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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Hockerill day

5 replies

tatamata · 19/10/2025 12:42

Hi all,

I was wondering about your recent experiences of Hockerill school in Bishop Stortford. I think my child scored reasonably well to get an offer for a day place at Hockerill based on his recent test results. However, we don’t live close by. If we choose to put this school on the top of our list we would need to move. What are your recent experiences of the school? We applied for the aptitude tests, not expecting much and the reason we applied was based on what I heard about the school almost 10 years ago…My child would like to go to a different school, where we would not need to move far, but there is so many things I like about Hockerill based on a description that I find it difficult to give up. I would really appreciate some real life recent experiences. Are the day pupils happy, is the head approachable, is the school academically good…?

Thank you all

OP posts:
scandinavianyellow · 19/10/2025 19:31

I would say that if you don’t live close unless your child has scored 99 on the test then it’s unlikely you will get a day place. If you want to get in flexi boarding is an option
one thing to bear in mind is that IB funding has just been cut so the school may well change.
it’s a good school I think has a wide range of aptitudes though as there are plenty of flexi boarders and children or staff as well as siblings in addition to the small number of aptitude place winners.

dddais · 07/02/2026 07:43

scandinavianyellow · 19/10/2025 19:31

I would say that if you don’t live close unless your child has scored 99 on the test then it’s unlikely you will get a day place. If you want to get in flexi boarding is an option
one thing to bear in mind is that IB funding has just been cut so the school may well change.
it’s a good school I think has a wide range of aptitudes though as there are plenty of flexi boarders and children or staff as well as siblings in addition to the small number of aptitude place winners.

hi, do you have kids at the school? Would love to connect if you do. I'm looking at it for boarding. We live overseas and my daughter may be eligible for a place due to boarding needs - they seem confident they can accommodate her. Would love to know your experiences with kids at the school

sailingsunshine · 07/02/2026 17:43

@dddais, are you aware that last autumn the dept for education cut all funding for IB in state schools from Sept 26. It’s more expensive to teach than A levels because you need more teachers and teaching hours and schools will no longer receive the extra payment. If you are choosing the school for IB you need to ask how the funding gap will be met, ie they may have reserves to make the gap. If you definitely want IB you should choose a private school.

tartyflette · 07/02/2026 17:56

I lived near Hockerill until quite recently and both the school and pupils do have a very good reputation locally. Then it shot up in the national ratings too. I think it is considered among the best coeducational state schools in the country,
It used to be a specialist language college, is that still the case?
I'm afraid I don't have have any local insights into the boarding situation there. But if you are set on that you could look at the (independent) Bishop's Stortford College which has a boarding section. Obviously this would cost. More than a little.
We considered Hockerill for DS but he was a rugby player and wanted to go to the boys' high, (Bishop's Stortford High School) , a very sporty school which was particularly strong on rugby. He did fine there.

dddais · 07/02/2026 22:29

sailingsunshine · 07/02/2026 17:43

@dddais, are you aware that last autumn the dept for education cut all funding for IB in state schools from Sept 26. It’s more expensive to teach than A levels because you need more teachers and teaching hours and schools will no longer receive the extra payment. If you are choosing the school for IB you need to ask how the funding gap will be met, ie they may have reserves to make the gap. If you definitely want IB you should choose a private school.

I wasn't aware of that, no. Thanks for informing.

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