The 'Admissions Routes Into Haberdashers' Boys' and Girls' School - My HONEST views.

It’s all a distraction UNLESS…

Your child already has a guaranteed place at Haberdashers.

Don’t even waste a second of your time thinking that this is some sort of shortcut into the school. If you would like your son or daughter to go to Habs - put the work in. If these ‘Admissions Routes’ support your child in any way, see it as the cherry on top of the pie. But do not see it as your Holy Grail. Do you know what your Holy Grail is?

Preparing your child for their assessments. That is all.

160 boys are welcomed to Habs in Year 7.

120 girls are welcomed to Habs in Year 7.

60 boys already in the school will gain automatic entry into Year 7 and will not sit the 11+ assessment. This leaves 100 places for external candidates.

60 girls already in the school will gain automatic entry into Year 7 and will not sit the 11+ assessment. This leaves 60 places for external candidates.

For September 2026 entry the school have a new ‘Priority Pathway’ agreement for Lochinver House students (as the two schools have now merged). There are two ‘pathways’.

2a - PRIORITY UNCONDITIONAL PATHWAY

Habs and Lochinver will analyse student’s results and achievements from year 3 to year 5 and a small number of places will be offered to LH pupils.

Small is key here. That tells me it really won’t be many. It’s up to you to clarify with Habs what this means. I would want a specific and factual number.

LH students will still need to sit the 11+ for benchmarking purposes but the result in the assessment will not affect their unconditional pathway offer

This sounds shiny, bright and alluring for LH parents. However, your child still needs to be prepared very carefully from Year 3! You see, they have to be performing very highly academic to even be considered for this pathway into Habs.

2b -

Habs and Lochinver will analyse student’s results and achievements from year 3 to year 5 and a small number of places will be offered to LH pupils. These students will still have to sit the Habs 11+ assessment and their results will be taken into consideration but they are guaranteed an interview.

So this pathway doesn’t mean very much at all to me.

The final pathway is simply students applying from all over the country to sit their 11+.

Ultimately for all of the routes (apart from the route where your child already has a place at Habs), you will need to prepare your child to the highest of standards. Your child will need to be exceeding academically in all subjects and you will still need to put in the work to prepare your child for their 11+ assessment.

Simple.

To have the highest possible chances for success, join our Waiting List and we will get started from January/February 2026. Once joined, the fee you paid will cover your registration fee when we begin and you will be notified immediately about your start date.