Girls Grammar Schools with out of catchment slots - Sep 2019

[Sriram Iyer]

Apologies – if this appears to be a repeat on previously discussed posts.
i have read through a number of similar posts on this forum and think we would benefit from currently valid information.
For instance - https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 7&p=546866" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; discusses a similar topic - but one of the posts in the thread mentions that Wilmigton girls offers 12 seats to the highest scorers in math, but the school website indicates that there is an additional 5 mile radius criterion for the top 10% of scores in math (assume the 5 mile criteria did not exist at the time of the original discussion)

I suspect a current discussion on this topic could be of value to many parents in similar circumstances.

We are staying in Central London (St John's Wood) and our daughter is preparing for eleven plus for entry in Sep-19.
We are open to moving to the neighborhood of any school that is commutable to London for work, and where our daughter can secure admission with the criterion for securing admission not being based on address at the time of taking the test.

Henrietta Barnett is the one school that we know that our DD can apply to - and we wont need to move if she gets admission. Given the high levels of competition, we would like to have a few alternate options. It would be great to get some advice from anybody in similar shoes.

Regards
Central London Dad

[bondgirl]

Hi and welcome to the forum! There are 4 GSs in Bexley and if you are one of the top 180 (out of about 5,000) scorers, you are guaranteed a place at the GS of your choice in Bexley - 2 are co-ed, on girls’ GS (Townley) and one boys’ GS (Beth’s). May be worth a worth a shot?

Also, some of the Kent Grammars offer based on score eg. Dartford Girls.

[streathammum]

The two girls grammars in Sutton - Nonsuch and Wallington High - have open places as well as priority circles.

However, the thing to bear in mind with all open places is that there is inevitably a lot of competition for them, so the chances of success are quite small. In Sutton, over 2,000 girls sit the first entrance test, with I think only about 200 open places available. The exams are quite stressful for children, so think carefully about how many you want your daughter to sit.

[Sriram Iyer]

Hi and welcome to the forum! There are 4 GSs in Bexley and if you are one of the top 180 (out of about 5,000) scorers, you are guaranteed a place at the GS of your choice in Bexley - 2 are co-ed, on girls’ GS (Townley) and one boys’ GS (Beth’s). May be worth a worth a shot?

Also, some of the Kent Grammars offer based on score eg. Dartford Girls.

Thanks - Will certainly look into the Bexley option

[Sriram Iyer]

The two girls grammars in Sutton - Nonsuch and Wallington High - have open places as well as priority circles.

However, the thing to bear in mind with all open places is that there is inevitably a lot of competition for them, so the chances of success are quite small. In Sutton, over 2,000 girls sit the first entrance test, with I think only about 200 open places available. The exams are quite stressful for children, so think carefully about how many you want your daughter to sit.

Yep - we don't want her to take too many tests. We are currently thinking of 4 or 5 tests (a mix of Grammar and Independent schools) - though we would prefer a good GS

[PettswoodFiona]

Kent is one test that potentially gives access to a wide range of schools. Once you know the score you know how urgently and to where you might need to move e.g an amazing score may qualify your DD for an OOC place at Dartford or Tonbridge and you could move at your leisure. A lower score then provided you moved in catchment within the notification period, usually around first week of Dec then you again would be fine. Good links into London from Sevenoaks (Weald annexe) Tunbridge Wells (TWGGS and Weald main campus) and Tonbridge (ToGS).

Newstead - any girl can take the test but to qualify you have to be within the 9 mile radius - when that date is is not so clear, I am led to believe it is a per Bromley guidelines for change of address which has recently been around early December but probably worth clarification. Orpington is zone 6 for travel into London and many of the girls live further into London. Entrance in 2019 will be the first year that priority will be given to PP test takers who get into the top 350 and so it isn’t know how that will affect non-PP places, if at all.

Bexley grammars have surprised many this year and those outside of the top 180 have found initial distance offers quite tight, time will tell how far the likes of Townley will go that has often gone to all offered in recent years, but it’s growig popularity is seeing more competition for places.

DD did three state grammar tests and one Indie test. That was plenty but a good deal of the Learning did overlap. For us though it was a huge comfort to know we didn’t need to relocate for any of the options available to us. For us it seemed a huge pressure to put on a child to move for the sake of a school - what if they weren’t happy they might not feel comfortable saying so - knowing that so much had happened to get them there. We also wanted all the other constants at such a key change in their life when things like out of school clubs, familiar sights etc.

[Sriram Iyer]

Kent is one test that potentially gives access to a wide range of schools. Once you know the score you know how urgently and to where you might need to move

It would be great to know the names of a few Kent / *** schools that announce scores and give parents a "bit of time" to take a call on moving (push comes to shove, we could probably manage to move with a few weeks notice - we are in rented acco -- and moving is less of a hassle)

Regards
Central London Dad

[PettswoodFiona]

All Kent schools now give the score (you used to have to ask). They also give the pass mark. If you pass and are in the defined parish and close to the school you are often pretty certain of a place. Look around the Kent forum for more guidance and if you find a school you like also ask the admissions office about who got places before. For the schools like Dartford and Tonbridge that go on score and not just a pass there is less certainty as it depends how popular the school is with others as to what the qualifying score is.

I know one family a few years ago who got a score they considered decent but not decent enough for OOC and they moved the entire family five miles so they’d be IC and their DD did get a place on offer day. They were not in rented but were happy to sell their house at a very attractive price to sell quickly and move into rented so they could prove to the LA they had cut ties with their old location. Very glad we didn’t have to do that. Some scores are clear ‘winners’ e.g I know a girl who got 414 and she was always going to get a place at Tonbridge girls with that score, less clear if it had been 30 points lower.

[ToadMum]

Tonbridge Grammar School seems only to have 15 OOC ('Governors') places for 2019?

https://www.tgs.kent.sch.uk/year7-admissions/

If you don't want to move until the end of year 6 (and I can recommend not adding trying to find a mid year primary school place to the process if you don't have to, unless the grammar place is the 'prize above rubies' and neither you nor your DD are particularly fussed about where she sees out her primary school career?), you have a better chance of an OOC place down here at Southend or Westcliff High School for Girls. Colchester County High School for Girls is entirely non-catchment. People do commute to London from in and around Colchester and Greater Anglia is even investing in some new trains at the moment.

Eta a fellow Forumite has kindly pointed out that I have misread '35' as '15' . Which will teach me to try to read on my phone whilst sitting on the sunny side of a number 26 bus...

However, it remains that SHSG and WHSG betweenoffer at least offer at least twice as many protected OOC places between them .

[Sriram Iyer]

[quote=
If you don't want to move until the end of year 6

you have a better chance of an OOC place down here at Southend or Westcliff High School for Girls.

.[/quote]

Yep - would prefer to avoid needing to find a school to complete year 6 - especially not with the hassle of an in-year application and the associated uncertainty

Thanks - will certainly visit Essex and incorporate into our plans.
Am I right in my understanding that both Southend and Westcliff allocate 25% of their seats to OOC applicants ?

Regards
Central London Dad