Strathallan vs Prior Park vs Repton

[Babadogcat]

Dear all

We are applying the above schools and would like to have your comments because there are not many first hand comments/experiences in Hong Kong.

My son loves hiking and tennis, therefore I picked Strathallan and Repton for him, he is not too strong in academic! Prior park school - suggested from an education agent.

Appreciate very much if you can share your view!

[Toomboom]

Have you looked at Abbotsholme school in Rocester? They are very big on outdoor activities. Boarding and day pupils.
It is about 40 minutes from Repton school. Repton is also a good school, not sure on their outdoor activities though.

[Babadogcat]

Thank you Toomboom

This is the first time I heard about Abbotsholme school and I will look at it.

Very kind of you!

[Toomboom]

@Babadogcat here is a link for you
www.abbotsholme.co.uk/about-abbotsholme/international-students

I work at Abbotsholme as support staff which is why I know about it.
They have a lot of international students from Asia

[motherstongue]

Strathallan is a very rural school in Perthshire, Scotland and although I have a friend with 2 kids there and they love it, many of the pupils are either day or flexi boarding. My honest advice (from a parent of boarders) is find a school where the vast majority of pupils board otherwise your child will find the school empties out on a Saturday afternoon leaving a tiny pool of pupils behind. If all his close friends go home it makes for a lonely experience. There is also the travel issue too as there are no direct flights to Hong Kong. Apart from that, it is a good solid rural boarding school that has a good reputation for sport. The friend whose 2 kids go, one is an Academic Scholar the other a music Scholar and they have been very happy with the provision. If you are looking at Scotland then I would also look at Glenslmond which I would say has the edge on Strathallan.
Don’t know anything about the other schools though.

[Babadogcat]

Thank you motherstongue

Very helpful information! First of all, yes there is no direct flight but no problem at all, my son loves rural area more than city.
So far as I know Strathallan has high ratio boarders (hope I am correct) and no exeat, this is very important for us!

And also do you know the academic side? The study atmosphere is good?

Thank you again!

[TattingerFizzer]

Strathallan definitely does not have high ratio of boarders, the school does empty out at weekends. As motherstongue said look at Glenalmond or Gordonstoun (perfect fit!) in Scotland or Sedbergh School in England - great rural schools all provide better boarding and good all round education but with an outdoors lifestyle.

[Babadogcat]

Thank you TattingerFizzer,

Appreciate very much for your advice! It is not an easy task to find out everything about boarding schools in UK, even thought I read all details, asked the agencies, still cannot get accurate information! I just heard Strathallan is a high ratio school with boarders, very good academic standard etc!

Thank you for mentioned about Sedbergh, we applied and met with the headmaster via zoom already! We love the environment there and very important for us is the international students ratio, my son loves the culture in UK and he said he wants a school without very high ratio students from Hong Kong (it is to force him to speak English😂)

That’s why we move our focus from the major areas in UK to the northern parts of UK!

Thank you very much🙏🏻

[Zodlebud]

I would have a look at Greshams too. Very outdoorsy and a bit closer to the London airports (they offer airport transfers).

They have a lot of boarders and as there is Saturday school, even weekly boarders are there 6 nights a week. Not sure about the international / UK split.

[Madcats]

I live down the road from Prior Park. It is one of the smaller Independent schools in Bath. It has a fairly strong Roman Catholic ethos, but I am not sure that every pupil is Catholic.

If you look on a map you will see that it is about 1.5 miles from the centre of Bath (nice view) in a residential area. There is plenty of countryside around Bath, though.

I know a couple of the teachers who sometimes moan (only partially joking) that Sports staff think that sport should take precedence over academics, but I don't think the school has a particularly sporty reputation?

I'd be surprised if more than 1/4 of pupils board. Somewhere like Bryanston would be a lot more geared up to boarders - great sports facilities too.

What are your basic requirements OP? Do you want Co-Ed? Do you ned it from 11+ or 13+.

[Babadogcat]

Thank you Madcats,

Bath is a lovely place and the reason why I applied the Prior Park School was mainly encouraged from the agent! The agent said my son’s school result is not strong enough and therefore Prior Park should be fit, anyway I applied it but definitely it is not my first choice (if I have choice🤣)

My son lists his expectations: warm and caring school, not too many people from Hong Kong, outdoor activities and tennis, science and robotics and hopefully school has study atmosphere.

Our family loves natural environment, we even travel to other countries to hike, we love different culture and enjoy talking with local people. Therefore, like I mentioned above, no direct flight does not a matter, which I chose 2 schools from Edinburgh (Strathallan and Merchiston Castle)

Thank you very much for your sharing, I feel hard to consider a school especially the ranking, the A level result........? I am wondering what others criteria should I look at!

No preferences for single sex or co-edu school, will be coming for year 9 next year!🙏🏻🙏🏻

[Babadogcat]

Thank you Zodlebud for your suggestion, it is helpful🙏🏻🐷

[Babadogcat]

Thank you Zodlebud for your suggestion, it is helpful🙏🏻

[Nairobiblue]

Have you discounted Merchiston? There are some students from HK but it is predominantly boarding in senior school and set in some great grounds. It is close enough to the centre of Edinburgh that as they get older the boys can socialise in town, but minutes from the Pentlands where the boys do a lot of outdoor classes. I have friends whose sons went and did much better in their exams than expected even though it is not a strictly academic entrance.

[Babadogcat]

Dear Nairobiblue,

That’s very kind of you and thank you for your advice! Yes we are waiting for the entrance exam for both Strathallan and Merchiston, Merchiston is the first choice of we are lucky enough to get offer.

I start to look for guardian and please if anyone have good referral. Hopefully we can find good family who are willing to understand more from a Hong Kong background 👦🏻, likewise he is very ready to be part of the scottish 😃

Wish us good luck🙏🏻

[clairebath]

Hi, I have 2 girls boarding at Strathallan - there are 60% of the pupils boarding and my girls are very happy - its sporty but also academic - very high results for A Level compared to other schools