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Original poster

Harrow School - what are the alternatives if the Waiting List doesn't clear??

38 replies

Trix2323 · 27/01/2012 00:15

Hi everyone, DS is on the Waiting List for admission to Harrow. I need to find an alternative school just in case. Any suggestions and infomation about alternatives would help. Schools that have been suggested are Shrewsbury, Uppingham, St. Edwards, Kings Cantebury and Stowe. I cannot visit them all and need to get an offer of a place before March. How can I choose between them?

OP posts:
Original poster
Trix2323 · 27/01/2012 17:20

Sounds like Radley is out if the list is closed. Abingdon doesn't have enough boarders. I would prefer "all-boarding" as well as "full-boarding".

I'm looking at the Millfield web site.... there are so many nice schools!

OP posts:
TeamDamon · 27/01/2012 16:15

What about Malvern College?

milkshake3 · 27/01/2012 16:09

Trix your headmaster had better work some magic. Entries for the Radley wardens list for 2013 entry have closed and candidates were notified in December 2011. They also over sold their seats last year and turned some boys away after CE in June so I would talk to them ASAP. Abingdon is a good suggestion but the % of boarders is not that high. What about Millfield? I know someone who got an offer around this time last year for entry the following Sept. full boarding. Amazing facilities and opportunities for all not just elite athletes. Can't comment on academics. Would obviously need a train to an airport and not too handy for Grandad but it is genuinely full boarding! Marlborough? No idea if they have spaces and how you would jump their wait list. Will keep thinking...... But kick your Headmaster into action. He should be calling up....!!!!

Original poster
Trix2323 · 27/01/2012 15:50

Ten to Radley over the past five years. It seems to be one of the major destinations for boys, just behind Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Stowe.

OP posts:
grovel · 27/01/2012 14:49

Radley would be very convenient for Oxford. Full boarding. Sporty. Very high value-added (hate that word) in terms of academics - not particularly demanding at CE but great GCSE/A Level results. Does your DS's prep send many there?

Original poster
Trix2323 · 27/01/2012 14:41

My son will be going in to Year 9 in September

Thank you Colleger for the considered list - it seems that different schools best satisfy different criteria of mine. I suppose it is a question of balancing which are the most important for us and which can be got around.

Was the Winchester late offer you heard of this academic year to start in September? I am now investigating Radley - and Winchester - regarding Warden's and Headmaster's lists. Thank you for the suggestion, I recall reading about such lists but hadn't thought of those.

What do you know about Oundle? I haven't heard much about it.

OP posts:
Original poster
Trix2323 · 27/01/2012 13:46

Thank you Propatria for the encouragement and reassurance. Single sex or mixed - either is fine.

Stowe is now off the list. It looked rather nice to me, but DH didn't like it for DS either.

I'm getting on the phone....

OP posts:
Colleger · 27/01/2012 13:40

Sorry if you've said but is your son going into Year 9 in September? If not, you will only need to give one terms notice before the summer term starts. The deposit will be forfeited.

You have a couple of options: I believe Harrows scholarship is in the Spring term so if he still hasn't moved up you could try him out for an academic and all-rounder scholarship as means of entry. If he has a couple of years of prep left I suggest you look at what you could do to up his chances of an all-rounder award. The only problem with sitting the Harrow or any other scholarship is that it will preclude him from sitting for Eton, as Eton generally do not allow a student to sit a scholarship if they have a scholarship offer elsewhere.

Your son does sound talented, could the Headmaster ask for him to be placed on the Warden's list at Radley?

For Oxford, although not full boarding, a good academic option may be Abingdon. The Cheltenham Schools are not renowned for being academic, although they have scholar streams, but they are easy to get to from Oxford. It's also worth checking if boarding is full at the selective London schools such as Westminster and St Paul's. These schools are very oversubscribed but as the boarding is small it may not be full.

I have also heard from various sources that Winchester may have places. I know of one boy who missed the registration but was offered a place in Year 8 when he went to see them.

I am a big fan of Oundle too although it's not airport friendly!

propatria · 27/01/2012 12:28

Not bothered if its single sex ,I presume?
Really think your head should be helping you on this,if you are abroad put pressure on him to help.
First thoughts,strike Stowe off the list,add Oundle(have no idea if they have vacancies) will try to post a fuller reply later.
Social aspects etc,please,please dont be put off,both schools have a very wide range of parents,as is clear from various posters there is no such thing as an Eton or Harrow parent,dont have negative thoughts on this,he will make pals (for life)

Original poster
Trix2323 · 27/01/2012 11:37

The prep school (and Harrow) are saying that we need to find a back-up plan in case the Waiting List doesn?t clear. We have been given to believe that DS is fairly high up on the WL and will be one of the first to be called forward, once the exact numbers are known in March. I discovered just a couple of days ago that I need to have a firm offer in order to be entered for CE.

I am not sure whether I am supposed to be looking mainly for a school that has spare places so that DS can be registered for CE; or whether I am looking for an alternative school.

In terms of what I am looking for in a school, here are a couple of important factors:

  1. Full boarding. We are currently overseas, so I want there to be lots going on at the weekend so that there is plenty to do; everyone else around, so that he doesn?t have to feel envious, as could happen if there are weekly boarders that leave.
  1. Good academics. DS is academic, probably of scholarship calibre but hasn't been in the system long enough to be adequately prepared for an academic scholarship (or so we have been advised by the HM). I am still toying with the idea of trying for KS at Eton ? after reading on here that one boy who was advised against trying came in 5th.
  1. Plenty of sport. DS is sporty, but has given up a previous sport where he was performing at a high level to do school sports. It is a small prep school so he got into the first teams for football and rugby. The main sport he plays that will be of interest to UK schools is cricket, which he hasn't had a chance to do yet. The sport that he quit recently is not one that is of interest to schools at competition level.
  1. Reasonable logistics for getting to an airport for half-term, etc.
  1. Being close to Oxford so that Grandad could get to watch matches would be an advantage.

Colleger and others (I have read through several older threads and start to recognise names), your wise thoughts on which schools best match these criteria would be appreciated. Schools that have been mentioned to us recently are Uppingham and Shrewsbury; schools mentioned earlier ? before his academic level was correctly identified - are Stowe and St Edwards.

Also ? and perhaps you can really advise me here ? I am not sure whether I am supposed to be looking for a school with spare places so that we can enter for CE and jump to Harrow assuming a firm offer comes in; or whether I am supposed to look for an alternative school that DS will be happy to go to (he has been dead keen on Harrow for some time now). Some of the questions going round in my mind are:

  1. Does anyone else have experience of being kept hanging on by Harrow, and when do those on the WL finally get told one way or another?
  1. If I register at another school and get a firm offer before 1st March, are they going to make me pay the first term?s fees if we then decline the place? (one registrar told me that this is the case). How does it work with deposits once a firm offer is accepted, and by when would one need to decline such an offer?

And a final set of thoughts: if DS were to get to Harrow, are there social aspects that would prevent him from fitting in and feeling at home? Would it be even worse at Eton? Would we not be more comfortable somewhere more modest? The prep school ? a ?leading, UK boarding prep school? recommended by Harrow ? has been great, but that may be because it is a small school with a great HM. I am a little apprehensive about the larger, senior schools but I am keen to get him to a very good school if I can.

Thanks for reading this far, I look forward to your comments.

OP posts:
propatria · 27/01/2012 11:08

Those are very different schools,and not just in a geographical sense,what advice is your Prep Head giving,thats what you pay for...

milkshake3 · 27/01/2012 10:46

Hi Trix - I think you need to call round these schools and see if they have spaces. There is a deadline for CE entries (?March) and in reality schools only know where they stand then. I know of one boy in yr8 at our prep still sitting on 3 places, but he will obviously only sit CE for one. Think about what you will say to these schools. They want bums on seats not "backup in case he doesn't move up the Harrow waiting list". What advice is your prep school giving you?

Colleger · 27/01/2012 07:53

You need to tell us about your son and what you look for in a school before we can answer that.

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