UK public school for 13 year old Canadian Chinese

Nice and polite to everyone of course but don't worry at all about asking tough questions. You are the customer here. They want on the ball, interested parents but in the long run they will be choosing your son on exam results and potential rather than choosing you.

My elder DD is looking at university in Canada funnily enough!! They seem to really like A levels there (but you probably know that).
There is a long and increasing history of kids from the UK going to university in the US. They have to sit SATs as usual. I think the universities are familiar enough with the uk system - it is more important that the school you choose has experience of supporting kids through the US college application system- that is a question you should ask when looking at schools if it is a real possibility. Ask specifics - how many children applied to US schools in last 5 years, which ones, how many offers, how many going, which member of staff is responsible for SAT prep and US applications, how do they keep up to date etc. that will sort the schools who know what they are doing from the ones that just say "oh yes, we can do that"!

You could also look at Hampton school or Epsom College.

However we are Canadian Chinese and would like son to be reasonably exposed to Chinese/Asian culture so that he doesn't lose his roots.

I think that is why people haven't mentioned Radley! Great school though - we're signed up!
You would have to enter via a Wardens List place (the 15-20 places mentioned by celestial) though now. Great for creative arts, good pastoral,but is your ds is not too sociable, would full boarding be right for him???

South London might not be a bad choice for you, as you would be within striking distance of several schools with 13+ intakes which could be suitable - Dulwich, Alleyns, Trinity, Whitgift. Check the school websites now for admissions timetables and how they run entrance exams and interviews for overseas candidates. Competition for places is quite strong, so somewhere where you have more that one option may well be worth it.

If you are going to add whitgift to the list, you should look at Trinity too, the other Whitgift
Foundation boys school. Keen on Mandarin, sports & music, as academic as Whitgift and very down to earth. Perhaps marginally more difficult to get to than Whitgift but only slightly.

Radley is a completely different kind of school - full boarding with no exceptions (you could keep living in canada and still send him!) and probably the least ethnically diverse school in the country thanks to an admissions policy that requires all but about 15 boys a year to have been put down on their list at birth. The other 15 boys have to be recommended by their prep school head which doesn't assist enormously with diversity as you can imagine. Although a few foreign kids make it in by this route they are usually English kids living abroad. There may be a Chinese face or two there but I didn't see any (or Indian or Pakistani or Japanese or Thai) when I was there looking round it for son 2 a couple of weeks ago.
Great school if you can cope with the homogeneity though!

If you are considering North london then I would add University College School (UCS) and Highgate to your list with Mill Hill foundation as a still good but less academic and more likely to have a space back up. All fit your criteria.

I mentioned Haberdashers in my first post to you but I don't think that it has been mentioned as most of the posters on here seem to be South Londoners and Habs is a North London school.

Based on your comments I think it would be an ideal school for your son. It's academically superb, extremely strong in sport and music, multi cultural including plenty of Chinese boys although the dominant cultures are Indian and Jewish. They have an extensive coach system shared with the adjoining girls school which brings children from right across N London and Herts and it's as economically diverse as a private school can be. Lots of well off families along with a generous bursary system and plenty of families scrimping and saving to pay the fees. It has a very low turnover of students and not many international families. It's a tough and demanding environment but if your son is competitive and hard working he will love it.

Have you considered state schools?

You cannot predict which school is going to attract an ill-mannered pupil (or indeed crowd) in any particular year.

London has some uber-rich families, but also has (probably!) the most diverse population in private schools (many international families, some with fees paid by employer so less personal wealth; many 'struggling middle' families). Even if you do not require a bursary yourself, looking for schools which have a generous bursary policy would also be another indicator of the presence of less affluent pupils.

I read uksounding's post as there would be fewer children like that in the uk than in Toronto but I may be wrong! There's no way you could live in London and have your ds commute to Oxford every day - it may not look far on the map but distances/feasibility of journeys are completely different in the uk than places like Canada (I'm married to an Australian and it took ages to train him out of "it's not that far on the map"!)

Very few children going to Whitgift would actually live in croydon - there are very good transport links from south London and lots of families live in the commuter belt the other side of Croydon to London

Ok finally (and then I will stop!) if he is keen on the cello you should know that the Oxford Cello School is based in Abingdon (www.oxfordcelloschool.org). Not connected to the school but a great resource locally and some shared teachers I understand.
Sigh. I used to go to the RCM in Toronto for my cello lessons every Wednesday afternoon as a kid...!

Ps as a born and bred ontarian I'd guess that UCC to Abingdon would be a pretty painless transition. Abingdon less urban of course - based in small market town. Oxford a fantastic city to live near and easily commutable to London if needed. But probably a pretty similar ethos.

I have a son at Abingdon. It's an excellent school with a good sized Chinese community - mostly boarding from HK, sing and china but also day boys living locally. Academics v good, sport strong, music and drama excellent, pastoral care very good. We are very happy with it. Produces very nice, level headed boys noticeably lacking in arrogance. Lots of working mothers amongst the parents (which makes me feel at home) and parents in my sons year range from a postman (presumably on free bursary - who cares) and an actual Nobel prizewinner (from oxford uni) but include lots of entrepreneurs, lawyers, doctors, academics, etc. The odd banker but no oligarchs that I've noticed.
Do PM me if you'd like any info.

Abingdon is big on sports and music and academics.
No idea on culture though. I have been told that Oxford has a v large Chinese community, but no idea if that spills into Abingdon School.

Croydon is definitely not Forest Hill!

Fatimash - In general the proportion of kids in the UK who go to private schools is higher than Canada, and therefore a higher proportion of 'middle-class struggling to make the fees' families than there would be at private schools here. I am shocked at the level of obvious wealth and consumption of some of the girls my DD is at school with. (Not to mention some of the attitudes held by parents...) it is not really 'done' to flash cash about like I witness here. Obviously there are many families like that in London and the SE of England too (and probably the really rich are actually much richer) but generally you are not going to get the unadulterated concentration as there are more 'normal' families at most schools too.
A school like Whitgift cares about academics on entry (as well as a basic ability to pay as obviously no-one is starving and in rags) and that produces a different atmosphere I think.

Agree with basildonbond. Whitgift is part of a foundation that has one of the most generous bursary funds in the country, so there is a larger proportion of boys for whom a public school education wouldn't usually be possible.

Also, it's in Croydon - can't get much more down to earth than that

Lots of Chinese boys at Whitgift, plus they do the IB, are v strong in pretty much all sports inc swimming, v good and ambitious music provision, easy transport from London

The boys there are a bit more down to earth than somewhere like Tonbridge as many are on bursaries and there is a much wider social mix than at some private schools