Can anyone tell me how hard it is to get a St Helen's Place?

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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Middlesexmum
Posts: 1008
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:54 am

Can anyone tell me how hard it is to get a St Helen's Place?

Post by Middlesexmum »

I'm really panicking now. Was shocked to find out today that dd isn't being called for an interview at Habs :( To be honest I couldn't really see her there but I would have at least liked her to get an interview.

St Helen's has always been our favourite school but I'm wondering now if she won't get a place if she didn't even reach the interview stage at Habs.

Does anyone have any info? And is it true that St Helen's likes good English and at Habs Maths is more important? Dd is fantastic at English but her Maths is weaker.
Humbug
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 8:06 am

Re: Can anyone tell me how hard it is to get a St Helen's Pl

Post by Humbug »

Hi Middlesexmum

I wish I had something to offer - unfortunately the schools we're applying to are on the other side of London so I don't know much about the ones you're talking about. I do really understand what you're going through though - I also have a daughter whose English is good but maths very unpredictable. All I can think is that if she hasn't got an interview at Habs it's not the place for her, and you didn't like the school anyway. Is St Helen's a less competitive place? Either way, every exam is different and the most important thing is not to let your DD see how bad you feel.

I'm sticking firmly to the belief that there's a place for everyone out there!

Good luck with it - this time next year it will all be a painful memory...
twooutofthree
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 7:12 pm

Re: Can anyone tell me how hard it is to get a St Helen's Pl

Post by twooutofthree »

I totally agree...it seems like and, in fact is, a most stressful and painful period in both ours and our children's lives. We are going through it with our son having been there with DD 2years ago. DD is at NHEHS and was offered place despite her weaker Maths; she is really happy there. The exam was very similar to past papers so no awful little surprises. Try not to worry too much, she will end up going to the right school for her. Good luck for tomorrow and interview soon.
vivienphung
Posts: 63
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:05 pm

Re: Can anyone tell me how hard it is to get a St Helen's Pl

Post by vivienphung »

Hi Middlesexmum

I don't think St Helens is a very selective school. My niece did their exams last year with not only a firm offer but a 50% scholarship. Her parents preferred St Paul's and it is where she is studying now.

To give you an idea of her ability, she is good in English (we always call her book worm), Maths is so so.

Habs is a school that pushes their pupils to the limit. If both you and your DD dont like Habs then it doesn't matter if she is called for the interview or not.

Good luck for St Helen's.
aban
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:25 am

Re: Can anyone tell me how hard it is to get a St Helen's Pl

Post by aban »

In my opinion St Helen's is a great school - and it is right up there in our own top choices. We have looked at the school closely - and it fares very well on quality of education, facilities, staff and end 'products' (i.e. girls).

So far as "how hard to get in" - I think since it 'competes' with other girls indes and some selective grammers in the immediate area (NCLS, Habs, itself, NW college, Heathfield etc etc - I may be missing others) - there is a larger no of collective places available to same pool of girls. So, it may not be as difficult to get in.

I agree with earlier comments that after the first few days of disappointment - it really does not matter if one school's entry was missed. Also not to let your thoughts affect your DD in short term. In absoluteness, many of these schools (incl St Helen's) are very good and most important thing is that how DD is able to cope in coming 5-6 years.
maddad
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Sep 17, 2011 9:09 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Can anyone tell me how hard it is to get a St Helen's Pl

Post by maddad »

It's always difficult trying to ascertain the relative difficulty of getting a place at different schools.

One resource I found helpful though was the statistics of places offered from a local prep school (http://www.radlett-prep.herts.sch.uk/ag.html). Obviously it's not very scientific and there are a lot of "ah, but have you considered...." variables, but it's possibly better than nothing. Using the simple numbers from this page, 6/13 (46%) got places at Habs girls, whereas 8/12 (67%) got places at St Helen's. So St Helen's appears to be quite a selective school, but possibly not as difficult as Habs i.e. not getting an interview at Habs doesn't mean you won't get one at St Helen's.

On that positive note - good luck! :)
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