Wallington County grammar school v/s Royal Grammar School(RGS) Guildford

I know this is an old thread but I just can’t believe the various biases flying around.
I went to an outstanding state comprehensive school and it was the most uninspiring one size fits all lowest common denominator experience you could imagine. I was a straight A student and had no encouragement at all, the whole thing was just about fitting in and waiting for the noisy extroverts to pipe down.
i went to a state sixth form and class sizes were around 12-20, teachers inspirational and everyone focused and well behaved. Excellent experience academically but had missed the opportunity to gain confidence and enjoy extra curriculars by then - I had learnt to keep my head down at senior school, not to put myself forward.
We lived in a grammar school area when our three children were small and decided to move out quickly - parents were incredibly competitive and the whole system was gamed - either prep school or years of tutoring to get your children in. No social mobility at all - my dad on the other hand went from coal mining village to Oxbridge via grammar school.
My son goes to the RGS.
It is very hard to get into as they are oversubscribed. They are academically elite just like grammar schools because they are one of the original grammars but had to go independent to prevent being abolished in the 70s. They still have a right to their heritage and ethos whoever said it was marketing tripe!
The school has better class sizes and is less of an academic machine than our local comp, which is a great place for neurotypical alphas who rule the roost. No sporting opportunities for anyone else whereas RGS is very inclusive for sport. The survival of the fittest outcome (even if not intended) at comprehensive schools always strikes me as a bit ironic.

All schools should have smaller classes and greater individual attention in my opinion.

Hopefully those thoughts bring something useful to this polarised debate.
good luck to all, choosing schools is not easy!

DS has always had strong support and in my interactions its obvious the teachers have a passion for what they do. With the academics it's difficult to fault the school- they are thorough. However, the work ethic is demanding. And they'll waste no time in telling you that. But also very mindful of the emotional well being of the kids and getting a healthy balance. They strongly discourage over zealous parents pushing kids above their recommended hours. Leavers destinations are Russel group universities studying a wide range of courses. Medicine is a popular pathway. There are also well trodden pathways -Oxbridge, US universities etc. Ofsted puts WCGS as 'Outstanding'. I see why. But of course you'll never get the perfect school. That's just chasing shadows.

OP: if your son has places at both schools for this September, you really do need to make your mind up! Apart from anything else, there will be boys on the waiting list for both schools, hoping that you release your son's place. It's not fair on them, or indeed the schools, to leave things so late. I suspect next Friday is the last day of term at RGS

I don't think you've said where you live, so if you are much nearer Guildford, I would go with RGS, simply because of convenience (and given that you said money is not an issue). Otherwise I'd go for Wallington.

I don't know it at all, but from what others have said it sounds like a good school. I do know that if I had had the option of a grammar school for my daughters, I'd definitely have taken it. I didn't (the SW London ones were much too far for us to consider) so we went down the private route and they went to Guildford High School (and came into contact with lots of RGS boys).

I had mentioned in the thread that our experience at WCGS has been excellent. Academics, rugby,, debating society, drama, music, various cubs- school trips - Austria and SA. Great pastoral care.

"I have never heard of RGC because I don't live in the area. So yes, I learnt it is an academically selective school."

With all the outrage and unconstructive comments that have preceded, the OP must be wondering why they asked this community a question... without knowledge of a school, its difficult to help OPs.

Looping back on an earlier post, given Wallingham is quite far from Guildford, @PB1210 would it be more helpful to have info on Reigate Grammar School (also selective private school) rather than RGS Guildford?

You're free to your own interpretation. That's perfectly fine. With this thread- enough already.! And have a great day 😀

I don't think the point about leaving the grammars for those who can't afford private was "distasteful arrogance". I think it was a request not to be selfish.

If lots of places at grammar schools are taken by those who could afford private, there are fewer grammar places available for the majority of children whose parents cannot afford private.

Inevitably, some children will lose out - the ones who would have benefited from an academically selective education but for whom there are no places left.

I would have been woekinf for a lot of schools based on your judgement.

Just don't be derogatory about boys who worked hard to pass the entrance exams, at a school you didn't choose

Likewise - please address the RGC posters who made such derogatory remarks about WGCS and the 'poor' kids who are meant to go there. Thats why I was so incensed and got involved in this thread in the first place. I have never heard of RGC because I don't live in the area. So yes, I learnt it is an academically selective school. More so than the independents my son sat for because he found the entrance tests lor those schools less challenging than the 11 plus. Maybe things have changed. Thought for the vast majority of independent schools that was still the case

"Making judgements about the abilities of the boys in the comparison schools" + without empirical evidence to back the claim

@naraguta by all means give an alternative view of the school ethos, pastoral care and outcomes. Making judgements about the abilities of the boys in the comparison schools or the financial situations of the parents is not helpful or fair to people who aren't on this thread. Friends of my DS have 2 working parents, in order to afford the fees and there are boys on full bursaries, whose parents aren't wealthy in the slightest.

Great that your DCs had a good experience in Grammar schools and it was better than your own boarding school experience. Just don't be derogatory about boys who worked hard to pass the entrance exams, at a school you didn't choose

You'll have to forgive me for responding to a couple of the posts about grammar schools and how these were freebies better left for poor kids. Just distasteful arrogance in my opinion. So maybe my response was strong. Similarly the posters had 'clearly' (lol) set out to minimise the achievements of kids they'd never met who had achieved without the props of money from wealthy parents. Although there are wealthy parents with kids at grammar schools who also 'clearly' didn't buy in to the private school option. Anyway I digress. But I do remember these type of attitudes mentionned above were so prevalent among some parents during my boarding school days. My experience with my kids in both grammars was just better. That's all. And that the whole private education brand having been through itwas very much over rated and clearly promoted many false narratives. No apologies for giving an alternative view to the RGS 'love in'. I'm sure I mentioned somewhere that RGS is a good school and each to.their choices. Anyway thought the opening poster was seeking different experiences. Nobody hurt me at boarding school by the way - knew how to after myself. But did see numerous examples of very unhappy kids who just shouldn't have been there.

@naraguta, you've been disparaging about the boys who go to RGS Guildford. Why? How do you know that they aren't as bright as those who pass the 11+ for WCGS? Where you live dictates a lot about which options are open to families. When you don't have grammars in your area, private schools are a legitimate choice.

You've clearly had a very bad experience and you decry the abilities of boys you've never met to feel better and even the score with whoever annoyed/hurt you.

And, yes, my DS goes to RGS. He was scoring 120 (scaled score) in his practice SATs (pre-COVID lockdown) and had average CAT scores of >>125. I agree with @Fifthtimelucky that the RGS is not a school that takes non-academic boys. There are plenty of different characters, with different talents and sporting abilities... definitely no cookie-cutter used for the intakes.

@PB1210 RGS uses ISEB, these days, same as Trinity and many other schools... it means you can apply to many schools, but not have to trot around to do lots of different entrance exams and be a scheduling genius to get to all of them. I agree with some of the other posters that you'll know which school is right for your DS when you walk around together. Good luck!

I get the feeling a lot of private secondaries are quite soft - am I right to feel this way? The state grammars get labelled as exam factories, but perhaps this is just another way of saying they're tough and down to business. Is endless indulgence what a child needs? Who knows!!!

In case you haven't found it the RGS website says this

UNIVERSITIES
The School is very proud of its record in securing places at leading universities: over the last six years, on average, 25% of boys have gained a place at Oxford or Cambridge with large numbers also studying at Durham, Exeter, Warwick, Bath, Bristol, Nottingham and the London universities of Imperial, UCL and KCL. Support is also given for those choosing to apply to American Universities or to follow the increasingly popular Degree Apprenticeship route.

There are more detailed tables on the website showing the most popular universities, the most popular courses, and how many did what at and Cambridge.

www.rgsg.co.uk/senior-school/university-beyond/

No idea, the school website usually have leaver destination and you can check.

These are choices specific to the individual. My son got all 3 but chose Wallington Boys over Sutton Grammar. Just seemed a better fit for him and he has excelled as I'm sure his counterparts who chose the others also did. Happiness is the ultimate goal I guess.

20, not 8!!

Private school exams can be trained for but sometimes aren't standardised, multiple choice tests as was the case when I sat my Verbal Reasoning exam etc. Also all the academic kids in that area (and I knew a LOT of people who applied in that area) chose Sutton Grammar over Wally Boys.

Also if you did the Maths you'd pobably have deduced that top 0.5% means getting in...eg if 4000 people applied, the top 0.5% would be the top 8 people. So yes I got in to all of these...

It is perfectly find to have your personal experience to justify why you put your kids to grammar not private or other comprehension.

Again this doesnt mean that you can use it to justify saying WGCS takes more academic inclined student compared to RGS schools, it is simply a claim without any evidence.

By the way I put my kids up to Grammar not because of social mobility but precisely because of personal experience. My siblings and I with top boarding schools both in the UK and in Europe. And from my daughter's experience- not because she didn't achieve good academic grades (that's what got her into Grammar 6th form) -but it fell short in other areas. Ironically- having said that I don't regret it because I believe we made up for the shortfalls. And some of the trips. And of course you can't 'outsource' parenting to strangers. So if the independents can use money to make better their appeal it would inevitably include academics. Grammar is a freebie though as already mentioned back in the thread. Look I really must dash- er..sorry... go. Have a pleasant weekend. 😊