Henrietta Barnett Sixth Form 2020

hii, i also got a conditional offer ages ago but I'm starting to worry a bit cuz the last time they contacted me was to cancel the intro day they were supposed to have. other sixth forms have already sent info about enrollment and bridging/transition work, but hbs is the one school that I haven't received anything from. a friend of mine who also got an offer is experiencing the same thing, but i wanted to check if this is the same for anyone else? i have also emailed them about a month ago asking about this but they haven't replied...

Yeah good idea, that must be stressful. I’m wondering whether I have a chance, I have six 9’s and four 8’s but like they emailed me saying they would rank us so if someone has like a clean sweep then I’m out lol
The same thing happened to the Dame Alice induction day it also got cancelled even though it was supposed to be in like June

Well in the end for my results I got eight 9s and two 8s and one A* and they still rejected me. Sooooo no I didn’t 😂 are you applying?

thank you!! I hope you're successful in the summer I'm still deciding between HBS and Woodhouse

yes im applying, have you considered why they didnt accept you, those are great grades, maybe it was because you lived far?
Did you apply twice for the school?

Well tbh I think it was just bad luck. My school practically didn't predict 9's for anyone, and you had to be really lucky if you had a predicted 9 because there are irregularities even between the teachers within a department ie. some refuse to give 9's and other give them out etc. I only applied with 4x9s the first time so I didn't get in because you had to have a min. of 60/63 points (it doesn't say this in the prospectus but it does in my rejection lol) for (i've attached a link so scroll to year 12 policy for last year) "the applicants top 7 GCSE grades taken from the list of subjects below, which must include Mathematics, English Language and English literature" but i didn't have a 9 in eng. so i mean i guess that's why. And then the second time i applied on results day i doubt they accepted anyone, and like my friend had an offer (only person at my school) and they didn't even let her do the subjects she wanted so she ended up staying so basically I think it is just really selective and it is hard to tell.

and also i don't live far like 25-30mins.
Good luck to you this year!
https://www.hbschool.org.uk/userfiles/henriettamvc/pdf/admissions/policies-and-documents/Admissions-Policy-for-Entry-in-September-2020-%5BDetermined%5D-Feb.pdf
p.s. sorry that was a v confusing message but i hope it helps

Well tbh I think it was just bad luck. My school practically didn't predict 9's for anyone, and you had to be really lucky if you had a predicted 9 because there are irregularities even between the teachers within a department ie. some refuse to give 9's and other give them out etc. I only applied with 4x9s the first time so I didn't get in because you had to have a min. of 60/63 points (it doesn't say this in the prospectus but it does in my rejection lol) for (i've attached a link so scroll to year 12 policy for last year) "the applicants top 7 GCSE grades taken from the list of subjects below, which must include Mathematics, English Language and English literature" but i didn't have a 9 in eng. so i mean i guess that's why. And then the second time i applied on results day i doubt they accepted anyone, and like my friend had an offer (only person at my school) and they didn't even let her do the subjects she wanted so she ended up staying so basically I think it is just really selective and it is hard to tell.

and also i don't live far like 25-30mins.
Good luck to you this year!
https://www.hbschool.org.uk/userfiles/henriettamvc/pdf/admissions/policies-and-documents/Admissions-Policy-for-Entry-in-September-2020-%5BDetermined%5D-Feb.pdf
p.s. sorry that was a v confusing message but i hope it helps

thank so much this really helps! When you say you need 60/63 points, does that mean all your gcse points added up, or just the top 7 grades. So, for the application process do they only look at first 7 grades? Did you end up moving? Also , its strange you didn't get in, but it must have worked out for the better though.

Hey, so when they say 60/63 that’s for your top 7 subjects but they have to include maths English lit and English Lang and the remaining four have to be on the list that’s in the prospectus.
And nope I didn’t actually end up moving, I had an offer from Dame Alice Owens but I ended up deciding to stay where I was just because I knew everyone and Dame Alice was like 40 mins away whereas my school is close to me and had good results in my departments anyways.
In the long run, I think it hasn’t made that big of a difference that I didn’t move and we had tons of new people join us anyways (like half the year now are new people) so it was still a fresh experience and yeahhhh
If you have any other questions feel free to ask
Do you know what A Levels you want to do?

Glad that helped!

wow that sounds like tough competition. My points are 61 so you never know! Do you know anybody that's moved there, if so what do they say about it? I'm planning on taking maths, economics, physics and politics , potentially further maths as a 4th option instead of politics, what do you take? I want to move for a new experience, i enjoy my current school a lot but most people end up moving for sixth form as the education isnt soo great, you have to be self motivated most of the time.

wow that sounds like tough competition. My points are 61 so you never know! Do you know anybody that's moved there, if so what do they say about it? I'm planning on taking maths, economics, physics and politics , potentially further maths as a 4th option instead of politics, what do you take? I want to move for a new experience, i enjoy my current school a lot but most people end up moving for sixth form as the education isnt soo great, you have to be self motivated most of the time.

i'm currently there, i moved there for sixth form so i can't tell you much about all the teaching, especially since I've only been at in-person school for 4 months. from what I've seen so far, its ok. there's quite a bit of academic pressure, as all the students work really hard and perform well, so if you're someone like me who came from a school where there weren't as many people of my academic level, be prepared for a shock. obviously a levels require hard work, and the people i know so far are kind enough to help with any content. i do maths bio chem and physics so i can tell you about 2 subjects - if you want, i can pm you with more detail!

hey can I ask the gcse predicted grades u got in with x

It sounds really silly not to enclose the "real" admission entry for 6th form so that people know before they apply. Not telling anyone, means you think you might have a chance getting in but in reality that is not the case. I wouldn't have bothered to apply and get my school involved if I knew this in the first place!
Most probably they have nothing to really do and just want to read through hundreds of applications and references!

the school seems so elitist... why on earth would they do that?

if im being honest hbs seems very toxic and misleading from an outside perspective (of course this is just my opinion and ive never been there) ... i know so many smart girls who got rejected at the 11+ and i also feel like whilst my grades were not exceptional (57) they were very good and i am shocked the level they are asking for is so high considering their final a level results are very average compared to other schools in the borough. i didnt do the 11+ so this is my first encounter with the school but ive heard from friends that the place puts incredible amounts of pressure on the girls to do well.. surely thats not good for anyones mental health? and i think its a bit unfair to ask for a 60/63 when students have been out of school for so long and some have got badly predicted grades due to factors beyond their control. a genuine congrats to anyone who managed to get in because that is incredible and the stakes were really high. if you didnt get in, apply to woodhouse college in finchely, from what ive heard (which may be false) woodhouse is an objectively better school and they care more about giving the students some control and freedom.

the school seems so elitist... why on earth would they do that?

if im being honest hbs seems very toxic and misleading from an outside perspective (of course this is just my opinion and ive never been there) ... i know so many smart girls who got rejected at the 11+ and i also feel like whilst my grades were not exceptional (57) they were very good and i am shocked the level they are asking for is so high considering their final a level results are very average compared to other schools in the borough. i didnt do the 11+ so this is my first encounter with the school but ive heard from friends that the place puts incredible amounts of pressure on the girls to do well.. surely thats not good for anyones mental health? and i think its a bit unfair to ask for a 60/63 when students have been out of school for so long and some have got badly predicted grades due to factors beyond their control. a genuine congrats to anyone who managed to get in because that is incredible and the stakes were really high. if you didnt get in, apply to woodhouse college in finchely, from what ive heard (which may be false) woodhouse is an objectively better school and they care more about giving the students some control and freedom.

Completely not true lol. I have never understood why people apply to HBS just to say it’s toxic when they don’t get in... lots of smart people do get rejected at 11+ because there are people who do better in the exams, it’s as simple as that. In the admissions process, students are ranked and they take the top 50 or so because they have to have a place available for all students who currently go there and applications are extremely competitive, so grades end up being very high.

I wouldn’t say their final A level results are “very average” compared to other schools either - in 2019, 92% of grades at HBS were A*-B (with 73% being A*/A), while Woodhouse had 66% achieving A*-B.

I’m not sure if those friends who you have heard from actually go to the school because it couldn’t be further from the truth. The pressure to do well comes from students themselves and the school in fact strongly encourages against this. There is also a lot of freedom at HBS - definitely not as much as Woodhouse but that’s because Woodhouse is a college and HBS is a sixth form.

Completely not true lol. I have never understood why people apply to HBS just to say it’s toxic when they don’t get in... lots of smart people do get rejected at 11+ because there are people who do better in the exams, it’s as simple as that. In the admissions process, students are ranked and they take the top 50 or so because they have to have a place available for all students who currently go there and applications are extremely competitive, so grades end up being very high.

I wouldn’t say their final A level results are “very average” compared to other schools either - in 2019, 92% of grades at HBS were A*-B (with 73% being A*/A), while Woodhouse had 66% achieving A*-B.

I’m not sure if those friends who you have heard from actually go to the school because it couldn’t be further from the truth. The pressure to do well comes from students themselves and the school in fact strongly encourages against this. There is also a lot of freedom at HBS - definitely not as much as Woodhouse but that’s because Woodhouse is a college and HBS is a sixth form.