Guildford High

[durness]

Random question borne of insecurity… we’re fortunate that our daughter is very musical and she’s been invited to audition for almost every music scholarship we’ve applied for. Except Guildford, who turned down her scholarship application two days after the CEM test. So be it, a scholarship was always going to be a helpful bonus, not something we expected… but to not even get invited to audition was disappointing. And then, inevitably, we started catastrophising: was she rejected because her exam result is poor and they don’t want to waste time auditioning someone they have no intention of inviting to join?

So now we’re fearful that - despite her assertion that it went really well - she’s had a bad day on the CEM test and it’s basically all over. Certainly other schools use the exam results to determine whether to consider kids for scholarships. But maybe it’s just that competition for scholarships at GHs is especially fierce and she’s been lucky to get invited to audition by other schools. Argh.

Does anyone have any insight into the GHS process? Or what level of would-be scholar they attract?

Honestly, the whole secondary school process has been a nightmare and maybe we’ve just become paranoid fools. I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself with sanity…hopefully.

We sat for year 3 entry and most girls from our prep school were not offered a place, including some very bright girls.

For September 2026, GHS are increasing their class sizes across the prep school. They ran admissions across the year group, although I only know information for year one, two and three.

I think they are admitting 5-6 in year one and two and about 15 in year 3. Year one and two will remain at two classes but will be larger. I’m not sure if they are increasing class sizes or introducing an additional year 3 class (although surely they would need more kids for this?).

There was no sports element included in the 7+ day this year which may suggest they are looking purely at academic potential rather than an all rounder (they suggested they were looking for well rounded girls rather than purely academic).

Another thing to note - they suggested informally that they would offer siblings together as they appreciate that logistics are tricky if they split families. However, offers at our prep school certainly did not follow this pattern. We had offers to one sibling but not the other for a couple of families.

I don’t think they have a problem with recruitment and if anything, may be becoming even more selective. I wonder if the increasing number of co-eds is leading them down a path of becoming more selective and more pressured. I may be wrong though!

I agree with some PPs, they're clearly boulstering numbers - GHS is the united learning cash cow, always has been, and I imagine pressure to extract more cash for the other schools that aren't doing well at the moment, will be coming from corporate above.

And if what you say is true, that does support the theory of expansion - to be honest its not a great look for GHS - it is a small prep school site, and packing them in like that would do little to attract me.

If anything it makes it look even more like a sausage factory!

Which prep got 4-5 offers? If the numbers above from PP are true, then this prep must be the new GHS feeder school! If I was them i'd be advertising it.

Although PPs comment above does make me wonder - the 'sausage factory' perception isnt great, when most parents want warm, supportive and nurturing when choosing a prep/junior school, this could cause them problems.

Who wants to be part of any exam factory.

Double decker desks?

Do they have any space to expand the classrooms?

We only saw the classrooms and the library areas of the school so I’m not sure what other space they have?

Not really. Its pretty landlocked like most city schools. We had a family member attend GHS so pretty familiar with the school.

Weirdly, by a different route, it does feel like we're going back to the GHS of old times, and I do somewhat agree with the sausage factory analogy. If true.

Its a great school, and academically strong (for now), and no beef, our family did well out of it.

But on the flip-side, how can you deliver a nurturing education when you've packed-em to the rafters? That perception of a factory style, hot house establishment was historically always their issue (not that it kept people away!), I wonder if that will resurface to the benefit of others locally who have always been way more pastoral and focused on the individual.

Whats the most interesting though, is from a economic/political perspective, even the tough times we are in and independent schools are in is even starting to show in the GHSs of the world - i guess like someone else said, its a cash cow and needs to produce the dolar for the rest of the group.

congratulations! Could you please share how to secure academic scholarship for GHS? Thank you!

Congratulations! Could you please share how to secure the academic scholarship for GHS? Thank you :-)

Thank you. All girls who take the exam are automatically considered for academic scholarship. It is based on merit. There is no special application for academic scholarships as such. DD has also got offers with from Reigate Grammar and Caterham school with academic and drama scholarships in both the schools. We feel very fortunate and now need to choose one! x

Well done! Is GHS academic scholarship based on only the computer based assessment in November, or is the scholarship based on both assessment in November and interview day in January? Thanks x

Hey @tigermum1611congratulations to your DD! We seem to be in exactly the same shoes. DD got into GHS and 6 other schools, including Reigate Grammar. GHS is her top choice, but is also the only school where she’s not been offered a scholarship. I’m wondering if we’ll be better off going with one of the other schools that have affirmed her by giving her a scholarship.

Does anyone know how the experiences of scholarship vary form those of the other girls at Guildford high?

also keen to hear from parents who have DDs at Reigate, or intend to send their DDs there

*does anyone know how the experiences of GHS scholars vary from those of other girls without scholarships?

My DD has been offered an academic scholarship to GHS and the other 3 schools that we applied to. However unlike the other schools, GHS only applies to award up to the end of GCSEs and not for Sixth form years. Does anyone know the reason for this? Do many girls leave GHS at Sixth form?

While my DDs are no longer at GHS, just thought it might be helpful to make a couple of comments:

• the school site itself has actually been expanded significantly over the last 15 or so years, with the purchase of three adjacent properties in Nightingale Road, which have been redeveloped into new buildings.
• unless the reduction in fees makes a big difference to you, I’d not be too concerned about whether your DD was offered an academic scholarship or not. Unlike with music scholarships there is nothing additional offered to those with academic scholarships - it is just a fee reduction
• there are scholarships in 6th Form - the way they are awarded has changed over time. DD1 sat scholarship papers in the November of her GCSE year, but in DD2’s year I think they were simply based on the GCSE mock results. Not sure what is done now.
• Re Reigate versus GHS - I think academically the gap between the two has narrowed a lot over recent years. So I’d base the decision on whether you want to go co-ed or not, and which has the easier commute. Do not underestimate the impact of a longer/trickier commute on the actual day to day life of your DC. One of my DC was offered a generous scholarship from Reigate, but the savings would have been almost entirely wiped out by the additional commute costs.

I have a DD at Reigate in year 7. I would definitely agree with @AGHSmum that you should really consider the length of commute as an important deciding point.

I honestly didn’t value a short commute enough when looking at schools. Having said that we live very close to RGS and I am so glad about this multiple times a week. We end up at school at least once, but normally twice a week for things like matches, concerts, drama performances, parents evening, late pick ups from school trips, pick ups from Friday events (when late buses don’t run). I can also pick up from clubs after school as soon as she finishes rather than her having to wait for the late bus to leave at 5.45.

Her friends who live further away are a)much more exhausted and b) get involved in fewer extra-curriculars so they can manage the tiredness.

I think DD might have marginally preferred/been better at a girls school - but she enjoys the impact of a short commute far more.

What was a deciding point for us was RGS’s flexible GCSE programme - with no requirement for humanities or language. For my child who loves the arts and sciences this was a big selling point. I’m also not a huge fan of United Learning so was happy to stay away from that.

Hello, late to the game but asking for a friend who’s child go a high WL place at GHS but has been told places have been allocated. Is it true they took on another year 7 class for this years’ intake?

Hello, my daugter is currently on the GHS waiting list for Year 7 entry this September. Any idea upto how many places the movement happened last year? Many thanks.

Yes - reacting to market forces. Their other schools aren't doing well, they're about to be stuffed by RGS going sixth form co-ed shortly, so the strategy seems to be pack-em-in as low down as possible, including in the prep.

They've got an extra class, so standards across the cohort will be down on last year's by a margin, its just maths. If they are seemingly aiming to be bigger and fuller, I would calm them and ask - if you dont get a decent response, just move on. Plenty of just as good options out there.

Some bizarre responses here to the additional class. Like all the schools do, they over offer every year. However, in some years they get significantly more acceptances than expected and in these years there is an additional class. One of my DDs was in a bulge year a while ago. Standards across the cohort were definitely not any lower than other years and said DD got a place at Oxbridge for a highly competitive stem subject after sixth form.

Also RGS is transitioning to full co-ed, not just Sixth Form, so there will be girls in both Year 7 (from September 2028) and Sixth Form (from September 2027). RGS Prep will also go co-ed for certain years from 2027.

There's not much 'bulge-year' about an additional 24 kids. That's an active decision that requires staffing and timetabling too. Schools tend to have a sweet spot where actually taking more than you usually do becomes uneconomical until you hit a certain much larger number.

Given how tough the market is at the moment, as many people have noticed and said across here and in the coffee shops, theres defiantly been a step change this year.

Like most ghs girls, your daughter did very well, congratulations.

However, the observation on this years approach seems to have been widely noticed. United Learning are not a charity like most indepedent schools, they are a business, and with other parts of it rumoured to not be doing so well, plus RGS on manoeuvres (yes I know it will be fully co ed in the coming years, but sixth form first on the senior side of things), they are seemingly bolstering the numbers/cash.

GHS doesn't have a standard number of classes in the senior school. Some years have 4 classes (like my dds year) and some have 5 (like the year above her). They have always done this. This is not a new thing. It gives them flexibility with their offers. Despite this their results remain impressive. Every school is reacting to VAT and changing markets. They have to! RGS going co ed will also have an impact on GHS, plus Tormead and St Cat's and they need to have a good strategy.

The number of kids in the overall pool tends to be similar each year, give or take.

It will be ghs that will suffer from the rgs's move as they seek to bouslter their own results with smart girls. You'll likely see financial incentives too, etc., as its a new venture and they will want it to work.

Of course this will trickle down to the other schools, but critically, this, in turn, will reduce the amount of higher academic ability kids avaiable to ghs. Rgs of course use than critical london rail line too!

If I was tormead or st cats I wouldn't be all that worried, their USPs are very very different to GHS, in fact people actively choose those two schools over ghs for various reasons. These two are also well established, not hard-up, charities that can pivot... and as a PP mentiomed, United learning is a business, and ghs is its cash cow.

Strangely, i actually see this as a opportunity to steal a march on ghs, who will have to open its mind to a broader spectrum of abilities, lowering its elitist 'main sales pitch / appeal', whereas rhe others never pretended to be highly academic, and their USPs will stand.

It won't happen over night, but id bet £50 on that being the medium to long term direction of travel in the local area.

Ps. Before anyone says it, im not a disgruntled ghs reject parent!

Thank you @AGHSmum and @RGRGRG for your kind insights. These are very useful to us. Whilst the fee difference doesn’t make much of a difference to us, we have now turned down our GHS place and accepted Reigate Grammar where she was offered both an art and academic scholarship. Adding to the dilemma, we also received an offer from Wallington Girls.

@tigermum1611which school did you end up choosing?

Good luck to those on the GHS waitlist. Hopefully, the space we freed up will serve one of your children.

@AndreaKnowsBest which United learning schools are struggling?

Way back.... DD1 got into GHS as did 7 others from Rydes Hill. Back then it was very much more a "local" school. Over a few years it got better and better results, by which time DD2 (six years behind her sister) was rejected as oversubscribed by what we would consider "out of area" cohorts.

Is it not just pivoting back to what it was originally?? DD2 went to Tormead and did very well.

I am not sure about the allure of RGS, the boys school, going Co-Ed. There are an awful lot of girls who would rather stay where they are...... The boys at RGS are great for socialising, not so much for spending all day with!