SW London grammar and private year 7 entry 2024 - Continued

[11plus24]

New thread continued here

DD got an offer from KGS and will likely move from Surbiton Prep releasing her place for SHS. hope it will help someone in the WL.
The main reasons are coed education and the vibe of KGS. We found it more historic, more child focused (it might be a perception we got during the open days and overall +11 process)
@kittybloom it would be nice to hear your view if you have a daughter in KGS :)

hi , Our DC had an offer at KGS too and we are likely to accept it as we are on waitlist for Dulwich college but don't have a lot of hope that it will move.
we have not done the open morning as it was full and so i m happy when i read experiences from current parents please do keep sending any feedback ! 🙃 we signed up for the offer holder day

KGS is lovely but please do not expect the grandiose buildings and grounds of Dulwich College! It’s compact and urban and modern. They make very good space of every last inch. And, as I’m sure you know, it’s hockey, hockey, hockey.

@Trickleg thanks yes i know that as i saw the videos / fotos on website , and that is what i like too.thank you for your feedback i am exited to see it soon🙃

I’m unnerved by the mentions of “exploding offers” - I wasn’t aware till recently such a thing existed!
Are schools generally open about this when that’s their policy or is it something you only find out about once it’s too late and your offer has gone up in smoke?! 😳

Sounds awful- hopefully they will have mentioned it as that serves their purpose for doing it?

Yes the schools will let you know if it’s an exploding offer. Most won’t be. As someone upthread said, Radnor did this 2 years ago. They haven’t this year. I think it would only happen if a school had misjudged it massively and were worried about more acceptances than they can manage. But they’d have to let you know.

@travelturtle thanks so much - that’s very reassuring.
I trawled the email and Ts & Cs and can’t see any mention so hopefully can set that worry aside 😅

Exploding offers were a thing five years ago when I did this process with oldest DC. From memory, it was CLSG (on the basis that they had very tight space constraints) that had actually used them
the year before, and one other school (KGS?) which had them in the small print but had never actually used them.

It seems that the negative publicity meant schools moved away from them and instead did bulge years if they had to (WHS 6? years ago, Surbiton High 2 years ago).

It was City Girls who used exploding offers. But it ended up making them look terrible - I think there was a thing in the Daily Mail about it.

FYI admissions teams do appear to be working. I’ve received emails from all the schools we released, acknowledging receipt and asking for info on where DS is off to.

Does anyone have any experience on the waiting list movement for NHEHS? How many are on the WL and how many receive offers? Should I hold out hope?

@Summerma if you don’t mind me asking, was any of those schools FHSS?

Yes, that is a good summary of KGS that it is the best of co-ed and has a good vibe. Also, re sports comment above, remember it isn't just hockey. They take rowing seriously from Y9 too. Plus the usual cricket, netball etc - there is a wide range but it is centred on hockey and rowing.

I have a DC at kgs. It’s a sweet school but I’m not sure they stretch children as much as they could if DC are happy to coast along the middle of the pack, even if they are capable of more. We were torn between KGS and RGS for DC1 and I often think we made the wrong choice.

Thank you for letting us Know! Will try to be proactive abt our waitlist place.

Afraid not - I have a DS. Got my fingers crossed that you hear soon!

Do you know anyone that was on dulwich college waiting list and got offer later on ? Just trying to see if i should be hopeful or forget about it … Thank you 🙃

we’ll be releasing FHSS today which I hope benefits someone on here on the WL! Fabulous school so I’m regretting it already but just the wrong fit for DD.

@ScreenPrinting thank you for sharing that on here, it gives me some hope! I’m wondering if I should call FHSS but I’d assumed they wouldn’t be there during the half term. If you do happen to get a “live response” from them would you mind letting me know? I’d really appreciate it then I will call. Good luck to your DD - congrats on what sounds like a successful outcome for her x

For sure ItsMeHi48!! I will update if/when they reply 💪

Admissions are definitely working and answering emails during half term.

Thank you @ScreenPrinting 🙏🏻and @lolo99 ok I think then I’ll call them 👍🤞

That was our experience also last year - we sent out some rejections straight away and they all got back to us straight away, acknowledging receipt and, in most cases, asking which school we had chosen (at that stage, we had not completely made up our mind, so shared with them which schools we were still considering).

Would love some thoughts on comparing Whitgift and Dulwich. We’re trying to make up our minds and (location aside) would like to know any differences in feel, culture, homework, sport or anything that help the decision.
We’re also wondering how many followers of this thread are genuinely awaiting the 1st March state allocation or just mulling the private offers. It’s another element of ‘what now!?’ for us! 😂