y7 entry to Berkhamsted Girls School. We've got my daughter's name down on the waiting list for the prep school (she's currently Y5) but I'm not hopeful there will be much movement so suspect we're looking at sitting the exams for Y7.

I know places at the boys school for externals at Y7 are like gold dust and we went through the stress of my son going through that process. Fortunately he got a place from the waiting list so all settled there. Is the girls school as over-subscribed? I'm wondering whether with girls from the Prep school and also from Heatherton it might be even more competitive for girls places at Y7.

If anyone has any experience of entry to the girls school at Y7 or if you know how many places are available these days for non-Prep/non-Heatherton girls that would be really helpful.

Thanks so much in advance.

There are a lot more places for girls at 11 than boys (there is a bigger 13+ intake for boys than at 11+).

They do make it seem harder to get into than other local schools though due to their waiting list system. They only make offers to the very brightest girls in December based on the results of the entrance tests. Everyone else is put on a waiting list. The list moves firstly when the offers for St Albans High and Habs come through (with 9 times out of 10 the parents are using Berkhamsted as a backup). The waiting list then moves again after the state school allocations are made as Berkhamsted town sees girls usually get offers from Chesham Grammar and Aylesbury High.

Put it this way, I have never known a girl from our prep (local but not Heatherton) who wants to go there not get a place, including those in lower ability sets. It’s just a very stressful waiting game if your daughter isn’t lucky enough to get an offer in December.

This may change in a few years though as from next September, girls joining Y3 and below at Heatherton are guaranteed a place at Berkhamsted. I’m sure the number of girls places at 11 to “outsiders” will decrease significantly.

For the Sep 2020 start there were something like 42 girls who came up from the prep. This left 30 to 40 places for new girls I believe. Not sure where I got that from though - I think it came from one of the other mums.