Henrietta Barnett - in-year admission

[Blueelectric]

Hi all,

My Year 7 dd is at a North London selective indie and doing brilliantly. Unfortunately, this is likely to become unaffordable to us in the coming years. School bursar has been very supportive but I am exploring our options as - although we may be able to keep her in for year 8 and 9, it would be good to have her moved before GCSE.

DD is very academic but has never been tutored and didn’t sit the 11plus. I am also aware of the fierce competition for HB and imagine that in-year places go to girls already on the waiting list?

I am pretty sure the school simply won’t be an option to us until A-level, but it would be great to know if anyone has any wisdom or thoughts. Thanks so much xx

www.hbschool.org.uk/admissions/year-8-11/

You need to apply via Barnet, and if a vacancy arises, all those on the waiting list will need to take an exam, and the girl with the highest score will be admitted.

@PatriciaHolm - thank you for this. Do you have any idea how much movement there is (I imagine very little between year 7 and 9?)

Also while dd is very academic (in top sets) and seems to be a great all-rounder, she isn’t one of those off the scale ‘could sit a level maths at 14’ - type brains! I do wonder, particularly given she has had no 11plus tutoring, if her chances are slim at best?!

Also last question, were dd to apply to sit the test for an in-year place but not get it, could this work against her if she later applied to enter the sixth form? X

I very much doubt it would disadvantage her - as someone said earlier, exams and assessments are held and the pick the pupils they want from that process

In terms of how many places come up, it is of course impossible to predict. However it's likely to be very few. I went to a different superselective and don't remember anyone leaving in my year until sixth form. There was occasional new girls in other years, but unlikely to be more than 1 or 2 a year max, if that. It does mean if a place comes up, there is very strong competition, as lots will sit for that place.

I don't know what the test covers and whether it is based on curriculum, which will have course moved on since the year 6 test. Being at an academic indie, your DD will presumably be progressing well with the curriculum. The main disadvantage to your DD not doing 11+ prep is probably less practise working at speed.

You won't be penalised if applying for sixth form. They will look at the applications fresh at that point. Plus they know in-year admissions are competitive. Some students will have applied for year 7 and not got in but tried again for year 12.

If a place comes up then someone has to get it. You don't know who you will be competing against and might get lucky. In some ways you can approach it with the attitude that it is a long shot and not feel like you have failed if you are not the top student getting the place. On the other hand, it is potentially lots of hassle and stress for a small chance of a place.

@CloudPop - thank you, that is very good to know.

@BendingSpoons - massively grateful for your very informative post, that’s so helpful and thank you so much too. It’s a really stressful time for us and it’s great to get this clarity x

Child at similar type of school with a larger intake. Two children left in year 7 because of relocating so it is possible but as others have said unlikely to be many spots. What about DAO or similar - might be more movement?

Wherever she moves to, it's probably a good idea to move before year 9, so that she can choose GCSE options for year 10 at the same time as others. My kids' non selective secondary also completed KS3 Science work during year 9 and started on GCSE work before choosing options, even in 2021 (DS1 was year 9 in 2020/2021, took Triple Science, DS2 was last year and has chosen Combined Science in order to have 4 option subjects.

@Thesoundofmusic23 - thanks. I know DAO gets good results but I hear quite mixed reports from families I know who go there - plus it would be an enormous headache to get to/from each day. I have two older kids so I’ve seen how important it is for friendship groups and extra curricular stuff once they get more independence. Apparently quite a few non local parents don’t really realise this when they fight tooth and nail to get their 10 year olds in!

@elkiedee - good point, ideally she would move into new school in year 9…

Would you consider boarding? The reason I ask is a lot of boarding schools have Y9 as an entry point plus they tend to have much bigger bursary pots including up to 100%. Not sure of your exact financial situation though.

I am guessing she is currently at NLCS? If so then she would also be a good candidate for an academic scholarship at these schools.

Boarding isn’t for everyone though so ignore my comments if you want!!!