How competitive state selective schools be this year due to VAT on private schools?

[Kalista018]

We’re in SW London and preparing for both state selective secondary schools and some private schools. From what I’ve seen, there still seems to be a large number of students preparing for private schools in this area, despite the fee increases—but as we’re new to London, I’m not sure if that’s the full picture.

A friend of mine, who has been tutoring for private school entry for many years (based in Kingston), says she hasn’t noticed much difference this year and that many parents here can still afford private education regardless of the VAT. On the other hand, another experienced 11+ tutor in Tooting believes there will be a huge shift towards state selective schools this year. Any thoughts on this? Thank you all.

I think that from the region you mention the selective secondary schools are almost all ‘superselective’ and have always been very competitive with very high numbers of applicants vs places.

Assume the number of applicants for those schools will increase, since an unknown proportion of families that consider private for secondary will instead seek a state school, due to costs.

SW London has super competitive state schools even before VAT. The private schools in London are super competitive and competitive with hundreds applying for few spaces the main driver is VAT meant those that would go to boarding are focusing on day schools and cheaper level of funding. Good luck and do apply to a few day schools with different exams techniques since those adaptive tests does suit all candidates. Families take a mix of online and paper tests entrance exams.

We did superselective grammar entry last year and I did not think my DS would get in, because we had not done the whole tutoring thing and did it all last minute. He did get in, into all of them. We sat a few more than we may have in a normal year. Sutton Stage 2 he passed all of them and we didn’t even know what the format was. In the end it was write a letter to an MP type thing, which happened to be write up his street as he is an opinionated little thing who reads a ton of newspapers and probably had loads to say compared to lots of the kids who did far more practice papers.

My take on this whole thing is that families like ours with 4 DC cannot afford private anymore. I assume that will be the case for most with 3 DC too, albeit from professional families with good jobs and educated parents.
However, DS has lots of friends who do high level music with him and the 1 child households, max 2 can still afford private school.
Basically, people are just going to have fewer kids to afford the best education for the kid they do have and give them the best and there seem to be a lot of new arrivals in this demographic with competent kids. So who knows. We only know 1 single child household who chose grammar over private in the end. A lot of these kids will get offers from all of the schools. Just boils down to their parents’ finances.

The intense competition in selective schools is self‑perpetuating. Many grammar schools are propelled by reputation and the relentless chase for prestige, not necessarily by superior teaching. In reality, top exam results at GCSE and A‑Level are often a reflection of exceptionally hardworking students, rather than the quality of instruction. A child who would be a top performer in a strong comprehensive school may end up only average, or even struggling, in a highly selective grammar.
Compounding this issue is the funding gap: grammar schools typically receive less money per pupil — about £4,500 compared to £5,200 in comprehensives. This means they often operate with fewer resources, despite the higher academic pressure. Such an environment, marked by constant comparison and reduced support, is not the healthiest for learning or student wellbeing.

The truly amazing schools are those with significant Progress 8 that are not selective and are not in any wealthy areas. Because that shows the achievement

Ah and if anybody says that the difference of funding is because of SEN population in non selective schools. Not really. EHCP receives a specific amount oer pupil and SEN funding for those only on Sen register ior not yet s granted separately from amount given per capita that is per pupil.

You can always join a private school while being on a waiting list for a state school, then move. Plenty of parents do that, not easy to leave a group of friends and a structure but achievable. Most private school parents have one, maybe 2 children, lots of tutoring, often for children who struggle academically, need extra work/ encouragement in terms of sport/ academia, or have special needs.