London grammar and private senior school entry 2025 part 2

[CruCru]

Here is the new thread for when part 1 is full.

If anyone is looking at deciding between LU, G&L and SPGS, I'd love to hear what sort of things would sway your decision one way or another. What are key differentiators between schools that one should take into account? The lack of GCSEs at LU doesn't bother us and we don't have a preference on the basis of co-ed vs single sex.

All three schools are amazing but have very different feels. My opinion (others will definitely disagree) is that LU suits a confident child that is a self starter. It is a big school and has the feel of a big school with all the pros and cons of that. We are probably going to let our place go because of these factors and the switch away from GCSE’s (I actually like the idea behind this, just feel there is a risk with being a “guinea pig” early on in the experiment!)

SPGS is of course the top school academically, mainly because they only admit the top performing girls at exams. G&L usually get the ones who miss out on a place at SPGS. They are both amazing schools, perhaps G&L is slightly less pressured. But if you feel your DD would thrive in that environment, the SPGS is a no brainer I would say.

A huge oversimplification to state that G&L usually gets the ones who don’t get SPGS. Have 2 DD at G&L myself - neither of who applied to SPGS (despite both being top of their cohort at an academic prep school and receiving multiple academic scholarships at 11+). Many of their friendship groups also didn’t apply there (this may be because they’re similar of mindset and have found each other, of course). I also know of several girls who got an offer from SPGS but not G&L. Their exams are quite different so perhaps their 11+ prep was more focused on SPGS as it was their top choice or G&L might also be looking for something slightly different. Likewise, there are multiple families with daughters at both schools - through choice - as one school suited each daughter better. SPGS isn’t for everyone.

Would recommend speaking to as many current parents at both schools as you can and picking whichever school you think has the best fit for your DD. Where does she stand the greatest chance of being happy, confident in her abilities and making great friends? A bright child will succeed academically at any of the schools mentioned - but only if she is happy, well supported and not feeling she is constantly coming up short by comparison.

SPGS attracts a lot of parents because it is perceived to be the “best”, most prestigious school and they like the idea of having a daughter there. This doesn’t always mean it is the “best” school for their child though. The pressure once you’re in is immense unless you’re a very specific personality and many parents choose to supplement the teaching with tutoring to ensure their DD stays on top. This is absurd given the strength of the intake academically.

Hi everyone
can you help? My DD has an academic scholarship from St Helens and has been there since a young age and an offer from a habs (no scholarship). We live c5 min drive from St Helens and she could walk to school

Any advice really appreciated as not sure what to do ….

This is very interesting and I agree with everything you say.

can I ask your opinion as we are in the lucky position of having been offered G&L and Putney with a scholarship. The fees are much higher for g&l. Is G&L worth the extra? Would you say it is much better academically? Or are we splitting hairs here when it comes to those schools?

Hello - I am wondering if anyone knows whether scholarships ever have a waiting list? For example, if a scholarship is offered but the offer of place is declined, could a school then offer that scholarship to another child at that later time?

@RaspberryCake we were in a similar position a couple of years ago and decided for G&L. We felt it was more suited to our daughter and more diverse. On the paper SPGS seems more academic but if you are looking at GcSE results you will see it is very marginal (92.8% grade 9-8 at G&L vs 93.3% at SPGS so in a group year of 110 girls you are talking about one girl..) we have not focused on A level as a lot of girls are moving in and out at that point.
I would recommend you go to the different open holder and make your mind based on the cohort, do you see your daughter making friends and be happy there and as another poster said talk to lots of parents.
the school generally try to be very attractive at those events but reality can be different ;)
other thing that was important for us having a sensitivity girl and given she would spent her teenage year there was that she would feel confident. It can be quite difficult to go from top of the class to the middle / bottom of the class.

I agree. My daughter had an offer from SPGS and G&L but we chose G&L in the end. She is thriving and loving G&L. A very down to earth school.

I second your thoughts.

We faced similar situations and my daughter went for G&L at the end. She is very happy and makes a lot of new friends across the schools since she has started.

G&L offers both IB and A level although I appreciate some girls will change schools at this point.

I would suggest attending the holders event days as your DD can speak to different girls and teachers there to understand which school suits her best. All the best. ☺️

In case it helps anyone, my daughter was attracted by their fencing club (she fenced since young), their Mandarin offering, IB option and impressed by the experiences. She found SPGS more edgy and competitive throughout the experience. It just didn’t give her the vibes she aspired for. SPGS and G&L are quite different in terms of their culture. I have a friend whose daughter is now there and indeed SPGS seems to be more competitive.

Is anyone deciding between Dulwich and Alleyn’s? Both lovely schools. Apart from the coed and only boy school, anything swaying you more to the other school?

Unlikely, in general schools offer far more scholarships than they expect to be accepted. As you can see from this thread academic scholarships often go to the same group of dc who then choose which to accept.

I’m an early parent, every year I see the same old nonsense on here about these three schools – it’s always Latymer will suit a confident child. Other cliches are applied to the other two schools. I don’t know all that much about the other two, exact friends with DD’s at SPGS did find it quite pressurised and its reputation means it probably attracts the largest quotient of tiger parents of all the schools, but it’s definitely the right school for some people. Go and look at them all and see which vibe is most appealing , there’s honestly no other way to do it. But back to the point about it suits a confident child, not necessarily, I think it produces confident children but that is down to the schools Back to the confident child thing, neither of my dc were particularly confident when they joined and now both (one has left now) are extremely poised. They’ve loved the school, made fantastic friends and flourished academically, so it’s worked for us but that doesn’t mean I would push it on another parent because we all gave our individual tastes.

A short post on an internet forum is naturally going to be an over simplification. People seem to get incredibly defensive about ‘their’ school when someone posts an opinion or experience that doesn’t align with their own.
My comment was based on my own experience of all three schools as a parent of children in one of them and knowing children in the others (as well as staff). And every parent and child is going to have a different opinion and experience. I know parents and children who have both loved and hated all three of these schools (and the majority are generally happy but are still frustrated about certain things at each of the schools. None are perfect.)
The one thing we are all agreed on, is the three schools are very different and only you can decide what is important to you. One person’s idea of ‘pressure’ is another’s idea of ‘healthy intellectual rigour’ for example.

No direct experience but when I visited these schools, I didn’t like the vibe at Dulwich whereas I loved Alleyn’s. The boarding school element and the fact that Dulwich has several campuses overseas looked to me very corporate. And perhaps because it’s boys only, and it’s strong in sports, I also felt that a certain ‘lads’ attitude might be more of a risk than Alleyn’s. But these are personal impressions.

I have a child at LU and another at a single sex school. There are always quite a lot of posters saying they trying to choose between schools but the single sex/ co- ed isn't the deciding factor. I think it must be one of the big differences though surely?
Lots of international families at LU who chose it specifically because it is Co-Ed. Although quite a few who also have DCs at Godolphin, St Paul's Boys and Girls and other schools as well.
I'd just go with gut feel and where your DC wants to go.

For anyone worried about pressure at SPGS, I will just say that any pressure we have observed has been entirely self-generated by girls and occasionally their parents. The school itself devotes considerable time and energy to stopping the girls from putting themselves under pressure and doing too much. I don't suppose there are too many schools sending emails to parents exhorting them to stop their children doing too much revision ahead of their A Level mocks.

We get those sort of emails from DD's all girls school as well! I think they're all pretty on it these days. But you will still have parents cracking the whip and ignoring those type of emails.

I wouldn't say I'm defensive, it's just boring to see the same old cliche trotted out literally year after year on here. I'd agree from what I know with @BonjourCrisette the pressure seems to come from the girls themselves not the school and some rather intense parents, but there will be those kind of pupils and parents at the other schools too. I actually don't see big differences between the schools apart from the obvious co-ed one (and like the other poster that has surely got to have some bearing on the decision), they're all very good and your child will almost certainly enjoy all three so there's no wrong choice here, which is why gut is everything.

I would also say- as a parent with a y13 child, is try not to agonise over the choice too much- this is for all schools.
Your DCs are 10 or 11. They will change a lot. Who knows what they will become interested in or whether they'll be top of the class, bottom of the class, super sociable, super sporty , into Drama, into towing, go off the rails etc etc. Chances are they'll be happy at school, if they're not that could happen at any school. They may take advantage of all ten great facilities, they may not.
You can't choose who their friend will be, what the other parents will be like etc etc.
Mine were at a state primary. All their friends went to a variety of state and independent secondaries. Some moved between schools ( both ways). Lots changed for sixth form. All seem to be happy and heading for good results, Uni etc. some of the ones who were 'very academic' 11 have tuned out to be not so academic and vice versa.
Mine have been happy, most of the time, at school but I'm sure they would have been fine wherever they went.

Can't edit the typos- your DCs will be able to type better than me at all the schools!

Totally agree with @anotherusername2001 , all kids lucky enough to have the opportunity to go to these types of schools will do very well but you can't predict their course. So just choose the one that speaks to you most strongly.

I think the independent vs state debate it much closer than it was a decade or so ago.

Personally I would go for a selective / super-selective grammar above all the independent schools if we do have that choice; the best grammars really do seem to offer superb academics and most of the extras, without the increasing fee burden of VAT etc. This may not be a consideration for everyone on this forum, but it is for us. Plus, as seems to be the case, the quotas for taking students from indies at super-selective universities (eg Oxbridge) in the UK seems to be ever-diminishing. Gone are the days of 40-50% independent school intake at these elite institutions vs 7% of the kids attending independent schools. It’s the reason why so many of those who can afford are increasingly looking to the US for college.

Basically, if your DC is bright / self-motivated and has the chance to go to a selective / super-selective grammar that works geographically commute-wise, it would feel like quite a straightforward decision to me!

I say this with the knowledge that the grammar school acceptance deadline is not aligned with the independent school one, which complicates things.

We want co-ed and indeed LUS is the most appeal if there is GCSE, my elder child had the best time in LUS. It does kill it without GCSE indeed for us now. SPGS fee becomes even more expensive with VAT, the extra almost £9k or so makes the difference. I dont feel either way with Godolphins. We have KGS in the bag and love Co-ed, Co-ed is our main decision factor and there are both academic and music scholarship, just that it takes 50mins door to door on the same bus to KGS, while 30mins to Hammersmith Indie.

Wow you are in a fortunate position @11plus2nd.

For me, the commute length watershed has always been 45/50 mins, so long as there is more than one way for DC to get to school (eg if a tube strike). If so, I know which I’d be picking!