11 Plus Exams Forum

We have all heard of the 'A' list of schools: LEH, NLCS, JAGS, St Pauls, Wimbledon high, Putney etc. I have shortlisted some of them for DD who is turning 11 this year. However, I feel I need to have 'safety' schools for her in case she does not get into a school of her choice. Schools that are good, but not excellent and thus not hotly contested (comparatively).

We are renting right now so the entire city of London and even Sevenoaks is our 'catchment area' which only makes things more complicated. Any suggestions on, for want of a better adjective -second rung schools, would be very helpful.
TIA

Hi, welcome to the forum. London is a very large place with many independent schools which fit the wide criteria you have given us. Do you have any preference as to where you would like to live? Your shortlist will be incredibly long and it's a little bit much to expect people to provide you with it without further info! I'd suggest research on websites like the good schools guide which could give you an idea of what kind of schools to look at.

Also, bear in mind exams (and the cost of applying for them!!) From the list you've given us there's six exams for your DD to take, since none of them have the same paper, and there may be more from your safety schools. Some of these exams may sit in the same time period, so consider how far you want your probably quite stressed DD to travel over a weekend or so for the tests.

Best of luck.

Look at the North London Consortium Group One and Two. There are schools like Channing, Northwood, St Helens and South Hampstead that are easier to get into than some of the others and one exam for each group will enable you to apply to all schools in the group. DG

thanks daogroupie and immortal dreams, that's very helpful advice.