SE London Secondary options overwhelming - US expats need guidance :)

[akdfromcalitouk]

We are an American family who has lived in SE London since we moved here in 2019. Our children attend Oakfield (we love it!) and my son is about to enter Y6.

The secondary school process is overwhelming and we are coming into this experience fairly blind (in the US you either go to state school or an independent, but the vast majority of independents are not selective- you just pay!)

We will apply to indies and are open to state schools, though know very little about the secondary school state sector. We prefer co-ed and local (no hour long shuttle or long journeys preferred!)

What co-ed secondaries are down to earth with a strong sense of community?

We like St. Dunstan's, and our headteacher encouraged DS applying to Alleyn's (DS is a strong mathematician.) As a family we wholeheartedly care about the whole child, enjoyment of childood, and a love of learning.

Are there other local-ish indies we should be looking at? Appreciate insight about this whole experience!

When it comes to state secondary school you are limited by your house location. Look at the catchment for schools around and you will see if you have any good state schools around. You will find it in the admission section of each school.
No, you don't have a wide choice of SE state school. Only the ones that you live by

If you are applying to state schools you do so through the council. Be aware of the deadline to get application form in, and find out when the open days are for the local state schools. You make one application and put the schools you are applying to in order of preference.

Where are you in SE London? is your child going to take the 11+ exam?

If you haven't done so already, go to the secondary school admissions section on the website of the local authority you live in and read through all the information relating to the process.

The national deadline for making an on time application for a secondary school place is October 31st.

You submit your application through your home LA, but can include state schools located in other LAs. But be reasonable; look at the published admissions policy for 2025 / 2026 for each school, where you will see how applicants are ranked if the school is named as a preference by more people than there are places available for entry in year 7. From this, you can see under which criterion your DC would be ranked, and either the LA where the school is situated, or the school itself, should provide information as to where the last offer fell in recent years (but obviously, this can change from year to year, depending on the characteristics of the cohort applying).

11+ would be grammar school options so do look into those state school options as well.
London independent schools especially coed are competitive to super competitive. The main point to check is travel time, not distance. We found some schools that looked further away but has train, tube, bus options or car share that was better than those that looks nearby but due to traffic and building or road works would take longer and only have bus options. Cycling depends on what your DC is carrying or musical instruments and school music commitments.

This should give you an idea of the options:

List of school open days

St Dunstan’s and Alleyn’s seem to me to be rather more glossy than down to earth schools. I know they have recently installed gender neutral toilets at Alleyn’s and a few years’ ago the head of St Dunstan’s was forced to backtrack when he invited a paedophile apologist to come and speak to the children during Pride. These things may not bother you. They would me.

State options depend on where you live, unless you’re applying to Kingsdale which is a lottery system (although you can game it somewhat if you get a maths scholarship).

Coed options roughly near Oakfield I can think of are:

Charter East/Charter North
Norwood School
Graveney
Dunraven
Elmgreen
City Heights E-ACT academy
Trinity Academy (not the boys school in Croydon)
Bishop Thomas Grant school.

I don’t have personal experience of any of these schools.

South London grammars are in Kingston, Sutton and Bexleyheath but are single sex.

Unfortunately there is no shortcut to doing your own research as you know you what’s doable for your family, your child, and the kind of education you want and can afford.

Co-ed indies easily accessible from West Dulwich:
Emanuel
Westminster
Thames Christian

Grammar schools:
St. Olaves

State schools:
Kingsdale (no catchment, lottery system, you can try for a scholarship as a PP suggested)
Norwood School (catchment, unless applying for a scholarship place)
Charter School (tiny catchment)

Deadlines for registering DC to sit entrance tests for various South London state grammar schools, from the relevant websites:

London Borough of Bexley: 31st May
St Olaves: 1st July
London Borough of Sutton: 2nd August
Tiffin School: 2nd September @12 noon
(so that one is still a possibility)
https://www.tiffinschool.co.uk/admissions/year-7-admissions/

Rather a traipse from most places with a SE postcode, though.

Unlike with indies, entering the DC to sit an entrance test for a state school doesn't constitute an apication for a place - you still have to name the school on your Common Application Form to do that.

OP have you been prepping for the 11+ exams? The likes of Alleyns are competitive. You can’t just turn up and expect to get selected.

There are excellent schools on SE London - state and private. If you’re looking at st Dunstans and Alleyns then you are probably close to the catchments for the Charter Schools, which are well regarded.

Go to open days - they will be held in the autumn term. Look at ‘progress 8 scores’ on the dept of Education website: these show you how much the pupils tend to improve over time at each school.

if you are thinking of sitting the private exams then start tutoring now. Most people will have been tutored since year 4 for these, even within the private system.

many people apply for alleyn’s, st dunstans and state, as the good state schools have the same if not better educational attainment as the pricates. (I fully realise that might not be the reason you’re going private though)

It doesn't sound like you live in Sutton but if you do avoid Cheam High, dreadful school who only care about results and not the child.

@NowYouSee yes doing the 11+ prep and very aware how competitive these schools are!

@ghislaine I hear you. And St. Dunstan's seems quite divided on Mumsnet.

Tiffin is nowhere near SE, @MarchingFrogs . Common, you know that

You know the 11+ is a couple of weeks away? Have you got your child a place to take it?

Just to be clear @ghislaine for Kingsdale (State School OP, Lottery entry as stated) Maths scholarships can only be applied for once you already have a place in the school, so can't be used to help get into the school.

The only scholorships that can give you a better chance (not guaranteed) of getting into the school are for Sports and Music.

Once offered a place in the school the other scholarships available (effectively free extra lessons and some trips only for scholars) are for Maths and Art.

Thanks @LondonHOPDad . I knew they had scholarships but the details had escaped me!

No one has mentioned Dulwich College?

If you don't live within about 800/900km of Charter North (the one in Herne Hill, not the one in East Dulwich) you won't get a place.

If you can pay for private then I would do that above Kingsdale. It's an absolutely huge school and no great shakes tbh.

Dulwich College is boys not co-ed.

Kingsdale is huge - but the year groups don't mix so actually feels much smaller... 435 in my DD's year.

Scholarships are Music and Sport. The scores at the assessment days are ranked and the top 15 or so are guaranteed a place, after that it increases your chance of getting in.

Charter Schools have a very good reputation.

I would go and look round all of them - I looked at 27 for DD in total, state and private. Loads that I liked on paper I hated in person. It was definitely the decider for me in how we ranked schools on the CAF.

Oh I see, I missed the part where OP said she wanted co-ed.

435 per year is absolutely MASSIVE. All but the very smallest secondary schools keep their year groups separate btw. My child's local secondary currently has 240 per year.

There are upsides - huge numbers of subject options, masses of extra curricular and the possibility of fine tuning sets.

DD is clever but SEN - she was in top set maths but too fast paced for her. School tried out 3 different sets before they found the right combination that is the right level and pace.

My secondary was 700 in the whole school so I was a bit yikes when I saw the numbers, but it's never felt too big. Everything is on staggered times and teachers seem to know the kids really well. It is probably a school that suits confident kids, and it's definitely one to consider if you have a child with a particular skill set - they are exceptionally good at working with children who have outside commitments that need a degree of flexibility whether that is elite sports, or arts/music.

My secondary was 700 in the whole school so I was a bit yikes when I saw the numbers, but it's never felt too big.

700 is a very small school. Most of London's comprehensives are around 2000-2500. Many of them are outstanding with fantastic results

@mytuppennyworth - to confirm (I'm so new at this!) the 11+ tests for selective state/grammar schools are the once to look up in my area. And the independent 11+ tests are based on the school's choice of date?

ones not once*

Yes - your head of prep really should have been advising you on all of this!

Get online subscription on goodschoolsguide.co.uk.
11+ grammar are earlier than 11+ independent schools, see previous posts about deadlines.
For independent London school, join MN Year 7 + year of entry for information.
11+ independent : each school website will give you date and deadlines, types of exams. There are written Maths, English, VR and NVR. There are ISEB or CM online. Atom Learning online for ISEB.
Check out exam plus papers website, more school specific guidelines.

Will you be going for sport, music, drama or art scholarships?