Feedback please on Co-ed private secondary (non-boarding)

[nice2BeNice]

In the private sector,
a big chunk seems to be same gender schools.

Please tell me your good/bad experience on
co-ed private schools please.
-Somewhere non-boarding ideally, or at least allows day pupils
-Good provision for the academically inclined

TIA

My kids are at a co-ed private secondary which gets excellent academic results. For DS, I couldn't be more pleased with the school. I sometimes wonder whether DD would have done better in a single sex school as I occasionally get the feeling that the boys dominate in some classes but she didn't want to go to one and I felt that the small advantage of single sex would be far outweighed by the disadvantage of going against her will- and perhaps learning to deal with dominating boys is a useful skill?

I wouldn't consider boarding before sixth form.

@nice2BeNice, if you want recommendations for specific schools, it may be worth indicating broadly the geographic area you are interested in?

I have DC at single sex schools, mostly because that is what is offered in our area rather than a strong preference one way or the other. One observation I’d make is that by the later years of senior school there is plenty of social mixing outside school between the girls and boys.

Majority are coed now, even if only sixth form. You need to be a lot more specific about location, budget, child's requirements etc

Thanks for your replies.
DD is 10 and will sit 13+ in a couple of years.
Our work etc is flexible and we are fairly flexible with location.

@PrimroseBed, I am of a similar view regarding the boys dominating the class discussions etc argument that typically is given. I am sure it might be important for some. Also, my daughter has so far not expressed any particular preference to be in an all-girls school.
If you don't mind saying, which school is it?

@nice2BeNice, are you aware that most schools do the assessment for 13+ together with the 11+ assessments in Year 6? If your DD is in Year 6, it may already be too late for some schools. If in Year 5, you’ll need to go through the application process later this year when she starts year 6.

The best co-ed private school in my area from an academic perspective is Reigate Grammar. You may want to browse the website (including the admissions pages) to get a feel for how the process works, as many other schools will be similar.

@11Plus2022,
oops..didn't know that.
Can you give an example of one such school please?

Yes - Reigate Grammar School, as I mentioned above. Suggest you look at their website which will explain the process in detail.

@nice2BeNice I have PMed you.

Yes deferred 13+ or pretesting in year 6/7 is very much a thing now in SE and day/boarding schools for year 9 entry. Relatively fewer girls than boys move at that point, unless a 13+ only entry school, so friendship groups are often already established. Is she at a prep school now, as they should advise suitable destinations and their admissions processes.

We're having a great experience with co-ed independent school (some day pupils but mostly boarding). The thing is, what suits mine may not suit yours. Its only worth paying for school if it fits your child and vice versa. Do you want an academic hothouse, or a level of academic selection but more holistic or no academic selection at all? Also, does your DD like sport and if so, which sport? find a school that offers the sport(s) she likes. Parents actually don't think about this and are then astonished that their child can't do their favourite sport, and are stuck playing a lot of eg hockey when their DC hates hockey (mine love hockey). what about music? drama? if she's not into sport but plays 1 or more instruments that makes a difference. what are her other interests so look at clubs & activity lists. and what are her academic interests? What kind of ethos do you want? All the schools have this info on their websites and if you need more info the admissions offices are usually very helpful.

You mention 13+ so assuming your DD is in prep that goes to year 8, look at schools that start at Y9 or at least match the subjects she's already doing if the school starts at year 7.

I'm not sure a question as broad as this is quite going to get you the answers you need.
Are you just looking for a school which starts at 13+ or will you also consider schools which start at 11+ and have a 13+ intake?
When you say you want "co-ed", how "co-ed" do you mean? Is a school which has recently started accepting girls OK? Nearish to where we are Charterhouse, Reading Blue Coat & Shiplake have all just started accepting girls but I imagine it will take a while for the numbers to filter through the school.
When you say "non-boarding" do you specifically want a day school, a predominantly day school or is one where day pupils are in the minority an option?
Do you have any views on religion and how much emphasis there should be on that?
Do you want a large or small school? And what do you mean by that? 30 in a year group? 80? 130?
For Sixth Form, are you looking for the IB, A levels or a choice between the two?
What is your price point? They can vary quite significantly, especially if you are looking anywhere in the country.
As a PP has said, many of the big name 13+ schools test in Yr6 so, if your eldest is in Yr5, you may need to make some decisions sooner than you think. Having said that, these tend to be the boarding schools and the process can be very different for day schools. However, it might be worth identifying an area now and moving there and then your DC1 can do Yrs7&8 at a local prep school which will no doubt feed other children through to the 13+ school. Even if you don't do that for DC1, presumably your DC2 will need to spend some time in a local prep school as you will have moved so you need to establish if there is a good prep school which goes up to 13+ in the area. For us, there is for girls but the nearest boys (or co-ed) one is 45 mins away.

I've got a DS at Sevenoaks, and love it. It's been fully coed for decades, so there is absolutely zero sense of it being a 'boys' school that also takes girls'. It had a female head for years and years, and the whole culture feels gender-equal. But as PPs have said, you've got to like a school's wider ethos as well, and to look at all aspects of the provision. Sevenoaks is quite fiercely modern, international, non-faith, academically challenging, IB-only - often described as more like a university than a school. Brilliant if you like that (we do), but not if you're looking for a more traditional public school. NB it's pretty evenly split day/boarding and 11/13+, and I think assessment for 13+ is Year 7 not Year 6.

PMd you a private recommendation.

There's loads of schools that intake at 13+ who don't start the selection at 11+. You don't need to panic.

Senior schools that expect to take the majority of their pupils from private prep schools that go up to y8 are likely to do this, especially if their are primarily a boarding school. What you will find though is that schools who intake at both 11+ and 13+ will not reconsider a child at 13+ who previously applied at 11+.

However in lots of places the 13+ entry point is a well-used life-raft for those who start at a state comprehensive for y7 having not previously considered private school but find they need a fresh start urgently before GCSEs, so there's plenty of opportunities for 13+ entry where you don't need to apply until the child is in y8.