Hello,
if you could choose between a place at a grammar school of your choice and a scholarship/assisted place at an independent school, what would you prefer and why?

My daughter scored very well in her 11+ test (250+) so more or less secured herself a place. We are looking at King Edward Camp Hill for girls. In theory, she might also be offered a free place at St Martins (fingers crossed). St Martins doesn't publish full statistics on their exam performance, so it's difficult to judge how well they are doing academically. We are currently house hunting in Solihull, so commuting time is unknown yet (can still buy a house closer to our preferred school).

So any advice on how these two schools compare would be much appreciated!

Honestly, I'd go on gut instinct as to where I could imagine my child thriving best over the next 5 years. (In terms of personal/social development and friendship groups - it sounds as though academically she's likely to flourish anywhere).

Well done to your daughter and for having such good opportunities. I have no personal experience with either, but choose the one that your child liked the best. If your not sure, maybe request to see the school during term time and then weigh all the pros and cons. All the best

I don't have personal experience of either.Many people try very hard to get their child into KECHG and have heard many good things about it from this forum and from friends whose daughters have gone to the school.The academics speak for themselves and are freely available in all its details on the schools website.

I haven't heard much about St Martins on this forum but I have looked at the academics on its website and because the GCSE results only show summaries I am automatically distrustful.There is usually a reason to only show a summary.

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In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln

Nereida, don't know enough about the independent school to comment but do consider your travel to CHG from Solihull. If the current admission proposals go ahead, there is a fair chance the Green bus service may no longer be available from Solihull, if you were planning on using it. It's still all up in the air but worth a thought.

I did some cursory research on St Martins when we were looking at secondary schools for daughter. Bearing in mind she's now at university any information I found would be a little past its sell-by date, but my conclusion at the time was it just plain too small. Which may go some way to explaining the lack of academic details - if you've only got tiny numbers the details may identify individuals (you'll note that Birmingham indies no longer publish detailed leavers' destination lists, for example).

That's my concern. I would suspect that when statistics is really good it would be published. With Camp Hill you can see clearly where this school stands in the league tables. With St Martins there is no comparable information. The grounds are very nice and, surely, my daugther would enjoy this environment. She is not too confident and can be shy (with strangers, not at home ), loves reading, has relatively small circle of friends. But she wants to go to Oxbridge afterwards, so needs to be well prepared for this challenge, and I need to be very careful where I place her.

Your year 6 daughter knows she wants to go to oxbridge? I have to be honest, my year 6 or 7 children are more likely to think oxbridge was a game..

Yes, she truly knows what she wants. We've visited Ox when she was smaller and she totally fell in love with it. So I now need to ensure she stands a chance of getting there.

I knew this was coming. Stroudydad, it will be quite unusual for two kids to have the same level of maturity and think alike. So, best to celebrate that diversity and not be unnecessarily judgmental