SW London grammar and private year 7 entry 2024 - Continued

[11plus24]

New thread continued here

But it's more about location. Alleyns and LU are unlikely to consult on dates as the number of kids applying to both would be tiny. Whereas WHS and PHS would be unlikely to have the same date as there would be a big crossover. Same with SPGS and G&L etc.

Same- when DS sat it he had first round exams on the same day for St P and LU. St P told you what the time was. LU were far more flexible on timings as they had so many different sessions.

There were a lot doing Alleyns exam and Emanuel interview on the same day this year. As I recall they were quite helpful about avoiding clashes - think Alleyns asked if you already had something that day before sending a time out. Bit of a tiring day and some people had a tight journey, but just grateful to avoid a clash!

Schools are generally less flexible on the dates for written assessments but offer more flexibility for interview days, often a wider range of dates to choose from. The dates on website are tentative, for instance, at FHHS, some parents have reported that their interviews were scheduled on different dates earlier this year. Similar case for Channing, where they interview every applicants in the past years. Some schools also offer backup date/multiple dates for assessments.

Unless you apply a few independent schools cross a wide range geographic location you are likely to be able to manage them all.

We applied to both LU and Alleyn’s. Didn’t apply to St Paul’s as seemed a bit of a stretch at the time but applied to a few others. We were ready to move for schools, so it was the right decision to try for all best co-Ed schools, such as LU, Alleyn’s and Highgate.

@Buru - of course, some people will move for schools so may be applying to some that are far apart.
I guess what I'm saying ( and I have a professional insight into admissions at some of these schools) is that the exams and interviews are a HUGE logistical undertaking and they have to go with the dates that work for them. Some children sit 9/10/11 schools and it's madness. Maybe it's a way of cutting down on that.

Thanks all! The only reason I was looking at this so early is that someone asked if I was available to do a thing in January (I’m not).

The time will go faster than we realise.

Although the whole exam/interview scheduling process is complex, most schools (but not all) will have a 'reserve' date and will try to accommodate clashes so it's worth to get in touch with them once the child is invited and the exams are clashing. It happened to us this year and my daughter was moved to another day. Both schools were in the same area. Having said that - 'school A' refused to do anything for us, despite having a few exam days and many slots each day, 'school B' (1 exam day only) kindly moved my daughter onto their 'reserve day'. So - all depends on school but most will probably try to accommodate all candidates.

We applied to 7 schools and only ended up with one clash in the end. One was running an exam and the other was an interview, so we pulled out of the school that we had a last exam for because it was our least favourite choice anyway. Most ask you for any clashes and a fair few children end up doing two in one day unfortunately.

Very interesting @jonnyhatesjazzzzz , thank you for sharing. This time round we’re limiting it to a very few schools. We’ll have to wait and see if the strategy is successful. Last time we did have to move in the end, but cannot do it every two years. Plus, the eldest is already at a secondary school.

This thread has been amazing and very helpful with great insights! Does anyone know if there is a similar thread for 2025?

Hi JustInvolved! I’ve just set one up.

Thank you! Very kind!

Hi CruCru,

Thank you for setting up the similar thread 2025, is there any link? My DD is doing 11+ this year. Thanks again.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5152642-london-grammar-and-private-senior-school-entry-2025?reply=137938394