Both Tiffin Girls (TGS) and Henrietta Barnett (HBS) are heavily sought-after schools for girls and continue to be oversubscribed year after year. They have consistently featured in top 10 secondary schools in London for their performance across GCSE and A levels. Rated outstanding per their last Ofsted report, both schools are well known for their brilliant performance in GCSE and have consistently improved their Oxbridge and Russell group university admission numbers post A levels. Both schools are academies and therefore have their own admissions authorities.
Location and Catchment Area
TGS is located in Kingston upon Thames, south-west London. The school has 1190 students between key stage 3, 4 and A levels. The HBS is located in Hampstead Garden suburb of London. The school has 792 students across Year 7 through Year 13.
The catchment area is used as a criterion for admissions in case the school is oversubscribed. The applications for school admissions can be subjected to address checks to ensure school places are allocated in a fair manner and as per published guidelines. TGS gives priority to candidates who have their permanent residence in the Inner Area followed by those who live in Designated Area.
For HBS, this area is within 3 miles of the school. For equally ranked candidates, geographical proximity to the school as measured by the London Borough of Barnet is used to decide the final placings. Also, the home address provided to HBS on the application form should be the applicant's permanent place of residence on 31 October 2020. Since HBS does not have a strictly defined catchment area, anyone can apply and take the entrance test. After round 2, this 3-mile distance from school is considered in the final ranking. As mentioned above, the preference is given to applicants living within 3 miles.
Academics and Extra-Curricular
Both schools support overall development of their students honing their academic skills as well as offering extracurricular activities, offering participation in a diverse number of clubs, societies and ensembles. Notable among them is the Young Enterprise Company program run by Tiffin Girls' to help students experience the challenges and joys of setting up and running their own company, and impressive school partnerships offered by HBS allowing Henrietta students to compete with students from other schools and academies.
At TGS, students in Years 7-9 study Maths, English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Religious Studies, French, Latin, Design and Technology, Art, Spanish (Year 8 and 9) Computer Science, Music, Geography, History, PE, and Drama. Year 10 marks their entry into key stage 4 or GCSE years. In Year 10 and 11 subjects are divided into core and options. The core subjects include English Language, English Literature, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and one foreign language (French or Spanish). Students can then choose up to three options subjects from Art, Computer Science, Drama, DT, French, Geography, History, Latin, Music, PE, RS and Spanish.
At HBS , students in Years 7–9 study English, Mathematics, Science, French, German, Latin, History, Geography, Computing (only year 7), Spanish (year 8 and 9), Religious Studies, Music, Art, Drama, Design Technology and Engineering, and Physical Education. It is to be noted that unlike some schools, students are taught in form groups and are not put into sets for any subjects. In year 10 and 11, English (both English and English Literature), Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics are compulsory subjects, with one modern foreign language, either Geography or History, and one creative subject (Drama, Music, Art or Design and Technology) and two free options from any in the list above, or Religious Education, Latin, Classical Greek or Computing, up to a recommended maximum of two Modern Foreign Languages.
Total Seats and Admission Procedure
The admission timetable and policies for admissions to Year 7 in September 2022 is already out and the published admission number (PAN) for year 7 is 104 for Henrietta Barnett and 180 for Tiffin Girl's.
Both TGS and HBS are highly selective schools and receive large number of applications every year. While HBS has not published detailed yearly statistics of applicants they received 3000 applications in 2020 against a PAN of 100 places while TGS numbers from last 3 years are as below.
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates tested at stage 1 | 1429 | 1420 | 1427 |
| Candidates tested at stage 2 | 454 | 453 | 510 |
| Number of places offered (PAN) | 180 | 180 | 180 |
These numbers are clear indicator of fierce competition for a place in these schools. Both employ a 2-round test procedure as basis of selecting applicants. To register for TGS entrance test, the school requires parents to submit the Supplementary Information Form along with Common Application Form of their Local Authority. Similarly, HBS also requires two forms: the Common Application Form for the Local Authority and The Henrietta Barnett School Entrance Test Entry Form.
Open Days / Evenings
Both schools offer open days, usually planned early July, for prospective students and their parents to learn about the school, admissions process and opportunity to interact with school staff and tour the school. Though due to Covid, public health guidance and social distancing measures, an in-person open day may not be possible and may have to be converted to a virtual open day.
Test Paper Pattern
The TGS school operates their admissions process based on two-stage entrance test. The stage 1 test contains multiple-choice questions in the English and Maths sections and will be conducted on 30 September and 01 October 2021. The results from stage 1 test are ranked to determine qualification to sit in stage 2 test. Stage 2 test will be held in November 2021 and will assess the core subjects of English and Maths. Note that the total number of applicants invited to sit in stage 2 test seems to be at the discretion of the school based on having enough to meet the PAN. Also note that the result of stage 1 test will not contribute to the final rankings.
The entrance test for HB is conducted in 2 rounds. Round 1 consists of 3 sections, verbal, non-verbal and English conducted early September. The test results from round 1 are ranked and top 300 applicants are invited for round 2 test per the cut off score. However, if there are many applicants at the cut off score (tie), all of them will be invited to take round 2 test. This may increase the total number of applicants taking round 2 test to more than 300.
Round 2 test will be conducted early October and is in English and Mathematics. The final rank order is determined using the result from both rounds. The date of round 2 test may change due to Covid restrictions at that time. It is also possible for the school to not conduct round 2 test at all this year based on these restrictions in which case, round 1 scores will be used to determine overall ranking.
Parents are advised to regularly check for updates on these test dates due to current Covid situation.
Alumnae
Both schools maintain an impressive alumnae network to connect with past and current students. The TGS has produced quite a few notable pupils including 2 Olympics medal winners, authors, actors and entrepreneurs. HBS has equally impressive former pupils including a Member of Parliament, Minister of State, Lady Justice of Court, journalists, writers, musicians and actors.
University Placements
Both schools boast impressive number of their students admitted to Oxbridge and Russell Group Universities. TGS and BHS published number of university admissions in last 3 years are as shown below.
TGS
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxbridge | 26 | 30 | 22 |
| Russell Group | 92 | 103 | 83 |
| Others | 24 | 34 | 30 |
HBS
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxbridge | 35 | 19 | 16 |
| Russell Group | 28 | 85 | 88% (Russell Group and Others) |
Exam Preparation
Given how fierce the competition for admissions in these two schools is, intensive preparation is required to clear both rounds of entrance test. We recommend following practice papers... Website abc.com has excellent resources and practice test to help applicants prepare for these exams and to measure progress and performance.
Sources:Information and data as published on TGS, HBS, Gov.UK websites.
Share
