Dulwich or Whitgift?

We had experience of Joe Spence (now head of DC) when he was head of Oakham. He is brilliant, unique, and if choosing again I would take any school of his before any other. One girl in my DC's year was moved from Marlborough to Oakham for 6th form because her parents had known Joe Spence via their son at Eton, and thought him worth following.

Hi, MaMerry, i would say that the top tier London Day boys schools are: Westminster, St. Paul's, King's College Wimbledon - and in no particular order - results from either of those three schools are quite impressive! Quite near to that level would also be City of London.

Having direct experience of both schools I would doubt there'd be much to choose from the boys in the top and bottom sets of either schools ... It's perfectly possible to f*ck up your GCSEs at Dulwich as one of my friend's sons seems determined to do ...

I suspect where the academic difference might lie is in the middle tiers of both cohorts with Dulwich being slightly higher, but for any one individual the choice is going to be down to lots of different factors, like location, ease of transport - buses, trains, school bus routes (which is where you were talking tosh, CT), where friends go to etc etc

Both schools will get good/excellent results if your son's prepared to work for them (and not if they're not).

We and other families I know preferred the atmosphere at Whitgift - and I think there's a snobbery factor going on there as well - Dulwich's intake is much 'posher'. And after ds2 was horribly bullied by a load of boys from DC on a cricket course, that didn't say a lot about the behaviour of some of the boys from there ...

As far as top tier London schools go, I would agree that neither DC nor Whitgift are in it - you'd be looking at St Paul's, Westminster and KCS Wimbledon, but again they wouldn't suit every boy for lots of different reasons, not least of them being location and fees

OP - when it comes down to making a choice, if you are lucky enough to be in that position, it's really about your gut feeling. Imagine your son's first day at secondary, which school can you see him walking into? And which can you see him being happiest at?

No direct experience of either but have a DC 15 who regularly plays against them at Rugby and Cricket (1st team for both) and I would chose Dulwich each time. They are politer, play fairer and just generally more rounded than the lads you see playing for Whitgift whose behaviour can leave a lot to be desired on the sports field. Not any less competitive but much better behaved and this is reflected in the masters. I would not want any son of mine to behave and to emulate some of the behaviours I have seen from Whitgift. I know some adults who went to both and I really think you can spot the difference. And I think Whitgift has a long way to go before it has the reputation of Dulwich.

I'm no expert here but I would imagine top tier would be St Paul's and Westminster - maybe City of London?

My son is in his final year at DC and it's been fantastic for him. He went there at 11 from a community primary school and was far from the only one making that transition at that age. I'd look at the journey as a potential tiebreaker if you genuinely can't separate them in other ways, but there are a few other things to consider.

Sport - my son isn't particularly sporty and one of the things I've liked at DC is that they offer lots of sports at all levels so if the boys do want to get involved there will be a team at their level, but as far as I'm aware there is no pressure to get involved in competitive sport if they don't want to. In games lessons the boys who aren't in any sort of team get coaching on basic skills, and that seems fine to me.

Other extra-curricular areas where DC is very strong - music, drama, debating.

Academically, I think things have stepped up a gear since the new head arrived. He is keen to increase the numbers of boys getting into the top universities, I believe.

Sorry Basilonbond, but I have to strongly disagree with you about the academic standing of Whitgift vs Dulwich. Firstly, for years, Dulwich "hands down" beat Whitgift on the league tables...as a matter of fact, I do not recall Whitgift ever making the published list of league table data, as it came so far down the list... Secondly, the entrance pass mark to Whitgift must be significantly lower than Dulwich's, as I work in a primary school, I know of many year 6 pupils who failed to pass the Dulwich exam and easily passed the Whitgift one and have gone on to interview there...only to turn down their offered places there, as a result of the mediocre reputation the school possesses. Thirdly, I have a son of my own in a top, selective independent and I can safely say that the consensus amongst all the children and parents there are that Whitgift is, basically, a third tier school (i.e., not even a second tier choice).
I feel rather harsh trying to drive home my point, as I am absolutely certain that Whitgift is an excellent school - it has amazing facilities and its sports teams are feared within the independent school sector as everyone acknowledges that they are usually the best sportsmen around! Whitgift has loads going for it - but, it is not, for sure, in the same academic league as Dulwich - which, by the way, is considered to only be in the second tier of academic London selective schools.
Of course, there are "horses for courses" - not everyone will prefer the same type of school...just because one is more "academic" or "selective" than another, does not mean that it is "better"! There are so many factors involved in choosing the right school for your child - the rigour of a school's entrance test and league table standing is not the be all and end all... The cohort of children attending the school is always something to consider...if your child is a keen sportsman/woman, that is also a consideration...the arts, music and drama departments are to be investigated, if your child is so inclined...
So, what I am waffling on about is that, yes, Dulwich is academically more demanding that Whitgift, but take the needs and desires of your child into consideration when choosing a school.
Apologies for going on a bit...

sorry Chelseatina but you're talking tosh!

They are different schools, certainly, but Dulwich is not in a different league ...

There are many scarily clever boys at Whitgift, and some not particularly bright ones, just as there are at Dulwich - we know many, many boys at both. Yes, there are lots of sporty boys at Whitgift but there are plenty who are musical or into drama or simply very academic.

Whitgift's sports facilities are miles better than those at Dulwich and their sports teams do the facilities justice. Dulwich aren't bad .. of course they have fixtures against other independent schools, they all do!!

Whitgift have lots of school buses plus it's very easy to get to by public transport. Dulwich have buses but it's not in such a well-connected location as far as public transport goes.

Dulwich is less of a social mix than Whitgift - its intake is much more heavily biased towards prep schools - Whitgift is about 50/50 prep/state which gives it a different, rather more down-to-earth feel, it has a much higher percentage of boys receiving financial assistance by way of scholarships and/or bursaries, and of course, it's in Croydon which will always keep the boys there grounded

One boy we know had major scholarships from Dulwich, Whitgift and Trinity (50% off fees) and chose Whitgift over Dulwich and he and his parents have never had any regrets

Definitely choose Dulwich, if you get both offers. Dulwich is way more academic than Whitgift - Dulwich usually take the top 20% of the cohort, whereas Whitgift flounder in the League tables...
The boys who usually go to Whitgift are mostly the "brawn" who can give the school the sporting successes they crave. Their sports facilities are probably the best around and so are their sports teams.
Dulwich, on the other hand, are a great sporty school and have fixtures against all the other independent schools - their teams are pretty decent in all of the major sports. This fact, coupled with their academic side, certainly make it a better school. Location-wise, I would think that Dulwich is also a better bet, as they have a school bus that pupils can take to and from the school - Whitgift do not offer such a facility.

Good Luck!