Senior Day School Placements for UK Independent Schools
Keystone’s advisory team are experienced in providing school-specific support in preparation for school selection and entry from nursery up to 16 Plus.
We maintain positive and close relationships with senior schools both in London and across the UK to make sure that any school recommendations are based off our own knowledge of what different schools are able to offer.
Choosing the right senior school for your child can be an overwhelming task – should they start at 11 Plus or 13 Plus? Would they be better suited to co-educational learning or a single-sex school? Boarding or day, or would flexi work? Do they have the right extracurricular activities available, and can they support any learning difficulties? We are able to unpick all of these big questions and advise on what is going to be right for both your child, and your family as a whole.
Personalised Advice from Experienced
Schools Consultants
Consultancy Services We Offer
The services we offer range from forward-planning well in advance of entry point, to last-minute Occasional Places. Our Schools Shortlisting service provides a sensible, evidence-led list of appropriate schools based off academic ability and the family’s specific requirements. Our full advisory service builds on this by managing the whole process and, where required, liaising with the school on a family’s behalf.
Our initial consultations enable us to understand the specific needs of your family, your objectives and key senior school criteria. An initial consultation with a school specialist will either act as a starting point for our Shortlisting or Full Schools Advisory service or will be offered through our Hourly Consultancy service.
Following your initial consultations, your school specialist will assemble a shortlist of suitable senior schools that meet your requirements. This shortlist will outline recommended school options, will provide a background on each school and will give a clear sense of the next steps you need to take along with any other key information.
Keystone's assessments, alongside reviewing school feedback and reports, are a useful tool in determining the schools children should be aiming at. We can provide an initial academic assessment as a standalone service or as part of a more comprehensive consultancy package. Our custom-made assessments indicate a child’s level in relation to their peers, and identify the areas to work on so as to reach their target schools.
If you are looking for a specialist consultant to oversee your school search and subsequent applications then we can support this through our Full School Advisory service. Within this we will shortlist your senior school options, and following discussion and confirmation of your preferred schools, we will complete registrations, arrange school visits, and undertake any other necessary clerical work.
For families looking to source the right senior school for their child, and then to look further ahead to UK university entry, we can provide a clear educational timeline and strategy alongside specialist Oxbridge support (where required).
Other school advisory services
Mock interview training for 11+, 13+ and 16+
Our mock interviews give students the opportunity to undertake an interview in unfamiliar surroundings with someone they have not met before. In this sense it more closely replicates the actual interview experience than having a session with a teacher or parent that they know well. Interviews take place at Keystone’s offices.
Keystone has also built up extensive knowledge of the assessment requirements for the UK’s most competitive entrance exams, including 11 Plus, 13 Plus and 16 Plus entry.
The interview will last for around 30 minutes and will include questions relating to both the child’s character and academic ability. The emphasis of the interview will be tailored to the student’s target schools, based off feedback Keystone has received from previous students as to each school’s interview format. Following the interview the parents and students will be given verbal feedback on strengths and weaknesses.
Academic Assessments
Keystone has built up extensive knowledge of the assessment requirements for the UK’s most competitive entrance exams, including 11 Plus, 13 Plus and 16 Plus entry.
Students sit our custom-made academic assessments to indicate their level in relation to their peers, and in order to identify suggested areas to work on. Parents also seek academic assessments for their children to determine their general strengths and weaknesses, and decide upon a set of objectives for the course of tuition. Assessments are used to identify a suitable tutor that will suit a child’s learning style, personality and academic aims.
A typical assessment lasts for two hours in which the child will be asked to complete a set of tasks used to determine his or her current abilities and academic potential. A written report will then be provided with the results from the assessment and a plan of action for the period of tuition. Students usually come into our office for the assessment but it can also be done remotely.
Our consultancy team
Upcoming Keystone Webinars
Here are details of our upcoming webinars. Do join us live to ask any questions you might have or register below to receive a recording after the event.
Latest Articles on School Entrance
11 Plus Independent Schools’ Entrance Exam Guide
If your child is planning to take the 11 plus exam, and is looking for ways to prepare this comprehensive guide is for you! Keystone’s expert tutors have helped students excel at taking the 11 Plus, and the guidance below aims to distil their best practice into a simple, practical set of top tips.
Written by Keystone Tutors
What to look for when choosing a school if your child has a SEND?
What does the term SEND mean?
The term "special educational needs and disabilities" constitutes a legal classification that encompasses children who encounter learning difficulties or disabilities that pose greater obstacles to their learning compared to the majority of children their age.
Written by Keystone Tutors
Guide to Selective Independent Schools in London
What is a selective independent school?
A selective school chooses its students on the basis of their academic ability, with a view to maintaining its own standard or reputation as an academic establishment.
The best selective independent schools consistently top academic performance tables, when it comes to ranking schools according to GCSE and A Level results, and choose students who will not only perform brilliantly but contribute to the academic atmosphere of the place. On paper this may seem reductive – but the best performing independent London schools are far from ‘grade factories’. These schools are extraordinarily well-resourced, employing the brightest teachers and with the most impressive facilities – classrooms, sports fields, libraries, laboratories and halls – and very much look upwards towards the university experience. They are also expensive, and competitive to get into, with a complex admission process to navigate before your son or daughter wins their place.
Written by Keystone Tutors
Non Selective Independent Schools in London
What are non-selective independent schools?
At the heart of the idea of non-selective schooling is an understanding that children develop in different stages and learn in a wide range of different ways. Many schools ‘select’ a student at least partly on the basis of their performance in an entrance exam, and not all students – for a host of different reasons – will be ready or willing to perform on a given date.
Non-selective independent schools, both prep and senior, recognise this instinctively.
Not only have these schools moved away from exam-based entrance criteria but – crucially - they also build their ethos and curricula according to a more inclusive or ‘holistic’ educational model. Often you will find a dizzying range of co-curricular activities on offer, from music to sports and drama and more.
Non-selective schools also cater to students who can find the pressure of academic and social life at a larger institution demanding, and who may benefit from more compact class sizes and thrive in a ‘small school’ environment. They may also benefit students who are entering the British education system for the first time, and who may need time and space to get to grips with advanced cultural and language factors that other students take for granted.
This doesn’t mean that non-selective schools cannot also have an academic focus. Many such schools perform well: students from non-selective prep schools win scholarships and entrance to the best London day schools. Non-selective senior schools should also offer you child the opportunity to achieve the very highest grades should that be their objective.
Written by Keystone Tutors
School League Tables
Using School League Tables in the UK: What you need to know?
When it comes to choosing a school for your child, one of the first places many parents turn to is school league tables. These tables, which rank schools based on their academic performance, can seem like an easy way to identify the “best” schools. However, while they provide useful data, it’s essential to understand how to interpret them and recognise their limitations.
In this blog, we’ll explore how UK school league tables work, the benefits of using them, and the important factors you should also consider when choosing a school.
If you're interested in learning more about other factors to consider when choosing a school, please visit our blog post on ‘How to Choose a British Independent School for my Child.’
Written by Keystone Tutors
