Hello
We recently shifted to London (North Harrow, HA2) from Singapore. My daughter will go to Year 5 in Sep'18. We are interested in getting her admitted to a grammar school subsequently and I understand we need to start preparations now. This forum is a treasure trove. I have some questions and hopefully the experts can help us newbies:
1) Is there a list of Grammar schools with no catchment requirement?
2) Any list of Grammar schools where exam can be given while outside catchment?
We are willing to shift in the catchment of the Grammar school but only if she gets admission. My job is in central London, so we dont mind shifting to areas around 1 hr commute from central London.
Thanks for the help.
Akshay

Hello Akshay

I can only answer for Bucks, so will do so and you can decide whether to rule it in or out accordingly.

1) Is there a list of Grammar schools with no catchment requirement?
Not for Bucks. Although Bucks grammar schools have defined catchments, they can and do admit children from just outside those boundaries. There's no requirement to be in catchment but catchment children are prioritised over those outside, assuming all other things are equal. The allocation distances are reducing every year.

2) Any list of Grammar schools where exam can be given while outside catchment?
All of them. None of them are allowed to exclude you. But see my point below.

We are willing to shift in the catchment of the Grammar school but only if she gets admission.
This is where, for Bucks, it gets tricky. Have a look at the Bucks County Council website on school admissions as well as the policies of any schools you are interested in. All have a cut-off date for the address used for allocations and some schools have an earlier date. Basically for Bucks, you need to commit to living here to stand a chance of getting a place. You will not get a place from Harrow. You cannot move here after the results and be included in the first round of allocations and even then, Harrow is now too far away from which to get a place.

So for Bucks, you need to decide if it's worth entering the test. If you really want to secure a place here, you must move into catchment and make sure you have an upper school you are happy with should your daughter not qualify. There are no comprehensive schools here.

List of schools, you may check the schools in each region mentioned on the side tabs.

https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/schools/regions

Then check the schools website for their Admissions Arrangements.


As example Slough school page is as follows.
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/schoo ... lus/slough

As you have moved from Singapore, might I ask why you particularly want a grammar school for your daughter? While the forum might indeed be a 'treasure trove' of information, please remember that grammar schools offer the same curriculum and exams as other state schools and moving just for the sake of getting your daughter into one does mean that you may focus on that to the exclusion of other factors which may make an area attractive to live in. It might be better to live somewhere with non-selective schools which are good and to which your daughter will be guaranteed admission, regardless of admissions tests and residency rules.

+1 to the above.

I wouldn't move to be in a grammar school system.

OP may have moved to UK for work or other reasons, not for grammar schools.

Lucky that both of you were born in grammar school area and have your children in grammar schools.

No one suggested s/he did. OP moved to the UK and is now interested in grammar schools.

It helps if you read the opening post.

OP didn't suggest that they moved to UK only for grammar school either. It helps not to be too simplistic.

You clearly don't understand the situation. OP has moved to London. She has since expressed an interest in grammar schools (the important word in her post was "subsequently"), to which I have responded. I didn't suggest she moved to London for grammar schools. My suggestion was that she doesn't move again to a selective county.

+1

? No one has suggested this except you, TB. There was no ambiguity in the original post, nor any of the replies to it. I wasn't born in a grammar area. I moved to one completely unknowingly for work and only after I had children did I find out it was a grammar area. I would never choose to live in one. And one of my children did not go to grammar school actually until sixth form, when she chose to go to a school I would never have chosen for her. It also helps if those who criticise others for not getting their facts right, get theirs right too.

As you were. My points stand - I would not move to an area for a grammar school and I suggest the OP looks at schools which are not selective and will not require a further move.