SWLondon - applying for privates, how many and risk profile

[AlwaysMoreThanMeetsTheEye]

About to embark, for the first time, on the application process for secondary private schools in SW London. Would really welcome advice from people on their experiences in terms of number of schools they applied to and risk profile (i.e how many so-called safe options / bankers, although accepting that increasingly difficult to identify what falls in that category!! )... and whether that strategy proved successful.

We are thinking maximum of 5/6 exams and torn on the number of safe options as want to play safe (I am naturally risk averse) but also to aim for what feels right for my DD (both in academic turns and other factors, which are not necessarily aligned with the level of ease of entry)

Thanks in advance

@EmotiveBubblez I just remembered this thread. Old, but may still be useful.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/2561591-Can-anyone-rank-the-SW-London-selective-schools

Thank you very much @HighRopes, very helpful.

@AlwaysMoreThanMeetsTheEye

About to embark, for the first time, on the application process for secondary private schools in SW London. Would really welcome advice from people on their experiences in terms of number of schools they applied to and risk profile (i.e how many so-called safe options / bankers, although accepting that increasingly difficult to identify what falls in that category!! )... and whether that strategy proved successful.

We are thinking maximum of 5/6 exams and torn on the number of safe options as want to play safe (I am naturally risk averse) but also to aim for what feels right for my DD (both in academic turns and other factors, which are not necessarily aligned with the level of ease of entry)

Thanks in advance

Just use Atom Online. They will be able to look at your DD's test scores and then match them up with schools, it's easy and fun.

Don't forget the feel of a school which you only get from visiting.

We did this a very long time ago when dd was 11 and applied to PHS, Surbiton and Notre Dame (aspirational, target and banker). She didn't get into PHS. We also applied to Grey Coat and LMS. At the time we couldn't see £12k difference per annum between Surbiton or LMS. Our view of LMS was entirely objective and based on reputation and we didn't listen to the nagging feeling or indeed to dd as much as we should have. We also didn't apply to WHS but should have done. DD went for 6th form and it was a truly marvellous school.

My DD was at a state primary. We did 6 schools, she got 5 out of 6. Interestingly, she got a place at both Putney High and LEH, but not Wimbledon… our bankers were Surbiton and Woldingham, but to be honest, in hindsight we didn’t need to do 6. She was resilient and was happy to do all 6, but we probably won’t do 6 for our next child.

@autumnnightsaredrawingin which school did you decide on in the end?

May I ask why you would not do 6 for your next child?

Don't do more than four. It's so tough on the children (we are out the other side now, but I remember The Fear and wish I'd gone slightly easier on DS as it knocked his confidence a bit.

I've gone through this twice now, going from state primary to private secondary. Both times we did 4. First time round I was not that sure of standard and we also applied to state school as our back up. It was 2 aspirational schools, 1 target and 1 banker. Got offers for target and banker.

Second time around it was 1 (very) aspirational, 1 target and 2 bankers. Only got wait list places for the 2 bankers. Unbelievably stressful!! Both waitlists did turn into offers. Also had state school as back up but didn't want one dc private and one dc state.

Hey @QGMum by your name can I assume you have or had a child at QG?

Could I PM you to ask you some questions please.

The approach can depend on the child. We had a sporty, dyslexic child. The prep school head, who did not believe in dyslexia, was very dismissive of her chances of coping in any selective London school. We looked at her friendship group of bright straightforward and purposeful girls, and wanted her to go to the schools with kids like them. We did not see her as any less bright than her academic older brother.

We had a Plan B in that the prep went up to 13, so only applied to schools she was interested in. She was relaxed as she understood that 11+ was a trial run and she could always try again at 13 when she would be older so potentially commute further.

She enjoyed the exams. Most seated alphabetically so she came across familiar faces. We went for pizza afterwards and against prep instructions did not take her back to school for the afternoon.

She sat quite a lot as we realised not all schools would be interested in a dyslexic child, albeit one with strong maths. We wanted her to go co-ed as we felt her academic profile was more common in boys, but these are tricky as there are only half the places for girls. In the end she got 2 offers, and thrived.

We were advised no more than three, as you don't want your child burnt out or bored when it comes to the exam of your first choice school. We had a first choice, a second choice that was equally difficult to get into, and a back up. That worked very well.

With the London Consortium - you only have to take one test. Are or did people only select/ing three out of the Consortium, why not hedge your bets and apply to as many as possible as it is only one exam.

Very different for the schools that are not like PHS, SPGS, LEH, WHS, LU and KGS, who all have their own assessment criteria and therefore would make sense to only choose 3 as the child will be taking an exam at different schools.

Interested to hear from parents who applied for London Consortium Schools.

@EmotiveBubblez I think two reasons - one is the cost (more schools = more registration fees). The other is the interviews: putting a ten year old through more than c.four interviews would be unnecessary / excessive, and risk the burn out other posters have talked about. Of course, you could withdraw from the interviews if you got through multiple first rounds, but I expect most prep schools would be wary of that strategy (not great for their relationships with the schools...)

@EmotiveBubblez I think two reasons - one is the cost (more schools = more registration fees). The other is the interviews: putting a ten year old through more than c.four interviews would be unnecessary / excessive, and risk the burn out other posters have talked about. Of course, you could withdraw from the interviews if you got through multiple first rounds, but I expect most prep schools would be wary of that strategy (not great for their relationships with the schools...)

@EmotiveBubblez I think two reasons - one is the cost (more schools = more registration fees). The other is the interviews: putting a ten year old through more than c.four interviews would be unnecessary / excessive, and risk the burn out other posters have talked about. Of course, you could withdraw from the interviews if you got through multiple first rounds, but I expect most prep schools would be wary of that strategy (not great for their relationships with the schools...)

Sorry for the multiple posts - it kept saying there was a server error and it couldn't post!

@EmotiveBubblez we aren't in South London, but did North London consortium. It was one exam, and we applied for 4 of the schools involved (a mix of aspirational and less so). Coming from state primary with no guidance from school, and having had an unsuccessful experience with our eldest (3 schools, not getting past the first round in any), we felt we were stabbing in the dark a bit and needed to do a bit more this time. We applied for 3 others with their own exams to give a total of 7 independent schools / 4 initial assessment paths. As it was, DD couldn't sit the consortium on the original planned date due to getting covid which was very stressful, and at that point we were glad to not be putting all our chips on that one exam.

In the end much to our amazement DD got through to all the rounds of everything and got 6 offers. Once you factored in state assessments (typically earlier than the private ones), I calculated she did over 20 separate assessments over 5 months or so, including auditions, submitting videos, banding tests etc. She coped brilliantly but by the end it felt like a lot and we did pull out of a couple of extra scholarship things to save her sanity.

On the consortium side, many schools interview a lot or all of the candidates and the interviews did come in a bit of a glut in January. To be honest 4 schools was plenty for us I think (although friends did more). Obviously it depends on your child, but going different places and meeting and greeting new people can be pretty overwhelming day after day. Also easy to get quite muddled as to which school was which when you hadn't necessarily seen them before interview stage.

@EmotiveBubblez we aren't in South London, but did North London consortium. It was one exam, and we applied for 4 of the schools involved (a mix of aspirational and less so). Coming from state primary with no guidance from school, and having had an unsuccessful experience with our eldest (3 schools, not getting past the first round in any), we felt we were stabbing in the dark a bit and needed to do a bit more this time. We applied for 3 others with their own exams to give a total of 7 independent schools / 4 initial assessment paths. As it was, DD couldn't sit the consortium on the original planned date due to getting covid which was very stressful, and at that point we were glad to not be putting all our chips on that one exam.

In the end much to our amazement DD got through to all the rounds of everything and got 6 offers. Once you factored in state assessments (typically earlier than the private ones), I calculated she did over 20 separate assessments over 5 months or so, including auditions, submitting videos, banding tests etc. She coped brilliantly but by the end it felt like a lot and we did pull out of a couple of extra scholarship things to save her sanity.

On the consortium side, many schools interview a lot or all of the candidates and the interviews did come in a bit of a glut in January. To be honest 4 schools was plenty for us I think (although friends did more). Obviously it depends on your child, but going different places and meeting and greeting new people can be pretty overwhelming day after day. Also easy to get quite muddled as to which school was which when you hadn't necessarily seen them before interview stage.

@EmotiveBubblez we aren't in South London, but did North London consortium. It was one exam, and we applied for 4 of the schools involved (a mix of aspirational and less so). Coming from state primary with no guidance from school, and having had an unsuccessful experience with our eldest (3 schools, not getting past the first round in any), we felt we were stabbing in the dark a bit and needed to do a bit more this time. We applied for 3 others with their own exams to give a total of 7 independent schools / 4 initial assessment paths. As it was, DD couldn't sit the consortium on the original planned date due to getting covid which was very stressful, and at that point we were glad to not be putting all our chips on that one exam.

In the end much to our amazement DD got through to all the rounds of everything and got 6 offers. Once you factored in state assessments (typically earlier than the private ones), I calculated she did over 20 separate assessments over 5 months or so, including auditions, submitting videos, banding tests etc. She coped brilliantly but by the end it felt like a lot and we did pull out of a couple of extra scholarship things to save her sanity.

On the consortium side, many schools interview a lot or all of the candidates and the interviews did come in a bit of a glut in January. To be honest 4 schools was plenty for us I think (although friends did more). Obviously it depends on your child, but going different places and meeting and greeting new people can be pretty overwhelming day after day. Also easy to get quite muddled as to which school was which when you hadn't necessarily seen them before interview stage.

@EmotiveBubblez we aren't in South London, but did North London consortium. It was one exam, and we applied for 4 of the schools involved (a mix of aspirational and less so). Coming from state primary with no guidance from school, and having had an unsuccessful experience with our eldest (3 schools, not getting past the first round in any), we felt we were stabbing in the dark a bit and needed to do a bit more this time. We applied for 3 others with their own exams to give a total of 7 independent schools / 4 initial assessment paths. As it was, DD couldn't sit the consortium on the original planned date due to getting covid which was very stressful, and at that point we were glad to not be putting all our chips on that one exam.

In the end much to our amazement DD got through to all the rounds of everything and got 6 offers. Once you factored in state assessments (typically earlier than the private ones), I calculated she did over 20 separate assessments over 5 months or so, including auditions, submitting videos, banding tests etc. She coped brilliantly but by the end it felt like a lot and we did pull out of a couple of extra scholarship things to save her sanity.

On the consortium side, many schools interview a lot or all of the candidates and the interviews did come in a bit of a glut in January. To be honest 4 schools was plenty for us I think (although friends did more). Obviously it depends on your child, but going different places and meeting and greeting new people can be pretty overwhelming day after day. Also easy to get quite muddled as to which school was which when you hadn't necessarily seen them before interview stage.

@EmotiveBubblez we aren't in South London, but did North London consortium. It was one exam, and we applied for 4 of the schools involved (a mix of aspirational and less so). Coming from state primary with no guidance from school, and having had an unsuccessful experience with our eldest (3 schools, not getting past the first round in any), we felt we were stabbing in the dark a bit and needed to do a bit more this time. We applied for 3 others with their own exams to give a total of 7 independent schools / 4 initial assessment paths. As it was, DD couldn't sit the consortium on the original planned date due to getting covid which was very stressful, and at that point we were glad to not be putting all our chips on that one exam.

In the end much to our amazement DD got through to all the rounds of everything and got 6 offers. Once you factored in state assessments (typically earlier than the private ones), I calculated she did over 20 separate assessments over 5 months or so, including auditions, submitting videos, banding tests etc. She coped brilliantly but by the end it felt like a lot and we did pull out of a couple of extra scholarship things to save her sanity.

On the consortium side, many schools interview a lot or all of the candidates and the interviews did come in a bit of a glut in January. To be honest 4 schools was plenty for us I think (although friends did more). Obviously it depends on your child, but going different places and meeting and greeting new people can be pretty overwhelming day after day. Also easy to get quite muddled as to which school was which when you hadn't necessarily seen them before interview stage.

Sorry, me too, it was saying server error!

Thank you @LondonMum20222 and @MajorGeneralDogsbody

Yes, the cost of the registration fees are an issue, it does vary from school to school.

I understand your points, in the consortium the schools we are looking at interview all candidates and there are a few outside that do not. I guess I was thinking the more we apply to the more likely she would get a place but that can be counterproductive due to burnout. So difficult. Shortlisting is imperative - I think what I have got from MN is geography is key, being realistic about child's ability and then looking at what the schools offer i.e. do they align with what your child wants or needs.

We just do not want to be in a position where she does not get a place.

In SW London there is so much choice, do not think there are many middle of the road schools. Yes there are the obvious tops like G&L and SPGS but even PHS, NHEHS, FHSS and QG seem to be performing well that they are middle/top schools.

At our state primary they do not give you the in depth advice and guidance you get at the preps.We were advised 5-6 schools to apply for but I realise State schools also do banding tests so need to factor this in too.

Something else I have not considered are scholarship processes - does anyone have experience of Drama/Sport scholarship applications ? are these done on the same days as the interview or separately?

@EmotiveBubblez I think FHSS, QG etc would still be considered back-up schools. Have you had a look at the offers lists / destinations of the London girls prep schools? They're all available online. They'll give you a good sense of the spread of schools girls are going to (from highly aspirational to back-up).
Re scholarships, they're generally done after the interviews. There aren't a huge number of schools doing Sports and Drama scholarships though - at 11+ it tends to be mostly Music and Academic (and the latter you can't apply for anyway). As per number of schools to apply to, we've been advised to think v carefully about scholarship applications - both from the pov of putting more pressure on girls around assessments, and also regarding the commitment schools want from girls in return for the scholarships.

@LondonMum20222 that is great advice, I am down the rabbit hole now of looking at where the prep school girls go. Ravenscourt Park School do a great breakdown.

It is a shame you cannot see it from state primary's, our primary school only sends on average 1 child every year to an indie. However, this year (entry 2023) there will be a lot more and the other parents have become rather competitive which is a real shame. As a single parent its difficult to not have someone to discuss this with. Appreciate your input.

No there are not many schools, doing those two but there are two schools where we think she has a good chance of getting into and we really liked that offer those scholarships.

I think I will speak to the registrar of those schools to ask about timetabling and what they entail (commitment)