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Original poster

Best Independent school for engineering - DT

40 replies

ARCHIE114 · 25/01/2022 17:07

Hi, I wonder if someone can point me in the right direction. My DS is 15 and in year 10 at an independent school in London. He seems to be very determined to get into mechanical engineering /car design, the school he is at now does not have DT per se but they do Graphic Design, that he loves and he has chosen, as one of his GCSE subjects, together with triple science and extra maths and geography, as we were told these are the best subjects, if he is thinking engineering/architecture/design. He is now considering of moving for A level, but I was trying to research what would be the schools in London or just outside that have great to DT departments, or prepare better for the universities degrees he seems to be very keen on. I do not seem to find anything like that.

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easternenergizer · 08/02/2022 16:06

Oundle school would be the best school in the UK for science and engineering.
Genuinely the best faculties, facilities and teaching provision in the UK. Google this. Quite difficult to get into for A Level but should your son get in he will get first Class teaching and provision in this subject.
Many build cars, Hovercraft, buggys. It was pretty wild the level when I was there. Science and engineering very forward thinking too and integration between subjects encouraged too. Good luck.

Needmoresleep · 05/02/2022 20:21

Westminster. It does not offer DT at A level, but does offer electronics, which can be really useful. Also four STEM a levels is the norm with electronics as a fifth, so you can keep a reasonable level of breadth. DD took physics, biology, chemistry and maths alongside electronics which was a good combination for biomedical engineering. Quite a few of her, and DS friends used their electronics by going on to take EEE or robotics.

Original poster
ARCHIE114 · 03/02/2022 20:58

Thanks everyone for all this amazing information !

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gailsmissingchin · 29/01/2022 21:33

Not sure how you might be able to make it work but this place is one of the best kept secrets in education:

www.wmgacademy.org.uk/

itssquidstella · 29/01/2022 18:58

Highgate has a great DTE department (lots of Arkwright scholarships) and is also very strong in STEM generally.

TizerorFizz · 29/01/2022 18:55

@PAFMO
Huge numbers of students do go to local universities here. Maybe not MN ones but very many don’t leave home in order to save money. Italian mainstream universities are also huge. 88,000 at Bologna I think. I assume the technical ones are smaller.

PAFMO · 29/01/2022 11:55

OP- don't discount Modena for mech eng at uni level.

My nephew will be going there and so will a couple of my top liceo classico maturandi who want to do Engineering. I also have another 2 nephews who chose Torino.

It's also news to almost all the students I've seen go on to university here that they were supposed to stay at home and go to the nearest one. Wink Maybe they missed the MN memo.

TizerorFizz · 28/01/2022 19:15

@ARCHIE114
We are all entitled to different opinions. I truly believe schools can enthuse young people and having engineering clubs and facilities is part of that.

I think some of us (I’m married to a CEng) can see that engineering isn’t just about maths and physics. DH finds this narrow approach worrying snd that engineers have very narrow specialisms. Therefore overall management of contracts can be problematic. He thinks young engineers should try out different things. Think about engineering the built environment. What about environmental engineering? Why not look at mechanical and all the other spin offs? It’s fun snd exciting. I never tire of watching Robot Wars! Problem solving and engineering solutions. Anyone who thinks engineering is just about A levels doesn’t get engineering! People who see the broader picture can earn more! They end up running the consultancies.

Yes the Grande Ecoles are in France. You can do French with MEng and go to one for a year.

ARCHIE114 · 28/01/2022 18:39

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CraftyGin · 28/01/2022 18:17

I am very bewildered by this thread.

Engineering courses are interested in Mathematics and Physics, and Chemistry for ChemE.

The don't care one hoot about DT, or which fancy independent school you went to. They don't care about anything that the parents have facilitated. It's all about the student, and their particular passion for the subject.

Original poster
ARCHIE114 · 28/01/2022 18:08

Essex Cat - Oh I do LOVE Bancroft ! One of the favourite schools I have visited this year for my daughter (she is doing the 11 plus) , I thought it had the perfect mix of great academics and brilliant pastoral care. The children seem very happy and they do not sound little BJs :) I thought the DT department was fantastic and I saw someone was building a car. I thought my son would def love it there. It seems very competitive at 16 ? Any tips to get in highly appreciated he would start in 2023.

Tizeor - Bologna is where I have studied for my bar qualification post law degree . Not sure what your dd studies, the Italian judicial system is based on the application of statutory rules of law, which are codified by the legislators so you have to learn a lot by heart, nothing is practical and when you finish you have no much idea of what the work will be like. I think it really varies, depending on the course but art design and engineering have always been incredibly respected, not easy though, I think DS would really struggle coming from the system here, as it is a totally different way of learning and he is fluent in Italian, so I can imagine for a non Italian speaker is really tough. I was actually reading that in Italians ranking Bologna was first last year for engineering, while I never knew it was famous for that. Such a fun city to be a student though :) ah.... to be 15 and have all of these options ! I wish I could go back in time !

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EssexCat · 28/01/2022 17:43

Have a look at Bancrofts in Woodford, my eldest is there now doing a levels and is off to do engineering at university in September - they have lots of budding engineers there.

CraftyGin · 28/01/2022 17:42

He doesn't need DT for Mechanical Engineering.

He needs to do well in Physics and Mathematics.

If he is interested in architecture, the Art & Design.

All decent schools should be able to facilitate these subjects at the highest level.

TizerorFizz · 28/01/2022 17:37

@ARCHIE114
I’m not certain that degrees from EU countries wouldn’t be recognised here. I’m very aware that specialised universities are good in Italy. I was actually referring to Bologna, where DD went. We were amazed that such a huge and very old university wasn’t close to being in the top 100 in the world. When there she was somewhat disappointed too! However that’s not engineering or technology.

Original poster
ARCHIE114 · 28/01/2022 17:27

TizerorFizz - The Grande Ecole should be in France judging by the name I reckon... not sure if any unis here have links with Italy.

The problem now that I think of it, not being in the EU is that the EU degrees may not be recognised here and viceversa ? Not sure I would need to check.

For sure he would have to pass more exams on more subjects to get into universities in Italy as we study all subjects until the end of secondary school will need to check.

I am not sure I care about rankings really, not sure what their criteria are, but for architecture design and engineering the Milan and Turin Politecnico are considered some of the best in the world def. before Bristol, Bath and the others. (I think worldwide ranking is Oxford and Cambridge, which judging from what people say here, they do not offer the best courses for engineering and imperial ) The Politecnico of Milan, according to the QS World University Rankings for subject area 'Engineering & Technology', ranked in 2020 as the 20th best in the world.[6] It ranked 6th worldwide for Design, 9th for Civil and Structural Engineering, 9th for Mechanical, Aerospace Engineering and 7th for Architecture.[6] Its notable alumni or professors include Nobel laureate Giulio Natta, and architects Renzo Piano and Aldo Rossi"

Not sure this is the best source/ ranking. In the latest world rankings its all Chinese universities and I am def. not sending him to China! Or the US.

It is true in Italy students tend to live at home IF they go to universities in the same city where they live, but plenty don't. Studying in a beautiful country has its perks -weekend skiing, trip to the sea, the sun, good food, inspiring art and architecture, better wine less binge drinking ! You may tell from what I am saying that I am so nostalgic of my time studying law there !

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TizerorFizz · 28/01/2022 16:58

@ARCHIE114
If you are Italian that’s very different.

A friend of DDs did Mech E at Bristol did a year abroad at a Grande Ecole. I’m not sure if the universities have links with Italy? I wasn’t saying Italy is not great but their standard unis are well down international rankings. Even the best known ones. Technical ones might be different. DD studied in Italy as part of her year abroad. As you are Italian you will know that most students live at home and it’s a different experience to UK universities.

Original poster
ARCHIE114 · 28/01/2022 15:00

Thanks both and all really, lots of really useful information.
TizerorFizz : I agree is not just about maths and physics and this is why I was keen to find the schools which see DT as complementary subject to maths and physics for children who are interested in engineering. After all building a car or a computer must be useful ! Italy is appealing to me as I am Italian. My son speaks it fluently and I think it would be a great experience to study there, the life style and so on. We do have great industries there too, Ferrari Lamborghini and Alfa just to name few. Ferrari has apparently some internship, that while very competitive seems to then open lots of doors. Also we do not have these impossible entry bars, while we loose possibly half of the course students after the first year of UNI especially for the most difficult faculties, at least that is based on a year of study, so if the children drop out is because they are probably not suited to this type of study not because they are not fast at filling tests sheets .....

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tardissimus · 28/01/2022 13:06

Your son might also want to consider applying for an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship, details here:
www.arkwright.org.uk/about-arkwright/about-arkwright

TizerorFizz · 27/01/2022 15:21

My DDs former boyfriend went to Harrow and they really support their mechanical engineers.

We really do have first class engineering degrees here. You really cannot fault Bristol, Sheffield, Manchester, Southampton, Imperial and quite a few others for mechanical engineering. Bristol is great for aeronautical engineering. We have CEng qualifications that are recognised the world over! Unless you really like Italy there’s no huge need to go there or indeed the USA.

I’ve just been talking to a friend about the issue of schools not remotely understanding engineering. My DH is a structural and civil engineer but at school they did Engineering A level. This involved making things and solving problems. By allowing this subject to become less academic we have done a disservice to our young engineers. They do all think it’s about maths! What they don’t do is think as engineers. DH had some lessons in the engineering dept at a university taught by a well known professor! He also did a short course in Architecture: all arranged by the school. Their monorail Engineering project was a finalist for Young Engineers of the Year. Sadly all this has disappeared and all we do is maths and physics and think that’s good enough for engineers. It isn’t. You have to understand the problem before you can solve it! All the maths in the world won’t necessarily lead to the right solution if you haven’t understood the problem!

Warwick has automotive engineering and Jaguar Land Rover used to support that department. Much higher regarded than Coventry. Look at Southampton, Loughborough and possibly Bath.,

puffyisgood · 27/01/2022 14:44

Is it really all that much of a thing for a school to specialise in specific subject[s]?

It's a state sixth form college and very competitive academically to get into, but Kings College London maths school [nr Elephant & Castle] probably attracts kids with similar interests. Maths, further maths, and physics A levels are all compulsary, and really they're the bedrock of what you need to get into most of the degree courses OP seems to be talking about. I doubt they have much by way of specialist facilities for the less theoretical aspects of design & so on.

Motorcyclemptiness · 27/01/2022 11:08

i believe that Oundle have their own engineering facility. Stowe do an Engineering BTEC in conjunction with Silverstone and are opening a big new DT dept too. I know you wanted London, but thought I would flag these up, for comparison purposes, if nothing else.

Original poster
ARCHIE114 · 27/01/2022 10:57

EllieNBeeb, We will be considering abroad actually, I agree in the UK the pressure is really tough for children, but Italy not the US. The politecnico universities in Turin and Milan have a great reputation world wide, of course you need languages. I am finding this rush to US universities a bit upsetting, it kind of suggest that there aren't good enough universities in Europe.

Thanks Snowiscold - I agree I am sure there are lots of good universities besides the ones everyone is among for

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Snowiscold · 26/01/2022 21:22

how competitive and difficult is to get into one of the good universities ...

It depends what you mean by good, but I know a few who didn’t quite get the requested grades at A level but were accepted anyway. Places like Southampton or Glasgow.

EllieNBeeb · 26/01/2022 20:30

He could consider uni in the US. To be honest, engineering programmes are huge out there. I have a friend that went to a state uni in Oklahoma, worked for the air force for his first job, then ended up at an auto co, a motorcycle company, Boeing, and then Daimler. The UK limits uni numbers for some ridiculous reason when there aren't even enough engineers to go around. There are affordable international programmes if you aren't fussed about uni name and just want an excellent education

Original poster
ARCHIE114 · 26/01/2022 19:53

thanks! all so useful. At the moment is cars and planes in generic terms, I think he is interested in design as well as make it work, he constantly builds stuff, but I doubt he knows if its the gear box or brakes that he is most interested in - I was reading another thread on how competitive and difficult is to get into one of the good universities ...

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