Would you send a child to a specialist music school?

I have a friend with one child at Purcell and second child starting in sept. They are very happy with it. DD1 wants to be a scientist eventually (y7 in sept). Both were grade 4+ when they auditioned during y4.
The fees are calculated on income of family.
You can only go for it and try it. Good luck!

I would think he'd be very likely to get in. Especially considering most bassoonists don't even start the instrument until about year 6, he is doing incredibly well. The only child I know that went to Purcell didn't like it and dropped out after 2 years, but you have to try it to know. It's a tricky choice though, so few musicians make it right to the top that you are right to be concerned to keep his academics going at least to the extent that other options are still open.

Have you spoken to his bassoon teacher about it? They can often give you an idea whether they think he is up to the expected kind of standard or not. Of course you can always apply even if the teacher doesn't think so - you wil get feedback which will give an idea if he is in with a chance or not, and roughly what they might expect to convince them.

So long as you have thought through the finances and other practicalities and would be able to accept a place if they offered of course.

You need to look at the academic results for the individual school - some will be very good academically, but that will just depend on the school. It is certainly a different experience spending all your time with people who are passionate about music, and makes it much easier to fit in your practice when everyone else is doing the same.

Also look at where the children go when they leave - how many of them go on to do other subjects at university?

DS was at music school as a chorister, and applied to stay on (didn't get in). But that school gets excellent academic results, and a proportion of the children each year go on to univeristy to do things other than music.

Obviously there has to be a compromise somewhere - the range of subjects to choose from was much smaller than in a normal school, largely because the school itself is small. Also they didn't have much chance for team sports, or any sports at a high level as they could not commit to practice for that as well as music. But the children were all committed and put the effort into music, academics, and a social life - they just had much less time for "hanging around" than the average teenager!

Kids fail GCSEs because of emotional pressures all the time. You can't pass them if you are having a "breakdown" for example.
However Music schools on the whole are very good, if you are dedicated to music. So you need to look at the school and your son carefully. What does he want to do with his life? What is his back up plan? Does he know what the life of a professional musician is like? really?
My ILs considered it for my very talented DH, in the end he didn't go, which is probably just as well as although Music is still very important to him it is not his life. Lots of professional musicians do not go to Music school as well.

I was at school with a boy who went to a very prestigious music school (not the one you are looking at). He did Years 7 and 8 at my school, then went away to the music school for Years 9-11. He came back to my school for Sixth Form.

In Year 7/8, he was captain of the football team, top of the year for maths/science, generally very bright, a very popular boy. He was also incredibly talented at the trumpet.

When he came back in Sixth Form, we were universally shocked. He had failed GCSE Maths and English, and had to resit them in lower sixth. He'd not done very well at all across the subjects, with the exception of music. He had also developed anorexia, and was very very withdrawn. I don't know what went on in his life in Years 9-11, but once he was back at my school he soon blossomed back into the boy we all remembered, and ended up with great A levels.

I'm sure ALL music schools aren't like this, and with the benefit of hindsight and an adult eye he was a sensitive boy, from a very high achieving family, with an incredibly pushy dedicated mother. So the anorexia may have come on anyway. What I do know is, he should NOT have failed GCSEs in anything, and that must therefore be a failing of the school. I'd think very carefully.

Not sure. Eldest looked at this. As she was/ is a real academic high flier and didn't want to do music as an undergraduate degree we stuck with her current school. She didn't audition in the end as she could have been left with and impossible choice. Academic standards look good at specialist music schools but it isn't the main focus

Friend of mine went there and got into Cambridge on academic merit. SIL at music college also knows people who went there and they seem as well-adjusted as anyone else.

If I had a child with that sort of musical ability, then yes, I definitely would, no question about it.

Some music schools don't have such a good reputation for maintaining academic excellence, but many do.

A good alternative for musically gifted youngsters is a school with a choir school attached. IMO these offer superb musical education for children, usually alongside academic rigour as well. It might be too late for your DC though, as many want children to start before yr7.