Kings High Warwick or Shottery

[Googley2]

We went to SGGS and Kings open evening last month to try and decide what school would suit my daughter best. Of course she can only get into SGGS if she passes the 11+ (Booked the test) and she can only get into Kings if she gets a scholarship. She needs an only girls school for her own peace of mind but I am so worried that she may not get offered any of these.

We both walked away with thinking that the standards are more demanding at SGGS than at Kings? Would someone who has more information on these schools please advise me if this thinking is correct?

Thank you

[Yamin151]

I am not sure about how hard the tests are comparatively. Although Kings is an academically high achieving school, it is ultimately an independent school,and they don't want to make them test so hard that they lose customers! So it may be the test is different, or not up against so many etc etc. Getting a scholarship is a different matter though. It's a very high standard for that and of course a scholarship only generally covers 10 to 20% of the fees, though you may get a bursary to top up if you qualify for one.
I would say though that you must have at least one back up school that you would accept a place at. One of your schools will be a tough call because you want a scholarship, the other will be tough because there are so many competing for places (and you gain a qualifying score, which can vary year on year, it's not a pass or fail), so you face the press possibility of not getting a place at either (though of course I hope you do), but you really need a school as a back up, if not two. What are schools like in your area? You won't get another all girls state school around warwick/stratford. Have you looked at Kingsley? Another indie, not so highly selective as Kings but a nice school and may have scholarships and bursaries on offer.
I wish you and your daughter lots of luck, but do please have a fail safe back up

[Poppy100]

I agree with everything in the above post. It was a tough year and then a tough decision as we got offered a full bursery. My daughter attended a lot of events at Kings in the lead up to the decision, so we both felt we knew Kings well. It was much harder to immerse ourselves in Shottery, for obvious reasons. My daughter doesn't start till September, and already I know it's the right place for her. The moving up day and induction evening were amazing.

Shottery just tell it how it is, they don't have to sell themselves. Feel free to pm me any questions.

[Googley2]

I know its going to be hard to get into one of them schools, all we can do is try hard and keep our fingers crossed. My dd is 3 years ahead of her age in English but not so in Maths, just hope the one balances out the other. We have just changed tutor as well and if all else fails I will move house to somewhere with a better state school as the ones around me are total failure. Just not sure where yet, will have to see what happens. Cant wait until both exams are over with and "life" can return to normal without all the exam practice.

Personally we both prefer Shottery after attending the opening evenings but wouldnt say no to Kings as second choice.

I have been told it will be almost impossible to get a place at Shottery due to distance but we are actively looking for a house in CV34 or CV37, will that affect a placement badly???

[JamesDean]

I have been told it will be almost impossible to get a place at Shottery due to distance but we are actively looking for a house in CV34 or CV37, will that affect a placement badly???

Do you live within the priority area for Shottery? If yes, then score is what matters - those with the qualifying score and above are offered a place no matter how far away they are (within the priority area). However, if not, then you won't be offered on allocations day no matter what your score and will have to go on the waiting list.

JD

[kenyancowgirl]

*just getting the qualifying score (and living in priority area) is no guarantee of a place...you have to get at least the qualifying score, live in the priority area and rank in the top n ranks (where n is the number of places available) to get an offer in the first round.

[Googley2]

I have been informed from the LEA that 8 girls got a place in the second round for Shottery last year, may give some cheer to those that dont get offered in the first round.

[JamesDean]

They will be mostly the very high scorers who live beyond the priority area. I don't mean to be a doom merchant, but there will be many girls (and boys) with high scores who will go straight to thr top of the waiting lists for the second round of allocations because they didn't meet all the criteria for the first round.

JD

[kenyancowgirl]

Agreed JD. Effectively the AQS is set at the score/rank that is closest to the PAN across both the in and out of priority areas. The schools want to give themselves the best chance of getting the highest scoring kids. Those 8 kids are likely to be ones who scored/ranked higher than girls who were already in Shottery in the first round of allocations..they just had to wait slightly longer to get their offer.

[Waynetta]

We live 1/4 mile outside the priority area boundary and our experience and that of all the people we've known over the years who've gone to SGGS, if your daughter gets the AQA or above you will get a place, you just need to wait. We and someone else nearby got a call from the head on allocations day.

DD2 is in Y8 at Shottery and loves it. I and other parents I know can't fault it. DD1 missed out on SGGS, a number of friends who also didn't score highly enough passed the tests for Kings High and Kingsley so as Yamkin says the tests are easier, certainly to gain admission. Could you get a scholarship on musical ability?

I'm interested in where you currently live if all your state schools are a failure-there are some very good ones locally and some decent ones. Admittedly a big difference to a grammar school, however standards etc not always guaranteed at an independent -have had friends very unimpressed by some (to the point of moving to a state comprehensive) albeit neither of the two mentioned here.

Good luck!