LEH or Waldegrave

[curlyhaer]

DD will be joining Waldegrave as an in year admission(Year 7) next week. She has cleared the first round of test in LEH (For Year 8) and got selected for the second round. She has had her interview today at LEH which went superb as per her. My confusion is if she gets selected for LEH, should I accept the offer? We can afford private but I am conscious of the price tag. She is very academic in nature, passionate about drama/debates but a bit of an introvert as well. Not particularly inclined towards sports/music though she enjoys swimming. We went to visit both schools and she really loved LEH. Does it make a lot of difference to go for LEH over Waldegrave? Where all does LEH fare better than Waldegrave for a kid like DD?
Btw we live close to Waldegrave and distance-wise LEH is not really far off as well

That is a difficult decision! Your dd is obviously very bright and did well to get an interview at LEH and you have a fantastic other choice too. Did she try for Tiffin? LEH will have girls from further away vs local friends, but she might fit in better with the cohort of LEH girls who are all similarly clever/academically driven. Not that waldegrave isn’t, but it will be a bigger range of abilities. Maybe spend some time at Waldegrave and LEH after school and decide which group you think she would be happier with.

Thank you @Ilikelists We moved to UK in August last year. It was too late to apply for Tiffin. We applied for Tiffin for Year 8 in case anything opens up and I have not heard back from them. I am very inclined towards LEH, though husband thinks that we can give LEH a try later on if we are not happy with Waldegrave this year.

Just got the email from LEH that DD got through for year 8. Yay! but now we are in a dilemma. She started in waldegrave last week and really loved the girls there too.. What to do?

So tricky! I think it depends on finances. If you can afford it, I would accept the year 8 place at LEH. There is a lot that LEH can offer that waldegrave can't compete with. However if finances are an issue and your daughter is happy at Waldegrave than leave her be. Happiness is the most important thing! Good luck with you decision.

Well, DD insists she wants to continue with Waldegrave as she has found a lovely set of girls as friends. I do not want to force her to join another school(breaking her comfort zone). Have given her time till the end of February if she wants to rethink. I would really like her to join LEH, but then I do not want to push that decision on her. Fingers crossed. Wish me luck..

Think of how much money you will save if she stays at Waldegrave and what you could do with that money later in her life. You can always apply to LEH for 6th form.

It was a very long time ago but I attended Waldegrave and was so happy there! Was quite new to London and found it very supportive and still have friends I met there 😊

@curlyhaer may I ask what you decided in the end?

@swlondon24 We decided to continue with Waldegrave as DD found a bunch of good friends and teachers who are very supportive. I would have loved her to join LEH given the range of subjects she could have chosen, but ultimately decided to skip it because it would have been too many moves in an year for her .

How is it academically? Compared to leh? What can it not compete in with leh? Do u c any differences in waldegrave teaching / students vs leh students academic position? Wondering if u had any opportunities to compare with other families u may know with leh kids

Hi curlyhaer,
We are in a similar dilemma as my daughter has received an offer from LEH today and we put Waldegrave as 1st choice on our state school submission form.
Could you please share more insights about how your DD getting on at Waldegrave?
Thanks.

this is more of a general point but I wonder if this year with the election coming up and the potential VAT on fees, if more people will accept their state offers (be it Waldegrave / Orleans Park or Tiffin etc), seems like the safer option somehow as one can always try for private later if needed whereas the reverse is very hard once you turn down an outstanding state place.

Part of the reason I did not fret a lot about not taking LEH was because I have been reading articles on how universities give preference to state school children when it comes to admission these days(if you are opting for universities in UK). I received a couple of feedbacks from parents who sent their children to private school who complained about not getting into their preferred universities last year(This was mainly for their boys).
My daughter is doing excellent in Waldegrave, I think the main difference would have been the sports activities she would havebeen able to pursue had she chosen LEH.