Help me to find school options for my yr6 son - moon on a stick time

[RaisedOnADietofBrokenBiscuitsOh]

I'm looking for potential secondary schools for my son to expand the current list. Criteria are quite specific:

Berks/Bucks/Surrey/West London/Oxon;
He's in year 6 so I've left it too late for some registrations;
Year 9 entry, ideally with no assessment or assessment in year 7/8 to give him more time to get the hang of testing and take the pressure off but initial tests in year 6 would be ok;
Day or Flexi boarding;
Boys or mixed;
SEN friendly as he's autistic;
Under £9k a term.

He is not at all sporty. He's clever, top set for most things but doesn't cope too well with tests, and maths hasn't clicked with him yet. He is outgoing. He likes reading, singing, acting, debating, and would really enjoy CCF. A school that's able to handle a boy with a spiky academic profile and one who's likely to come into his own as a teen would be ideal. Somewhere he'd be happy.

He's currently registered at one ISEB school and I'm going to register soon with two that have their own tests. There's also a decent comprehensive nearby in case none of that works out.

I'd love some new ideas to explore.

It might be worth checking options with Pangbourne to see if they would take a late registration. It fits a lot of your requirements. They promote their sport heavily as its a selling point for many families but also have a good number of 'non sporty' boys who thrive.

Rookwood in Andover might work, although it's a bit further south.

Good results, small enough to be calm and a good solution for a bright autistic child. Friendly
Day & flexi-boarding
Intake in years 7 & 9
I think it's in budget too

Update:

He's been wait-listed at Luckley and Halliford for year 9 entry. The email from Luckley said they were sorry for the disappointment; the one from Halliford said to please tell him how well he'd done to get on the list. It was an interesting comparison and I wonder if Luckley don't usually have enough applicants to operate a waiting list.

I've got open days booked at Claire's Court, St. Gabriel's and Shiplake but I think Shiplake is out as it's just too expensive.

I've never done this before so I'm enormously grateful for all of the advice and suggestions.

It looks lovely but it's well over an hour's drive.

Also here to suggest reaching out to Pangbourne-
ticks a lot of your boxes

Claire's Ct and Shiplake both very sporty

I also think it would be worth contacting Pangbourne. I'd be very surprised if they can fill up without considering late candidates. My DH deals with admissions for a boarding school and although ISEB is in Y6, most years they are still considering candidates who contact them in Y8 for Y9 entry.

I know of a child who didn’t get a place at Luckley last year. It was a surprise - as you imply, generally they don’t turn many down and in this area most of the private schools have places at the moment.

Claires court might well suit. What about Reading Bluecoat?

What about More House in Frensham, Surrey? Predominantly a dyslexia school but I know they take a lot of asd pupils. They offer day or boarding. Considered it for two of mine but one is too autistic/class sizes too big and the other wouldn’t thrive in a boys only school.

I get the impression he wouldn't pass the test for Reading Bluecoat (I feel like it's more academic than Luckley?) but it is on my radar.

Pangbourne is out of my price range, sadly. It does look brilliant.

yes it probably is a bit more academic than Luckley to be fair. Though lots of the academic schools have started taking a broader range of pupils in the past few years due to falling numbers - Luckley seems to be an anomaly in that it seems to be going the other way.

Have you looked at Holme Grange? No CCF AFAIK, but I think it probably ticks all your other requirements.

Don’t give up on Halliford. Email admissions and make it clear to them that you would take the place if offered. The schools do expect you to show an interest when you are on the WL and the parents that check in regularly on movement will be offered a space ahead of those that don’t

OP any update - how did you get on at Shiplake, Claire’s Court and St Gabriel’s?

I will apply for Claire's Court. We won't try for Shiplake as it's simply too expensive but we did like it very much. I haven't looked properly at St Gabriel's (I couldn't go to the open day in the end). He does now have a place at the ISEB school we applied for but that would be with a bursary and is dependent on common entrance so back ups are needed.

I've recently heard that Bluecoats have reduced their year 9 intake so it's pretty much year 7 entry or nothing.