Need help in choosing 11+ independent school for DS

[sprite22]

Hi
We have relocated to London with my DS. We selected few schools on the basis of online 'open mornings' as we couldn't get recommendations from existing parents. So we had to go wide! Fortunately he has received offers from Whitgift, Trinity, Merchant Taylors, KGS, Brighton and Hamptons (waitlist). DS is pretty interested in STEM and sports (athletics and cricket). Location is not a constraint as we are renting and can move anywhere. We are not looking at very competitive academic environment and would prefer focus on all round development. Kindly share your experiences and recommendations. Thanks

Also any insight into the extra costs for these schools over and above the term fees will be helpful. Thanks

@sprite22 , well done to your ds! That's a fantastic range of schools.
Brighton College and MTS are in a different range to the others. Do you have any idea of where you want to live and do you want to be near London?

For a few pointers:
There is a lot more about MTS on the independent section of the forum on elevenplusexams.co.uk and it's cricket is first class.
KGS has its sports ground in Thames Ditton and the school is in the centre of Kingston on a busy road with little outside space.
Hampton is spacious but as others have said quite suburban, to avoid the termly cost of the school bus you will need to live in Hampton or on a public TFL bus route from Richmond upon Thames.
(The trains to London are slow from Hampton despite it being closer than Brighton etc).

I would try and speak to a current parent at Brighton college as it's a unique school with a unique head. Also find out more about the proportion of day pupils v boarding and more about Saturday school.

Best of luck!

@sunshineclouds24 Thank you for your detailed message. How do I find existing parents of these schools to get feedback ? Hamptons sounds good if we stay around. Is Brighton College very competitive ?

@sprite22 , Brighton college is in a different league to the schools on this thread, it's the Sunday times school of the decade, Richard Carins is one of the most well known educationalists in the U.K., you need to think why you chose the school, how the admissions process was and when you can visit. I don't see how you could accept a place without visiting and if you can't ask the admissions dept to connect you up with a current parent who made a decision in similar circumstances to you.

Also look at the housing and commuting costs for being based in Brighton.

We looked at kgs and if your son is sporty, outgoing and willing to get involved it sounds good. Good results though not a top tier school (still competitive to get in to). I have heard that the sports field not being in schools grounds is not an issue.
We didn't choose it because my child is none of the above!
If you mention specific school in thread title you may get more feedback.

Agree..DH is trying to visit the school soon and hopefully will get a feel. He was staying in Brighton 10 years ago and loves the place ! As per ranking we just chose on the basis of academic results and cricket facilities. Few of the top ones felt a bit of hothouse so left it.

Rory Burns, Jason Roy and Dom Sibley are all old Whitgiftians - so strong for cricket (and most other sports), not a hothouse academically and plenty of extra-curricula besides sport.

@sprite22 , best of luck, the cricket is indeed amazing at many of these schools. Keep us posted re how you get on, I'm sure you will be offered a Hampton place too as the WL generally moves but you must let the admissions team know that you are interested.

Thank you Mums for sharing the insights ad experiences, will decide soon !