Dulwich College / 2021

Sorry to be late to this but just to add my DS attended local state school, was only one to go to DC from there and has thrived. The team are so friendly and they know how to get the best out of the boys. PM if any further questions. Good luck.

ds is at Dulwich. he was one of only 2 kids to go frorm his school in his year and although that did make it nerve wracking at first, it soon stopped being a problem. There are all kinds of team building events initially and (in normal times) a trip to Wales in the first half term.

Dulwich pride themselves on quite a diverse intake. Very strong bursary provision.

like the comment about each boy finding his tribe. This has been our experience. The school has so many different clubs. Its sport offering is immense and has something for every boy.

the one thing that swayed us was Joe Spence's comment "if your son comes here, he's bright so will get good exam results. Let's put that to one side and talk about his education" - and then proceeded to talk about the liberal education outside the public exam syllabuses.

the teachers have almost all been exceptional. they treat the boys as adults. think the boys come to parents evenings from year 9 - and really it's a conversation between the teacher and the boy that you are listening in to.

when asked if he wanted to go anywhere else for sixth form - ds looked at us like we were mad!

We are very happy with Dulwich. The Headmaster is genuine and inspirational and we have been very happy with all the teachers. The boys all seem extremely happy and the school is big enough that any 'type' of boy will find their place and likeminded boys. We feel we can trust the school to do the best by our sons - they know what they are doing and they are constantly seeking to make improvements. We have had very few issues and any we have had have been resolved without problem. They genuinely care about the individual boys.

Would love to hear feedback with parents with DS at DC. We're in a position where we have offers also from Trinity, Westminster and
St Olave's (grammar). A fortunate position to be in, I know, but any insights would be helpful!

Delighted to receive an offer, Incredible facilties, close to home and strong pastoral focus. At this point in time I wish there was more than a virtual tour to get a true feel for the school as we never managed an open day. I would appreciate hearing feedback from parents with DS at school. Thankyou

@lillyd we’re in exactly the same position as you - DS at a local state primary, got an offer from Dulwich, but don’t know much about the school at all and if it will suit him. I know he’d eat well - we got married there and the catering was amazing - but otherwise am a bit stumped! 🤣🤣

I'd say Dulwich College is very welcoming, and there always seem to be plenty joining from the state sector (and the foundation schools offer a lot of large bursaries - compound interest over several centuries do wonders for being able to afford this).

And because it's a large school, all boys seem to find their tribe.

Hi, so my DS got a place at Dulwich. He is very excited as it was where he has always wanted to go (and we are very surprised!). But we are now trying to work out whether it’s really the right place for him. My DS goes to a state primary in the local area and we don’t know anyone locally who either goes to Dulwich or who got in at 11+. Does anyone have children at DC already or know more about it as a school. Any views? Is it a friendly welcoming place?

Yes we received the email too - an offer. No mention of a scholarship. One of the other schools he applied to (Trinity) mentioned the scholarship details in the actual email. Also got Westminster. Choices, choices....

Got email too, offered a place - landed in junk, should have checked there first!

glad that Dulwich led the way and emailed. snailmail so crap at the mo?

good luck to all

Yes, DS just had an offer an hour ago. So relieved! Not sure about academic scholarship ranges as the email states it will be provided in the letter. My post has arrived, however no letter has arrived!

Just found this thread. Has anyone heard anything from Dulwich re 11+ yet? Any idea what the academic scholarship ranges they typically offer? Hoping for the best!

Does anyone happen to know about Dulwich 13 plus this year please? When would they tell if the child got through to the interview stage or not, and will it be by email or letter? thanks in advance

Probably a good move on their part to limit those taking the second stage exam to 300...

It must have been super stressful as DC had the unenviable situation of a third having sat the exam (including my DS) before lockdown. They did well to then manage to sit the remaining boys onsite.

I wonder how many boys applied in total?

Roll on 12th February and best of luck everyone!

Surprising email, mixed feelings really, relieved and robbed of an interview innequal measure, however given the battle to hold an exam in covid, unsurprised by the U turn. Physical exams will prevail if children have reached the schools selection. Admin time is now better spent reviewing reports and marking papers after quarantine procedures.

Aappreciate an email on offer day than relying on our patchy non existent royal mail service. I wish all schools would email tbh.

Tbh I think perhaps that poor admissions team has just had enough... Don’t blame them, what a stress it must have been!!

v surprising that they're not even going to try and do Zoom interviews? and agree how on earth can they take school reports into account...

unlikely that they have sent different versions of the email out as there is a strict code that all foundation schools release results on the same day - a differentiated email would contravene that?

No idea what the school reports would say. We have no CAT score as our school doesn’t do that. I’m assuming that they are fairly confident with the results of their own exams, and they can fairly easily figure out who they will offer to based on those results (in other words, less weighting of interviews generally in any case).

I wouldn’t have thought that they sent different versions of the email to different people - it looks like an automated email sent from their online system.

Presumably, the school report will include the standardised scores (CAT etc) if the school has these?

Yes, just saw that. Quite a U-turn...understandable as many other schools have based it on online tests. Wonder if all letters are identical or whether anything can be read into them (as per some others schools' emails)...

You’ve probably seen the email now - no interviews at all for DC this year...

Cool ok thank. I read it that the interviews would be scheduled for next week (presumably with invites out this week) -glad that's not the case!