Affordable non-selective independent school in Leicestershire / Northants

[LeicesterDad]

We are in the process of moving house and need to find a school in south Leicestershire for our DD in Y9. Of course all the decent state schools are at capacity, but we are willing to look at one of the more affordable independents (day fees of say 5-6k per term).

The issue we have is that despite being pretty sporty, my DD is not remotely academic and frankly quite lazy, and I am pretty sure will bomb out on any entrance tests. The couple of schools that advertise themselves as non-selective do not look particularly appealing, but I wonder if any of the schools that have entrance tests actually have really low standards in terms of results. Most of my DD's estimated grades at her current school are 2s and 3s so any school that targets high achievers would not be suitable.

A school would ideally be in south Leicestershire, but we could stretch to the rest of the county, or into Northants or Coventry area.

My DD would be a day student, but an option for 1-2 days a week of flexi-boarding would be a non-essential nice to have.

Thank you Mumsnet!

2s and 3s are fails- so not expected to get any GCSEs?
I assume that she is on the SEN register at her current school- what tests have they done ? What support does she get ?

Finding an independent to take a child with SEND can be tricky.

I’d be surprised if any independent schools would take her with those grades. Even non- selective schools expect average academic performance and will tend to turn away low achievers.

sorry, that isn’t particularly helpful - but I don’t have any local knowledge - but do have some knowledge of independent schools elsewhere, including a non- selective one (which definitely wouldn’t have taken a student with 2’s and 3’s.)

If she is sporty, maybe look for somewhere which offers sports scholarship? I haven't done it myself but I think these do exist for children who are v good at sport

I also don't have any local knowledge unfortunately. Best of luck!

This might be worth a look?

https://lsf.org/amherst/academic/curriculum-and-subjects/

there is an entrance assessment, but their website and reports highlight their success with a range of academic attainment and SEND.

Not of that are not going to get at least 5-8 GCSE passes though as it makes the data weak.

Actually, I had been going with what she told me and when I've checked her last report it seems she has been underselling herself and she is in fact predicted to get some 4s and 5s, and possibly one 6, though her own expectation is that she won't do that well. Maths is likely to be a 4.

But I still think she will bomb in any tests and so would still appreciate tips as to the least selective of the selective schools in the area.

This is the old Convent school in Loughborough - considered (years ago) as the less-academic counterpart to the girls' Loughborough High School. The convent has now been brought into the "family" of more academic schools but certainly offers less academic girls a private education.

Because of the lack of state grammars in Leics, most of the indies are highly academic.

Amherst or Ratcliffe would fit the bill in terms of being non-selective and less academic (albeit outside your preferred area). Amherst is trying to market itself as the sporty school, particularly for tennis.

fees at Amherst will be over £6000 per term though - on paper £5300 ish but in reality with extras it will much more (my children are at other schools in the foundation and we pay £6000 for the one who does nothing extra and £6500 for the one who has music lessons). And there is the potential increase in fees if a Labour government is elected.

P.S. most of the so-called selective schools aren’t as selective as people think! Don’t rule them out.