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Original poster

St John’s school or Epsom College

29 replies

swappingwellies · 12/12/2022 18:22

Hi all, we have received offers from both schools for DD sixth form. I was wondering if anyone could give insight on any differences between the two schools, as they seem to be very similar, I was hoping the differences would help in our decision!
I’m particularly interested in the difference between A level results; Epsom performs slightly better whereas they are almost on par for GCSEs. What could be the difference for the A level’s grade dipping for St John’s?
Thanks 🙏

OP posts:
swgeek · 13/12/2022 14:26

You could look at the value added score / progress score which is available on the DfE website. Epsom College has a progress score of +0.38 (top 1% in the country), whereas St John's has a Sixth Form progress score of -0.04 (average). That means a child at St John's will receive A-Level results exactly as expected given their GCSE performance, whereas a child entering Epsom College is expected to outperform by almost half a grade given their previous performance.

Other than that, they are very similar schools. It looks like St John's only has 130 kids per year in the Sixth Form vs Epsom around 180. DD is at Epsom College and very happy there but she is only in y7 so probably not much help to you! For us, the main deciding factor was diversity as Epsom College seemed a bit more international, especially due to the influx of boarders but also in general. St John's is a bit more English I think although the difference might well be tiny.

Maybe you should dig into the details of subjects your child will actually study at A-Level.

Original poster
swappingwellies · 12/12/2022 22:35

@Brimp oh thats great to know, thank you for sharing. I’ll go back and look at the league tables. I know a school is so much more than league tables but it really is coming down to the wire trying to distinguish the schools and make a decision. DD loved both schools when we went to visit! I do love the recurring comments about pastoral care at St John’s but I’m sure it’s just as good in Epsom. Happy to hear your friends son is thriving academically and happy, I suppose you can’t get better than that!

OP posts:
Brimp · 12/12/2022 22:06

As to differences - it's difficult to say. A friend's child is at St John's and they are very happy with it. He did really well at GCSE (came from a state school at primary). Lots of activities, sport and nice community feel from what I hear. Think boarding is more flexi - maybe more full boarding at Epsom?

Brimp · 12/12/2022 22:03

From what I read when results came out, St John's did better than Epsom at A level this year. I think in previous years that may have been reversed but St John's seemed to get a good number of A*'s and A's now.