School admission for 14 year old in UK

[dreammum]

Hi. We will be moving into UK in October, from India. Can anyone help with the system of education and school admissions in UK please - i am more interested in Independent schools and will choose the locality to live, based on schools. Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

[hermanmunster]

Hi Dream mum - depends initially which academic year your child would fit into. The independents tend to have intakes of variable size in year 9 (births 1/9/96-31/8/97 for the current year 9). HOWEVER if your child is in this year you may find that there are relatively few places as most have been going through a selection and application process to start last week.. If however your child is 14 already ie born between 1/9/95 and 31/8/96 they will be going in to the current year 10 - problem with this year is that they will have started their GCSE courses (many start in year 9 now) so you will need to bear that in mind...


Would be helpful if you had some idea of area - is it work related?

[drummer]

I'd contact the Independent Schools Council http://www.isc.co.uk/ and consider paying for the services of an agent or education counsellor. Such schools run their own admissions. If you can avoid the state system I would, especially coming from India where standards and expectations are very high.

Your decision may of course have to be determined by the depth of your pockets, you'll have school fees plus cost of buying/renting in surrounding area.

[Amber]

From what I can gather on here, the closer you are to London, the more difficult it is likely to be to get a child into an independent school at an 'odd' time. Where I live, there is loads of movement into and out of indies (my daughter is at one, just gone into Year 10 - 2 children left at the end of Year 9 to go to different indies and 2 have come in this year from other local schools. That's on top of one who left to go to GS and one who has come in from abroad); and we looked at moving to the north of England not all that long ago and were offered places pretty easily in independent secondary schools. I think you should decide where you want to live and then go and approach some schools - it might not be as hard as you think to get a place. Good luck.

[dreammum]

From what I can gather on here, the closer you are to London, the more difficult it is likely to be to get a child into an independent school at an 'odd' time. Where I live, there is loads of movement into and out of indies (my daughter is at one, just gone into Year 10 - 2 children left at the end of Year 9 to go to different indies and 2 have come in this year from other local schools. That's on top of one who left to go to GS and one who has come in from abroad); and we looked at moving to the north of England not all that long ago and were offered places pretty easily in independent secondary schools. I think you should decide where you want to live and then go and approach some schools - it might not be as hard as you think to get a place. Good luck.

Thanks everybody for your inputs.

Amber: Is there a way to find out open positions in Independent schools outside of London? I would llike to chose the place to live depending on school availability. In all likelihood, my work place is bound to be within London but i am fine to travel.. Or will schools provide this information if approached?

[hermanmunster]

You will have to ask each school specifically - there is no database, also independent schools that may appear full can suddenly have places - if they want to, they are not tied by class sizes or admission numbers. DD went to one where the school believed a child was leaving so accepted another child then the first child's move did not take place so they ended up with one over the usual number.

Re London - I think Amber may have referring to schools 150-200 miles away. Commuting a long way to London is mind numbing and expensive- think about it carefully.

[Amber]

Herman is right: I live about 100 miles from London. I have just started commuting myself, twice a week, admittedly to south London, and it is a killer. However, if you are talking central London there is a direct train and you can do it in under 2 hours if you pick the right line.

Regarding your other point - I am a great believer in speaking directly to the horse out of whose mouth the decision will come. 'Phone the schools, ask the question. Yesterday, a week into the new term, a child left my DD's school to go to a local GS; the replacement child is starting today. This is Year 10 btw. Things change and all schools are keen not to have spare places; but most do. The GS this child went to yesterday is very hard to get into and he had hitherto shown no ability to do so - massive surprise to all. This illustrates how desperate schools are not to have spaces, as it cuts their funding, be they state or private. Get yourself over to the schools, ask; smile; be persistent. I am entirely confident that once outside the M25, you will have a choice.