Schools from Welwyn (Hertfordshire)

[DaddyOfTwo]

Hi DP,

Glad I found this forum,
I am now in the boat for 11+ and trying to select schools which we can apply for.
DS is in an Independent school currently would be going to Year 5 from September and we are looking for grammer and selective schools for him.

We live in Welwyn Garden City and I have a few schools in my list which we plan to enroll him based on catchment and possibility of travel ( bus / coach / train / private group taxi ). Also looking for some good independent schools where high percentage of scholoships is possible.

My current list is
- QE Boys Barnet
- DAO
- Latymer School
- Watford Grammer School

Still gathering details for independent schools to add to the list.
I will keep updating this post as and when I decide on new schools so it would help people in future.

Any parents who are in similar boat from nearby areas like St. Albans, Welwyn, Hertford please chip in and we can help each other.

Thanks

[hermanmunster]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your journey!

One thing I would say about good scholarships is that they are rather more thin on the ground these days and are often not for very much money off the fees (have heard of some where it was just the honour of having it) - the money is more directed to means-tested bursaries which are given to pupils who reach a certain in the entrance exam.

[loobylou]

Hi I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to get into Latymer from WGC. I don't know about Watford but the other two would be ok from there.

[Daogroupie]

You are not in catchment for any of the Watford Grammars or Latymer.
Parmiters has 3 non catchment places which of course require a high score.
12 plus results for St Albans just came out yesterday and applicant numbers had more than doubled, so they do not need to hand out any scholarships to attract top candidates.
The local preps are not up to scratch on QE and DAO and prefer you to go to HABS and St Albans for their destination pages or stay with them if you are in a through prep.
Only 12% of successful DAO academic applicants come from private schools.

DG

[hermanmunster]

You are not in catchment for any of the Watford Grammars or Latymer.

Parmiters has 3 non catchment places which of course require a high score.

these sound as those they are not possibles then

12 plus results for St Albans just came out yesterday and applicant numbers had more than doubled, so they do not need to hand out any scholarships to attract top candidates.

i think scholarships are pretty small anyway and shouldn'treally count on them when applying for schools - nice bonus if they happen etc etc - otherwise case of going through the bursary assessment to see if they can offer anything

The local preps are not up to scratch on QE and DAO and prefer you to go to HABS and St Albans for their destination pages or stay with them if you are in a through prep.

Only 12% of successful DAO academic applicants come from private schools.

I wonder if 12% is actually representative of the local area anyway? certainly would be a lot lower in other parts of the country

[Daogroupie]

It is 12% of the academic applicants, not the total PAN. DG

[hermanmunster]

It is 12% of the academic applicants, not the total PAN. DG

same thing applies, there are plenty of grammar schools around the country where the number of pupils coming from indies would be far less than that

[Daogroupie]

That is not the perception and it would be great to see some figures from other selective schools.
Parents send their students to preps because they think it will increase their chances of passing the 11 plus.

DG

[mad?]

That's an interesting perspective. I only know of one DC who applied from indie to grammar - and all the preps I am familiar with are preparing for indie exams at 11 or 13+ not grammar.

[hermanmunster]

in the Yorkshire GS school years that I knew of there were 2 or 3 out of 110 from indies - possibly because there aren't as many indies as in the South East and there also weren't actually any indies in the catchment area for the schools