Dates for late next week so far. DG

Interview on Tuesday.

Congratulations.

Is it your first choice? DG

No. Not at all. Habs is, interview on 29. Stahs second choice, but might not know until Saturday if they send decisions by letter.

We have an interview at NLCS too. When I contacted STAHS today they said it’s by email / and letter tomorrow. Letter may be the music scholoships.

Actually DG, I should correct that. Whereas Habs is DD’s Independent school first choice, DD is in the lucky position of having a sibling place at her sisters state school, which has been a great experience. Therefore, there may be the possibility, if she gets offered an Independent school, of lots of soul searching around the Independent vs State school debate and added value.

Our daughter has also been invited for an interview.

Does anyone know of what sort of numbers have applied and how many they take through to interview?

I know the head gave these numbers at the open day, but I can’t remember the exact figures, hopefully somebody with a better memory will come along. My overriding memory was thinking at the time, that those girls who got through to interview had a very good chance of an offer, due to the number of over offers made.

It was a record year for applicant numbers (according to one of DD2's teachers who was doing marking). Not sure how many that means but probably north of 700. To clarify the 'over offers'.....When they do their calculations of how many offers to make, they take a few things into account. 1) If a girl is interviewing and parent has an appointment with the bursar, it is possible that an offer from HB, Watford Grammar, St Michael's might be the way their parents decide.The bursary pot isn't bottomless. 2) If this is a girl applying from somewhere closer to SPGS, Holles etc, let's face it, no 11 year old needs that journey if an excellent option is closer to home. 3) They won't know and will never ask if there are siblings and which schools they attend. A Habs/City/ St A sibling may influence the final choice for the sake of convenience . And do take that into account because no parent needs school calanders that don't match (check when half terms fall!).

NONE of these issues will influence whether they offer DD a place. If they want her, they'll offer. And just to stress this- Applying for bursary at the point of interview does not hurt the chances of an offer one iota. The decision to offer a place is made entirely independently from that. But they are very clever about calculating their chances of each girl in the above circumstances. This is why they get it right nearly every year- no emergency extra forms.

I don't know about this year but I believe they interviewed around 190 girls last year.