London grammar and private senior school entry 2025 part 2

[CruCru]

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

Lots of drama and music at KGS. They do have to play hockey in games for two terms but if you don’t go to after school training you won’t get picked for the Saturday matches.

Pros: down to earth, lots of things to do, good state/private mix, easy to get to, don’t have to travel via Clapham Junction, excellent charismatic head master, no rugby at all ever, quite a light homework load

Cons: facilities - no big sports hall, no pool (but as a head from a different school said, no 13 year old enjoys school swimming lessons), (gorgeous) sports fields a bit of a trek but coach back to school or can get train from Hampton Court

it seems (to me) to be much more surbuban than Emanuel, and that suits us.

PS if you live in Esher the sports fields and travel will be a doddle

@Trickleg thanks so much that’s very helpful. We are in Esher so in terms of the commute both the school and sports field are much closer than Emanuel. My DS is leaning towards KGS and so are we - will go to the offer day and then make the final decision!

Good luck with the offer days this week. Hopefully we all will have more clarity!

I cant seem to make a decision between SPGS vs KGS(higher fee, girls only, very competitive however closer to home, less than 30mins vs much affordable, co-ed, but 50mins daily plus sport field is further out. We are into sport). Moving out will be painful for us as we both commute to the city for office daily plus cost of moving. Had LUS still do gcse then we will go for LUS in a heart beat as it ticks all the boxes for us.

Hi @11plus2nd could I ask why the GCSEs are such a deal breaker for you re LUS? We were inclined to choose it (despite older DC at KGS) - pending offer holder visits at a few schools next week - and I'm just trying to understand different perspectives. What downside do you think there would be for the DC of not having GCSEs?

My elder daughter went to LUS(and now board in WUS) so I know LUS well from experience and love the school. Its purely because GCSE indeed. I dont find the current info from LUS plan to replace gcse is good enough. I am concern of teacher talent pool and experience in teaching the school’s own curriculum and I’d like to have a choice to move school at 6th form similar to our elder daughter then without gcse I think its less standard and potentially disadvantage. Again, its purely personal view and it might prove us wrong.

I think the moving at 16 would be fine from LU. You have to take exams anyway at most schools at 16 plus.

The end of GCSEs is my worry as well with LUS. I agree with it completely in principle but I am still unclear as to what they will be covering instead.

We decided not to apply for LU at all because of the lack of GCSEs. It is all very well saying they have consulted with universities, but the reality is that having more than just maths and English is really the bottom line in basic education in this country. If anything went catastrophically wrong before getting A levels, it would be much harder to make up ground if a child could not demonstrate they have 5 GCSE passes. Some courses insist on having science GCSEs in addition to other A-levels. And in the first years of working, being able to show you have managed to get multiple GCSEs simultaneously says something about your ability to work hard and consistently, even on subjects that may not be your strongest. Too much of a gamble for us.

@11plus2nd , at the KGS open day I would ask how many dc leave after GCSEs and move to a private school 6th form and if KGs has sent a dd to Westminster.
It would be interesting to know. You hear of dd going from LEH and SHS to KCS but also to KGS.

We learnt alot from the 11+ selection process at each school so in the end its worth it. My elder daughter had very bad impression with SPGS during the selection process while my second daughter loves it. She loves her Spgs selection day, the interview with the sort of stimulating questions. She didnt have any impression with G&L and feels either way. In hind sight, we could have skipped G&L. I was actively trying to get more info from LUS about the school own curriculum and plan. I was hoping for much more active engagement and info from the school to us, the prospective parents however there was only from the website and hard copy hand out on the open day. I feel that I will be in doubt with this sort of communication the next 5 years. Personally I am against single sex education and prefer co-ed however my daughter and my husband are either way. Again, we dont mind if moving is needed. It would be easier to move with a school doing gcse otherwise and potentially easier moving from a higher rank school to a lesser.

@11plus2nd We found LUS open to discussing their middle school curriculum reform and had a fairly long conversation about it with a Deputy Head at the open day. I am sure we will hear more about it at the offer holder evening and separate Head's tour this week and that there will be the opportunity to ask further questions.

I am planning to send emails for the schools, declining their offers and keeping the top 2 till we attend the offer holder days. How should I make the wording, do we need to give a reason ? Whats the etiquette ? Thank you

@Cleta been thinking exactly the same what to say in the emails. Which ones are your top 2? Think we have also narrowed it down to 2 but want to make sure after the offer events this week.

does anyone know if it will be a disadvantage declining a place for siblings in the future.

I don't think it will disadvantage siblings...we applied to one school that dd declined the offer in the end and ds still got an offer two years later.

Just say 'after a long thought', 'best for the whole family', 'hard decision', 'thanks for the opportunity' etc.

You'll probably get a reply along the lines of 'thanks for letting us know' and 'good luck with the rest of your education' .

Would also say that it's really worth going to offer holder events even if you really don't think it's the choice for you. Quite easy to change your mind! It's very unlikely wait lists will move until after the state school dates anyway so do t feel bad

The waitlist do move before state school dates. Do go to undecided school options offer days but if the school is going to be decline it would be better to release. We know in the past of boys getting offers before state school and right after half term. They accept WL and release their offers and this would help with the school planning and other parents on WL.

Our emails have been of a similar narrative as pp said - thanks for offer, great school after consideration declining offer. Both have thanked us for letting them know and asked for our final choice - which I understand is quite normal.

Not quite sure yet if it would be a disadvantage once the actual 11+ process starts for us, but one top school we declined, has apparently blacklisted us and my subsequent emails re the second child went straight to spam. I guess it depends on the school but we will try it anyway as the school is lovely and may be a better fit for my second child.

Curious how you know the emails went to spam?

Quite a few children come from the Esher area to KGS. Easy on the K3 or get train to Surbiton and switch to the bus. Plus you are very near to Ditton Fields / Rowing Club. Your DC will be nearer to friends - Emanuel is fairly spread out in terms of catchment and that catchment willl go out in directions nowhere nr Esher. KGS tends to be popular with the Richmond train line and surrounding Kingston / Wimbledon area.

Given Emanuel and KGS are both co-ed with fairly similar vibes, this may be one where location is an important factor.

Definitely go to both offer days.

They told us after we got through to the school by using a different email address

Wow, that is surprising!