Depends if you want Boarding or London day School. DPL does both.A few years ago I would have said DPL all the way. Solid traditional teaching. Not now. It’s tough at 13+ and it’s not a given there will be enough places. DPL is shiny and high octane. Most boys turn out pretty confident but some I know have suffered quite badly. Your son def needs to be a resilient little chap to handle it there because the cohort are also high octane and very confident. Many could be seen as arrogant but it’s not their fault - surrounded by success and achievement. Many parents are over involved and a bit crazy and most children I know have more than 1 tutor. The parents will never admit to the tutors though. Be careful as the results in Year 8 are not entirely down to the school - large investment in said tutors and parents being savvy. Maybe that’s the case everywhere but remember these kids are already very bright and they are being tutored to be the best. Also some important areas of the curriculum are a bit weak hence the tutors. St D does deliver in a laid back way. I don’t think the children are as pressurised and I think they are very secure in the requirements for 11+. Does it matter that they can write an essay on the Magna Carta or the geographical features of Japan? This is the stuff that the prep is doing while others are mastering the 11+. Many children I know have gone to the same secondary schools at 11 and they do this stuff anyway then! It def feels easier at 11+ than 13 +. This year many of the London schools filled up at 11 so there was a much reduced ability to meet the demand at 13 plus and I understand quite a number of DPL boys did not not receive offers.
Question is, what’s your child like? Dpl requires sharp elbows and could be soul destroying - not a school if your child struggles academically . The kids in the middle sometimes feel , well, mediocre, but I think they quickly regain their confidence in their abilities when they move on and realise mediocre at DPL is top somewhere else. I’ve had 3 kids through and done, but lots of good friends still there. Would I do it again? Not sure. The marketing hides many things. Bottom line you want secure primary school teaching the rest is important but you need that first. If your child is big into sport or music he’ll like this school. They will teach him to play sport properly (cricket and rugby) and I think their head of sports in particular is brilliant, especially with the more shy boys. Teachers are generally great but recently high turnover and quite a few young/new teachers who seem to be slotted into to quite senior positions. Feels like there might be a higher turnover than is desirable.
My advice - it’s a lot of money and you need to think what you want out of it at the end. The kids need to be seriously academically competitive and I’m not sure they get this right for as many boys as they used to anymore and they underestimate the work going on by parents behind the scenes. You might like the sound of this type of go getting environment - if you can handle it go for it. Just be mindful of the level of involvement you want to have. If ds is confident and has good academic abilities he may well love it there.
Ps Boarding schools - they seem to get children in where they want but again , many are tutored to sit the pre pre tests and the pre tests.
You really need a review is st d from someone there!