HBS: Stressing over not receiving Candidate No for twin No2

[bandhan1983]

Stressing over candidate no for Twin No2:

For the last one month I've been trying to figure out why I did not receive email regarding candidate number for twin No2. When I received an email three days ago for twin No1 with timing for entrance test, I quickly emailed them and requested them to find out the cause.


I've been emailing the school since last month. My Husband tried calling the school few times and each time we get automated voice message telling us the office is closed and to call back the following day.

Twin No2 has been practicing and preparing herself for HBS. It's stressing me to think she may not sit for test at HBS.

please advise what I can do to put my mind at ease.

[ToadMum]

I hope this is a silly question, but presumably you did go through the whole registration process twice, separately for each twin?

[Daogroupie]

You would have received a registration confirmation for each twin when you registered.

They are two different candidates so you would need to have registered twice.

I am afraid that admin is not a strong point for HBS. They are the only school I know which manages to get away with not answering admissions questions by phone, only by email.

It is a shame you did not post earlier as HBS would have been open on Thursday and Friday as students applying for the sixth form have to go and deliver their results personally to confirm their place.

I would suggest you continue emailing and phoning them and leave a message on the answerphone about your situation.

But I am sorry to say that the reality is that your second registration did not go through and your second twin is not registered and the deadline is long over.

I would personally go down on the first day of school and sit in reception until the admissions staff are able to see you.

Hopefully you have hard copy and email copy of your application. DG

[bandhan1983]

On 3rd May I applied for twin No1 and received the automatic reply with the receipt no.

I tried applying for twin No2 several times but failed. On the same day I emailed the school to let them know of this situation and I received the reply on 8th May telling me to use a different browser or computer to apply for twin no2.

So, on 10th May I applied for twin no2 from my mobile's Google Chrome. Like the previous one I also received the automatic reply which starts with "Thank you for submitting your application form. Please accept this email as receipt."

On 21st August, I received an email "HBS Entrance Test: 2019 Entry" which includes confirmation of Candidate name/ DOB/Candidate No and it was only for twin no1.

I thought since I applied for twin no 2 one week after applying for twin no 1, I might receive email for twin no 2 at the end of July or in the first week of August. In the meantime, I've been checking emails everyday and stressing out.

There was no email or nothing.

After waiting for more than two weeks, I emailed them again with receipt no, forwarded previous emails, asked them to look into it and to let me know if there's any problems, left our contact numbers to contact us.

Still nothing! Can you imagine the stress it was causing me?

On 22nd Aug at 13:04, I received an email (HBS Entrance Test Invitation)inviting twin no1 for the entrance test along with time, venue, colour group etc. AGAIN, no news and nothing for twin no 2.
I was using my email at that time. I saw this as an opportunity to get hold of the admin so within 8 minutes I emailed the school explaining everything.

After 24mins, I received a reply:

Dear [name removed by Moderator],



Thank you for your email. We are looking into this issue and will come back to you as soon as possible.



Best wishes,

Admissions Office

The Henrietta Barnett School



Tel: 020 8458 8999

http://www.hbschool.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It was last time I heard from the school. My husband tried contacting for the next two days ( Thursday 23rd Aug and Friday 24th Aug). No one picked the phone up.

...and I don't know what else to do.

[Sally-Anne]

I have removed your name from the above post to protect your and your children's privacy.

I can imagine that this is immensely stressful for you, but as you have the email receipt for twin 2, I am sure it will get sorted out. You just have to try to be patient and continue to pursue the matter with the school.

[bandhan1983]

@ToadMum Yes, I did go through the whole registration process twice on two different days from two different device.


@Daogroupie, Thank you so much for your detailed reply.

[bandhan1983]

@Sally- Anne, what was I thinking? Copying and posting my email! I did not even realise I did that. Thank you very much.
When I was replying, I tried to state the days/dates I emailed the school.

[Sally-Anne]

Your name was probably only up on the board for 5 minutes, if that, so don't worry about it. (You'd be surprised how often people do the same thing on threads about admission problems, so we tend to watch them like hawks.)

[kenyancowgirl]

Sorry to hear this bandhan, it must be a little worrying but as SA says, if you have the email receipt confirming that you registered Twin 2 then it is probably just an admin glitch to do with the same dob and same name and computer saying "no".

I would obviously advise that you continue to try the school office at different times of the day and go and camp out in their reception (they are likely to open at least one day before official term starts for a teacher training day or general set up) and get it sorted. I would also urge you not to let the situation known to either twin - this is your stress, not theirs! They must both focus on being able to do the best they can in a bubble from this.

[hermanmunster]

I am sure it will work out - particularly as you have the receipts.

Very annoying that the system can't cope - won't be the first time they have had twins apply...