Transfer from private secondary to state school

[miky0225]

My DC has received an offer from a private secondary school and also has the option of our local state school. The private school is ranked much higher, although I’ve seen mixed reviews about both schools.

I’m currently leaning towards the private school, especially as my DC passed the entrance exam and was offered a scholarship.

However, I’m wondering If for any reason things don’t work out — for example, issues with bullying, not settling in, or simply not being the right fit — how easy is it to transfer from a private secondary to a state secondary, assuming there is space available?

My concern is that if we turn down the private school now, it may be very difficult (or almost impossible) to go back later without sitting entrance exams again.

Has anyone been through a similar situation? I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences. Thank you!

Why would you go from private to state rather the private to another private school?

You mention mixed reviews – what sort of things about the private school and from what source? Depending on the answer to that question I would be a bit wary of that – if I am paying for secondary school I don't want any serious negatives tbh. Of course if it is just one parent complaining about the quality of the lunches then that's not a deal breaker.

Do you have a good reason to suppose your DC won't settle in and be the right fit? Does the private school feel snobby or exclusive in some way? surely not or why would you pursue an application? If your DS is bright enough to have been offered a place there seems no reason why he would not do well. As long as the fees are feasible and you preferred the school, it seems like a good option.

Tho tbf you do give as two main reasons your DS passing the entrance exam (surely a sine qua non) and the fact that he has a scholarship – is that bc of the money off (probs not a huge amount) or the reflected prestige?

I would hope the reasons for choosing the private school would be more along the lines of: good teaching, ethos was a good fit, good range of subjects, small classes, excellent music/sporting/drama facilities?

I would consider moving if a place became available at another private school we really liked. However, the private schools in this area that would be worth transferring to are highly competitive and extremely sought after so I’m not sure that would realistically happen.

I wouldn’t want to move my DC to a lower-ranked private school just for the sake of staying in the private schools. I hope all goes well in this school but you never know so it always good to have options to play around I think.

Thanks so much for your reply. That’s exactly why I applied to the private school you mentioned. I attended their open day and came away with a really positive impression — the communication felt warm and transparent, and I didn’t get any sense that the school was overly elite or snobbish.

However, I’ve since read some negative reviews on Mumsnet, which has made me a bit concerned. The comments were mainly about pastoral care not being strong enough, children feeling suppressed, and parents not feeling able to speak up. That worries me, particularly because my DC is quite sensitive and has anxiety and OCD, which we’ve been supporting through therapy.

He is currently at a state primary school and doing well. It’s in a fairly affluent area and, overall, the children tend to behave well. I just want to be sure that whichever school we choose will continue to support his emotional wellbeing as well as his academics.