Haberdashers' Girls' School 16+ Entry, Elstree

Haberdashers' Girls' School is an independent day school for girls in Elstree, Hertfordshire, whose 16+ entry asks for a minimum of nine GCSEs at grade 7 or above, including Maths and English. Sixth Form tuition for 2026-27 is £31,764 a year, a figure the school publishes inclusive of VAT. Registration for September 2027 entry closes on Monday 19 October 2026, and the entrance assessment is on Tuesday 3 November 2026.

What follows is drawn from the school's own admissions pages, its published fee schedule and the Habs Sixth Form scholarship booklet. Where those documents disagree with each other — and on three points they do — both versions appear below with the source, and we say which one governs.

Three Haberdashers' schools, three different entry standards

The first practical problem for a family researching this school is that the name is not unique. Search for its sixth form entry requirements and the results mix in at least two unrelated schools that share the Haberdashers' name through the same London livery company, and nothing else.

Haberdashers' Adams in Newport, Shropshire, asks candidates to "obtain five GCSEs at grade 7 or above in any subjects". Haberdashers' Abraham Darby in Telford asks for "at least 6 GCSEs at level 4 and above (or equivalent) including Maths and English". Neither figure has anything to do with Elstree, where the requirement is nine subjects at grade 7 with several at grade 8 or 9. A parent who reads the Shropshire standard and assumes it applies in Hertfordshire will be four grades adrift in some subjects.

The school at Aldenham Road, Elstree, Hertfordshire, WD6 3BT is the one this page covers. It was formerly Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls; it now presents itself as Haberdashers' Girls' School and brands itself Habs Girls, and the "Aske's" element has gone from its own website and email addresses. Its brother school, Haberdashers' Boys' School, sits on a separate campus at Butterfly Lane, Elstree, WD6 3AF and runs its own 16+ process with its own grade grid.

The GCSE grades Habs Girls asks for, subject by subject

The headline number is nine. The school's admissions page states that "eligibility for applying to our Sixth Form, asks for a minimum of nine GCSE's grade seven and above, including Maths and English (some subjects will require an 8 or 9)". A grade 7 is the floor, not the target, and in several subjects it is not enough on its own.

For an A level in a subject not studied at GCSE, the school looks for a grade 7 in a related subject instead. Above that baseline, the published requirements are:

Source: Haberdashers' Girls' School, Admissions process, 16+ tab, retrieved 16 August 2026.

One clause deserves separate attention because it is easy to miss and it raises the bar for the most ambitious applicants. Anyone intending to take four A levels "are required to achieve a grade higher than the minimum requirement in each of their chosen A levels". A candidate taking four subjects including Maths therefore needs a 9 in GCSE Maths, not the 8 that would be enough for a three-subject applicant.

Two things the school is explicit about, and both cut against common assumptions. A sibling already at the school confers no advantage: "each child is considered for a place individually, at all levels of entry". And candidates from state schools are not disadvantaged — Habs says it takes "roughly equal numbers of children from state and independent schools".

Two written papers, then structured subject interviews

The assessment has a shape that most summaries of it get wrong, because it is not one paper for everyone.

Every candidate sits "a one-hour general written paper". The school publishes a past paper and a separate supporting extracts booklet for it, so the format can be seen in advance rather than guessed at. On top of that, anyone "planning to study at least one STEM subject at A level (such as Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics or Computer Science)" also sits "a one-hour Maths paper", again with a past paper published. Note where the boundary falls: Economics and Computer Science count as STEM for this purpose, so an applicant taking Economics with two essay subjects still sits the Maths paper.

Candidates who succeed in the written stage are invited to interview. This is not a single general conversation but "a series of structured subject interviews", in which a candidate is "asked to demonstrate your knowledge and skills relating to your proposed A level subjects". A candidate offering four subjects is therefore preparing for more interviews than one offering three.

Separately from anything the candidate does, the school contacts the current school "for a Headteacher's report and your predicted grades at GCSE". Because offers are made in early December against GCSEs that will not be sat until the following summer, that reference and those predictions carry real weight in the decision.

Entry is restricted by age as well as attainment: candidates must be "aged 16 and below the age of 17 on the 1st September in the year of entry". Late applications are not refused outright — the school says they "will be considered if you meet our entrance criteria" — but a late applicant has no claim on the published assessment dates.

The September 2027 timetable, and the ten days that decide bursary applications

These dates are live. They are published on the school's admissions page for the cycle that leads to entry in September 2027.

Source: Haberdashers' Girls' School, Admissions process, Key dates for Sixth form, retrieved 16 August 2026.

Two features of that sequence matter more than the individual dates. The first is the compressed bursary window. The bursary application form is not issued in advance: the school says that "once the closing date to register for admission has passed, we will email you a copy of our bursary application form and the accompanying policy". Registration closes on Monday 19 October 2026 and the completed bursary form is due on Thursday 29 October 2026. A family needing means-tested support has ten days, over half-term for many schools, to assemble income evidence it has not yet been asked for. Gathering payslips, accounts and council tax documentation before the registration deadline is the practical response.

The second is that the scholarship deadline is the same day as registration, not later. A candidate deciding in early November that a scholarship might be worth trying for has already missed it.

Offers made on Wednesday 2 December 2026 are conditional. They are confirmed on GCSE results day the following summer. For calibration on what that day looks like, AQA's key dates calendar records that results for the June 2026 series were "released to students: GCSE from 08:00" on 20 August 2026, and AS and A level results on 13 August 2026.

What the Sixth Form costs once VAT is counted

Independent school fees have carried VAT at the standard rate since January 2025, and this is where published figures most often mislead. The Habs Girls fee table has three money columns, and only one of them is labelled for VAT.

Source: Haberdashers' Girls' School, School fees, retrieved 16 August 2026.

The column headed simply "Termly Fee" is the fee before VAT. Nothing in the header says so. Only the neighbouring column, labelled "(inc VAT)", carries the tax. And the annual column is the inclusive one: take the £8,823 figure, multiply by three terms and add VAT at the standard rate, and you arrive at the £31,764 the school prints under "Per annum 2026-27". So the answer to "what will we pay" is £31,764, not £8,823 multiplied by three.

That distinction changes comparisons as well as budgets. Habs Boys publishes £9,025.00 termly, £10,829.00 including VAT and £32,487.00 per annum for its Sixth Form. The girls' school is the cheaper of the two on either basis — but the gap between them is a fifth larger once VAT is applied than it looks in the pre-VAT column, because VAT scales the difference along with the fee. Comparing one school's inclusive figure with another's exclusive figure is how a family ends up ranking two schools the wrong way round.

Several costs sit outside the tuition figure entirely:

• The acceptance deposit. On confirming a place there is "an acceptance fee (a deposit) of 50% of a term's fees", returned when the student completes her time at the school.
• Lunches. Senior School and Sixth Form lunches are optional and outside the fee, at £5.50 per day through ParentPay. Because they are optional and separately supplied, the school states there is no VAT charge on them — unlike Junior School lunches, which sit inside the fee and are taxed with it.
• A device, in Year 13 only. The fee page says "all Year 7 to 11 (and Year 13) will be issued with a school device", at £140 per term excluding VAT, £168 including, £420 or £504 a year. Year 12 is absent from that list. A girl entering the Sixth Form from outside therefore has no device charge in her first year and £504 in her second, on the current schedule.
• Music lessons. Individual instrumental or vocal tuition at the girls' school is £312.50 for 10 lessons, and it is exempt from VAT: the school explains that lessons "are charged directly by the peripatetic teacher who are not employed by the school", so no VAT applies unless that teacher is separately VAT registered. At the boys' school the same lessons are taught by employed staff, are standard rated, and are listed at £388 per 10 block lessons including VAT. Two schools, one campus estate, one shared music department — and a different VAT answer on each side.

The fee page also contradicts itself on music. One paragraph states that "the fee is £350 per term for ten 30-minute lessons"; the table immediately below it lists "£312.50 for 10 lessons". Both are on the same page. The table is the itemised schedule and is the more likely current figure, but the discrepancy is worth putting to the fees office rather than assuming.

What a Sixth Form scholarship is worth, and where the school's documents disagree

Scholarships at Habs are awarded jointly across the two Elstree schools: the booklet is signed by both the Headmaster of Habs Boys and the Headmistress of Habs Girls, and applicants complete either the girls' or the boys' scholarship application form depending on which school they are joining.

Six Sixth Form scholarships are listed: "Research, Art, Drama, Design & Technology, Music and Sport". A candidate "may apply for up to two subject based scholarships", though the booklet warns that it is "very unlikely for Sixth Formers to be awarded two" given the additional commitments of the Habs Diploma and A levels.

Source: Habs Sixth Form Scholarship booklet, Haberdashers' Elstree Schools, retrieved 16 August 2026.

These awards do carry real fee remission — the booklet refers to a scholarship "and associated fee remission" being retained by current Year 11 scholars moving into the Sixth Form. That is worth stating plainly, because some independent schools award honorary scholarships that carry no money at all. These are not those.

Three contradictions across the school's own documents are worth publishing rather than smoothing over.

How many Sixth Form scholarships exist. The admissions FAQ says the school offers "a range of scholarships on the basis of outstanding performance at 11+, plus a music scholarship in Sixth Form" — one award. The scholarship booklet lists six. The booklet is the specific, dated document and describes assessment arrangements for each award, so it governs; the FAQ appears to describe an earlier arrangement.

What the awards are worth. The bursary page describes the same scholarships as holding "a nominal tuition fee discount". The booklet puts them at 10% to 15% of fees, exceptionally 25%. On the published Sixth Form fee those are materially different characterisations. The booklet gives the numbers; the bursary page gives an adjective. Take the numbers.

Which cycle the published booklet belongs to. The scholarship booklet linked from the live scholarships page is titled for September 2026 entry, and its internal deadlines have passed: research proposals were due by 5 November 2025 and offers were posted on 4 December 2025. The scholarships landing page separately carries a deadline of "Thursday 6 November", with no year and expressly "for 11+ applications" — 6 November fell on a Thursday in 2025 and falls on a Friday in 2026, so that line is a leftover from the previous cycle too. For 16+ candidates the date that governs is the one on the admissions timetable: Monday 19 October 2026. Treat the booklet as an accurate guide to what each award requires and what it is worth, and the admissions page as the authority on when to apply.

One further detail from the fee page determines what a percentage award is actually worth. VAT "will be applied only to the amount paid by parents. For example, if a student has a 10% scholarship, VAT will be charged on the remaining 90% paid by the parents." The award therefore reduces the tax as well as the tuition, so a 10% scholarship is worth 10% of the gross figure, not 10% of the pre-VAT fee with full VAT still layered on top.

Bursaries: the income figures Habs publishes and most schools do not

Most independent schools describe means-testing without publishing a threshold. Habs Girls publishes two.

"As a guide, families whose total household gross income is below £55,000 is likely to qualify for a free school place. Households with total gross income of approximately £150,000 or more are not eligible for bursary support. Between these two figures contributions towards fees will be on a sliding scale." Awards are either a free place at 100%, or a partial award contributing "between 50% and 95%" of the fee.

The programme is not token. "Roughly 10% of our students receive financial support", and "approximately 160 Senior School students attend Habs each year with bursary support". Bursaries are available at exactly two entry points, Year 7 and Year 12, so 16+ is one of only two moments at which a family can enter the scheme.

Free-place holders receive more than tuition. The award "usually" also covers "a £400 contribution towards uniform, a device, coach travel, lunches, academic trips, music lessons and the hire of one musical instrument", with those extras tapering on a sliding scale for partial awards. Against a Sixth Form fee of £31,764 plus a device at £504 and lunches at £5.50 a day, that package is the difference between an offer being usable and being theoretical.

Two conditions apply. A place must be offered first — "a place will first need to be offered, based on students meeting the assessment criteria for their entry point" — so a bursary never substitutes for meeting the grade and assessment bar. And every award is reassessed annually: "if your child has been awarded a bursary in the past but your circumstances have changed and you would not qualify if applying now, your bursary may be withdrawn."

Alongside the main scheme, the donor-supported Bright Futures Bursary funds "up to two fully funded spaces for 11+ or 16+ entry at Habs Girls" for students of Black African or Caribbean heritage. Two places across both entry points is a small number, and worth reading as such. A bursary and a scholarship can be held together.

What Habs Girls shares with Habs Boys, and what it keeps separate

This is the part of the arrangement families most often ask about and most competitor pages blur into "the schools work closely together". The schools' own documents are more precise, and the honest answer is that provision falls into three distinct categories.

Genuinely merged. Music. The scholarship booklet states that "as of September 2025, music is joint across Habs Girls and Habs Boys, offering more opportunities for all our students" — a single department across both schools, with over 70 ensembles rehearsing weekly and over 20 major concerts a year. Notably, the fee treatment did not merge with the department: girls' music lessons remain VAT-exempt and boys' do not.

Taught together, in part. A Levels. The school states that there are "over 20 A Level subjects to choose from. At least one is studied alongside students from Habs Boys and based at either school." That is a floor, not a ceiling, and it is a recent arrangement: "our class of 2024, were the first Sixth Form cohort to have been taught at least one of their A level subjects in a co-educational class, alongside their co-ed Habs Diploma lessons." The Habs Diploma is taught co-educationally throughout. Below the Sixth Form nothing changes — the schools "continue to deliver excellent single sex education up to GCSEs".

Separate but collaborating. Drama and Design and Technology. The booklet says "the Drama Departments of Habs Girls and Habs Boys work independently and in close collaboration", with productions drawing on spaces at both sites, including "three black-box studios, the Lime Tree Studio, the Girls' School Performance Space, and the Bourne Hall at the Boys' School". These are two departments that co-operate, not one department.

Two practical points follow. The first is physical: the school day builds in dedicated crossing time between the campuses, with "travel time" slots timetabled at 11.35am to 11.40am and 2.55pm to 3.00pm. Anyone doubting how real the co-educational teaching is can note that the timetable has been rebuilt around it. Sixth Form study spaces are shared in both directions — "girls' and boys' students can work together in these shared areas at each school" — and the coach service is "run jointly with Habs Boys".

The second is the answer to the question this arrangement most often prompts. Habs Girls does not admit boys. It is a girls' school throughout, including the Sixth Form, which "welcomes around 115 students". Boys attend classes and Diploma sessions alongside Habs Girls students, but they are on roll at Habs Boys, apply through its separate 16+ process, and pay its separate fees. A boy seeking co-educational Sixth Form teaching at Elstree applies to the boys' school, not to this one.

The standard those thresholds protect

The grade grid makes more sense read against the outcomes it is designed to sustain. Habs Girls published its summer 2026 A level results on 13 August 2026: the most common grade awarded was an A*, "37% of all A Levels awarded were at grade A* and 73% of all A levels awarded were at grades A*-A", "42% of students achieved at least 2 A*", and "60% of all the 25 A Level subjects studied were 100% grade A*-A". Ninety-two per cent of students "received a confirmed offer at their university of choice".

The Sixth Form curriculum is not A levels alone. Every student completes the Habs Diploma, which the school describes as five components — "elective courses, subject enhancement, an extended research project, the visiting speaker programme and community service" — with an Extended Project Qualification or Extended Research Project inside it. That workload is the stated reason the scholarship booklet discourages holding two scholarships at once, and it is worth factoring in alongside a four-A-level plan.

Families comparing this sixth form with other selective options in north London and Hertfordshire commonly look at North London Collegiate School and, for a state alternative on the same side of the M25, Dame Alice Owen's School in Potters Bar. The Habs Girls 11+ route is a separate process with a different assessment and different deadlines; if a family is weighing entry at both points, the two should be planned separately rather than as one decision.

Questions families ask about 16+ entry to Habs Girls

Reviewed against Haberdashers' Girls' School's own admissions, fees, fee assistance and scholarship pages, the Habs Sixth Form scholarship booklet, the Habs Boys fee schedule and AQA's key dates calendar on 16 August 2026. Where the school's documents conflict, both versions are quoted above with their source. Fees and deadlines are reviewed annually — confirm current figures with the school's admissions process page before acting.