Alternative boarding school to Win Coll?

[Titwillow55]

Deciding on schools to visit for my 10 year old son who seems to be a text book win coll boy. He is academic, quirky, very musical, Aspergers, polite, not a “boys boy”, hates football, likes coding and reading.

we live abroad so looking for full boarding that doesn’t empty out at the weekend and isn’t only Chinese students at weekends like some are. I boarded and loved it. Son is keen to board. Before anyone starts down that route…

he’s not at a prep school so the current school can’t help. We don’t want Eton just due to our own preconceived ideas (!) which is a shame as I know ton is very academic.

any insight into Radley at all? Or Harrow? We’ve been to rugby and it didn’t quite fit the type of boy our son is. Marlborough was too full of flash cash I felt. Thank you for any helpful steers.

My DS went through Radley recently, and it is a very 'all round' school. Full boarding, so weekends are full, and semi scheduled for the younger boys at first.
Although rugby was compulsory for the first term, the lower teams now do tag rugby, and to be honest don't do much! Just tell him to be rubbish in the rugby trials and he'll get put in a low team! That's what ds did, then never played rugby again! He did squash, and Badminton instead. After the first term, your ds would then go into either rowing, or hockey and cricket.

Music is very strong, and very cool at Radley. Drama and art very strong too. Radley also has it's own golf course which is the ultimate non team sport in my opinion!
Academically, it seems to get the best out of all the boys. Even the lower academical boys seem to do well. Top set boys are very well catered for too.

Def go and look round. Hope that helps. Happy for you to dm me if you'd like.

It seems this thread has changed to a attacking Winchester college thread. I realize something from many past threads; It always start of how some parents at Winchester College were unhappy about their DS then they will say Eton is much better. Funny thing is the user name keeps changing but saying the same thing at different thread. It is almost people are working as a team, having a grudge against the college.

My DS is at the college at he is perfectly happy, making many friends and there is no bullying at his house. However we have heard a few things at Eton last year when one of the boy accuses another boy of sexual harassment, however the charge were drop because another boy made it up.

Each school has its own problems and none of the school is perfect.

It is also very unfair that all of these articles are more than 10 years old. The pattern and the way they try to attack Winchester college in many threads as a team by trying to change the user name but keep saying the same thing while praising Eton College means someone really have plenty of free time to be able to keep writing comments here.

If I am going to recommend some other school I would recommend Tonbridge since lately they have outperformed other all boy boarding schools. The boys are much humble at Tonbridge than at Eton. The school is much more modernize than Winchester, Radley, Harrow and Eton. Sport is top notch there. It has

The only downside about the school is it is quite empty during a weekend ( to be honest it is only Saturday evening and Sunday ).

However Winchester is an amazing school where you can choose of what you want to be. You do not need to be good at sport ( or even attend since you can choose other activities instead )and you can survive pretty well at Winchester while at Eton, Harrow, Radley and Tonbridge your DS is better be in a good rugby team.

Just for the record, you don't need to be in a good rugby team at Radley. It's not like that. Assuming @Beyondthesea123 means to be seen as cool/respected.

The biggest and most popular inter house competition is the a cappella singing comp!

I don't see the pattern you're describing, @Beyondthesea123 . There are certainly a number of posters recommending Eton as an alternative to Winchester, in response to the OP's request for suggested alternatives, and no doubt picking up on the OP's reluctance to consider Eton because of its brand. And there are certainly lots of posters expressing unhappiness or buyer's regret about Winchester which, as you've identified, is nothing new. I'm not sure how you are concluding that these are the same posters though- if they wanted to trash WinColl and promote Eton they didn't need to wait until the thread turned. And there won't be many whose boys have experience of both schools- most who leave Winchester will need to go somewhere less over-subscribed unless lucky enough to land a 6th form place.
These boards only work with the presumption that people post in good faith about matters they understand. In the same way that you shouldn't be accused of being on the WinColl PR team just because you often post positively about the college, I don't think posters describing different experiences from yours should be written off as an orchestrated anti-Winchester, pro-Eton cabal.
Fwiw though I agree there's not much mileage in news articles about issues that happened 10+ years ago unless there are points of continuity in people or processes.

It's very unfair to dismiss or belittle a parents experience when their child has suffered at school due to lack of care.I know things can happen at any school but Winchester's greatest failure is their actions after the event.

My son was only in JP (year 9) and he should have been looked after. He knew he wouldn't be listened to, he had heard stories from other boys and sadly he was right.

He settled very quickly in his new school but his experience at Winchester will stay with him. If we lived abroad the situation would have been even more out of hand by the time we realized.

The lack of oversight of the senior boys is a real concern. I do wonder if the expulsions for drug use last term were done fairly.

Tonbridge is doing well academically and in Parent Power but it now has 5 day houses, 7 boarding so is not a full boarding school. It is mixed day and boarding. That formula seems to produce better results. Parental supervision seems to translate to better results? Or is it the mix of the two? Eton is still a full boarding school. Winchester now allows some day pupils? Into Sixth Form?

I think the key question to ask is whether a school tries to keep boarding parents at arms’ length and has a “we know best” attitude vs “let’s work together”. It will also depend on the HM and whatever academic/cocurricular team etc the child is on and the prevailing attitude there. And what your parenting style is. And the child’s personality.

I did hear a friend who works in the city (OE) saying he thinks doors are closing now to Etonians (in the city). But the education is still very very good. And its reputation abroad is unsullied as yet

Only if they are white judging by my son's cohort.

I think there is a clear animus against middle class white males, especially if privately educated, across a number of sectors. It would not influence me in my choice of school for a 10 year old boy now.

I second this view of radley. My son was a late bloomer. Hated main sport but came to love golf, rowing and tennis. Was more into science, drama and debate. These are all big at radley too. Made friends who were similar types. Radley boys are generally gentlemanly, charismatic and don't have so much air of elitism. They are old school in terms of manners and more tend to be countryside families- obviously with a mix of Londoners and international too but well balanced. We are huge fans as you can tell!

I'm not seeing this across any of the private or public sector industries I work with. It may be that additional privileges and the old boys network is not working as it used to, and that is how it should be, but I have not seen anything to suggest that in terms of employment someone from a top flight school is actively disadvantaged.

I think the issue is different at University entrance, where there is close scrutiny of where a university's intake come from. There, I can see a potential benefit in moving from public school to a top class state school at sixth form.

Universities do look at where you took your GCSEs, though, to stop what they see as parents gaming the system and putting their children through up to 12/13 years of private school only to switch at sixth form to make the application look better.

It must vary, because I've spoken to universities on this issue and not one has said that they do this. The ones I have spoken to say they only register the school or college at which a student comes from.

But on the basis of what @doglover90 says I would suggest to go with that. Better safe than sorry.

My daughter has just finished at Marlborough and my son is in the Remove. At every public school you get the flash people but there are those of us who simply work hard and do drop offs in something desirable than the usual Chelsea Tractor! I moved my daughter from Wycombe Abbey there for the sixth form and it was the best decision ever. She thrived there and is now at Cambridge. My son is loving it too. They are certainly changing their focus to look at academics more but they are equally looking simply to get the best out of your child in whatever that may be. I love the school! It may be worth you looking again. As someone said to me when I was looking at these schools originally, choosing a school is a bit like choosing a super car - you’ll always find something you don’t like; it’s what you can live with and what feels right.

Sevenoaks!

My DS might be the same type of OP's as he's very bright but non sporty. Our prep says he's "Classic Wincoll Boy". They've suggested the following as Plan B or backup:

Wellington
Charterhouse
Marlborough
Sherborne

I hope it might help you, and you'd find the right school for your DS.

Genuinely curious about this statement. The A*/A a-level results for Harrow are not as high as Tonbridge, Eton or Brighton College, but with more than 2/3 getting those results are in the neighborhood of a UCS or Merchant Taylor to offer some London day-school comparisons. Is that really "not that academic"? Is there something else you are referring to?

Those pesky girls dragging up averages with their strong academics. Clearly they're only at the school to...[checks notes]... get an education. How dare they ruin things by butting in.

🙄

St Gilbert’s might be worth a look.

Hi could you PM me pls? My DS chose Wincoll over Eton but reading the threads here really scares me… any details about how bad it could be (so that I could prepare) would be much appreciated.