KEHS offers

[hermanmunster]

Yeah - I got one of those letters too. TBH I thought it was pretty patronising. We had thought out the fee implications before DD sat the exam!

I am sure that some people think through it well but I suspect the foundation have had problems with people who really were relying on getting an AP and in the heat of the moment get carried away with agreeing to the full fees place. Some in this position may try to apply for extra funding during the period at the school and the school may not be able to help. The letter makes me think that this policy is born of experience.

[kenyancowgirl]

+1....we actually know people who have applied to private schools knowing they can only afford 1 or 2 years fees, under the assumption that, once their child is there, the school will do everything to help keep them there byt offering a bursary when the money runs out. Whilst schools can be sympathetic - and very mindful particularly in a critical exam year - they are also businesses, and we do know families whose children were allowed to stay till the end of the academic year but no longer (* this was not KEHS and, we also know families where children were given bursaries where financial circumstances changed unexpectedly - usually where the child was doing very well academically or in a particular aspect of importance to the school (eg sport).

[France25a]

My daughter has been offered a full fee place. My husband called today to get some extra info and the admissions lady was very open. She told him the following info:
- they offer about double the number of places available.
- the highest attaining 20 ish accept (I guess because they all have scholarships).
- numbers 20-70 largely don’t accept because they have grammar school places.
- after that, numbers accepting goes up drastically.

I hope this helps.

[Blackberry]

Wow that really gets me worried as my dd is on the waiting list.

I didn’t expect that level of offers to be made. When I called I was not given any information like this.

[MSD]

That makes sense France25a. I wonder if the acceptance pattern for those 20-70 will change, if the new proposals get the green light.

On the subject of affordability, I am sure both KEHS and KES have many years of experience to make an informed decision. However, I would also add that no two families have the same lifestyle, with one family stretching their pennies lot further than others. They give up on other luxuries of life to secure quality education for their children - so not sure if all can be assessed using the same affordability criteria. Moreover, it’s quite common within certain communities to help each other, when it comes to financial matters - not sure how KEHS accounts for that currently.

[Blackberry]

Personally I don’t think the proposed grammar criteria from 2020 should have any bearings this year in terms of offers accepted for independents. It may mean locations of schools are awkward for siblings once catchment areas come into play that did not previously pose any issue. The question mark over choosing to pay is a totally different ball game and surely if a place is available in 2019 for a grammar, people would still have the same passion for taking it?
Am I missing a trick?!

[MSD]

From all the messages I have received, and seen, the new proposals have certainly added considerable doubt in parents’ mind, who otherwise were set on a grammar school place. Anyone’s guess on how many will eventually go down the independent route though.

[KatyLees]

My daughter has been offered a full fee place. My husband called today to get some extra info and the admissions lady was very open. She told him the following info:
- they offer about double the number of places available.
- the highest attaining 20 ish accept (I guess because they all have scholarships).
- numbers 20-70 largely don’t accept because they have grammar school places.
- after that, numbers accepting goes up drastically.

I hope this helps.

I find this level of over-offering totally absurd! Surely they don't have 96 people turning down a place? And what a risk, if there is a huge increase in acceptances compared with the norm.

[MSD]

It won't be unusual for 96 children to drop out. Even if we take example of grammar schools, where no offers are initially made above PAN (at least in recent years), quite a few were picked from waiting list.

FW offered

2018 - 65 places offered from waiting list
2017 - approx 70 offered from waiting list
2016 - approx 58 offered from waiting list

[kenyancowgirl]

KatyLees, there are very few people who honestly apply to a private school alone - most apply alongside state schools (usually the GS), as a back up, in case their child does not get a place. And, if their child does get a place at GS, regardless of whether they have been offered an AP by the private school, in any form (bearing in mind that scholarships are very low level and bursaries only offered to very high scorers from very low means) then in the vast majority of cases, parents are sensible enough to take the "free" option that gives them the academic push with slightly less glamorous facilities (half of which may not be used by the child anyway). Private schools know they are expensive to 99% of families, so expect that families will make a sensible choice and over offer accordingly. It is the same as some airlines routinely overbooking by 30% as experience tells them that this number are likely to not turn up - and if they do, they deal with the additional numbers accordingly.