Oundle VS Radley

[Sweetfactory]

Hi mums
Please share your honest views of these 2 schools. we have got an offer from them. Different as boys and co-ed, location as oxford and mid lands.
How is the result to oxbridges and pastoral care? and recent reputation?

DS not sporty but B team in rugby.
Piano and choir, quite smart but not genius, only child, so he is quite softy. We live abroad, foreigner.

Please share with anything that you think, as we have a very limited infos.
Much appreciate it.

Both Oundle and Radley are major public full boarding schools. They are large. Best suited to children who will throw themselves in to all aspects as these are not specialist academic schools. Yes they will get some to Oxbridge each year but no more than many other schools.

for a soft child from overseas who is more interested in music and academia, I can’t help thinking that schools like Radley and Oundle are not the best places. Yes they will survive and get through without any problems but nerdy, quiet boys who don’t have English as a first language will struggle to fully thrive unless they embrace all that makes these schools what they are.
somewhere like Winchester sounds more suitable as they have less emphasis on sports and the outdoors life!

other than being single sex Radley and mixed Oundle, the schools operate at a very similar level. Neither allow pupils out at weekends except for compulsory exeats.
maybe choose the school with the best transport links?

have you got any offers from less robust kinds of schools? More academic focused ones? Maybe closer to London.
Generally the further from London you go, the more sports focussed schools become!

Thank you so much.
DS's first languge is English, good in french Latin too. So languge is not a problem.
And he couldn't make it to Eton, winchester, Tonbridge. I think he wasn't well prepared for ISEB in year6. As we are abroad, we can not apply to St.Paul, Westminster. (Parents must be in UK )

As of now, 2025 entry we have only options on 2schools so. For nerdy foreigner which school would be the better one?

Both schools are very similar. Radley more traditional British boarding being all boys. Oundle if you want mixed girls and boys.
they are very similar schools except for this (and location).

what did you feel when you visited them both? Have a better vibe with one over the other? That’s really all you can go on.

Radley looks so organized with fancy look campus, Def Posh feeling school. Not sure they have many int. Pupils.
Oundle academic, but we worried abt food quality, and house is old and cold.. Many Kids go to Tesco buying sandwiches in the morning. It looks really poor than Rugny Radley Harrow brighton.

My son has a place at Radley for Y9...I think it's a lovely school which is well known for its fantastic pastoral care. Yes they do a lot of sport, but so do all of the big name boarding schools. They can give up rugby after their first year, and I love that they offer rowing. It's a great sport for non-sporty kids, I know several non-sporty children who have thrived at rowing. They also have plenty of music, drama, some of the art is fantastic.

I don't know Oundle, but I would consider the location of each if you're undecided...how close is each school to you or if you're abroad, to an international airport? Also another plus with Radley if you are based abroad, as it's full boarding, it doesn't empty out every weekend.

I believe Radley has a smaller international intake than other schools, from memory it's closer to 10% rather than the 20% of many boarding schools, but do check my figures!

Thank you! Yes as int. Family location is important. And pastoral.care house facility food etc quality Radley is better.
Academic wise Oundle is a bit more strong. Have you heared that how many kids have gone to Oxbridges last year? I can not find in website. If you know please share with me.

Sorry but why are you so focused on Oxbridge? From your description of your son he does not sound like natural Oxbridge material. I am not saying he won’t be a possible oxbridge candidate come the time but you seem to have quite a narrow focus.

I think your focus is wrong too. You need to find a nurturing school that will suit a 'nerdy' boy. If he doesn't fit in, he will be miserable and that will have an effect on whether he will be able to thrive academically. Maybe you need to use a school consultant.

In UK, most of the school says Russel group and oxbridge is top tier university which as i agree too. If My DS goes to oxbridge would be good it is not a must as we are not sure yet what he wants to do in his future. For finding good academic school, most of UK Bordong explain with nimber of oxbridges. I think the way theu uased to sell the point of academic was showing that one of the matter was number of oxbridges. The idea came from many bording school or education or bording consultant. So don't get me wrong. Thanks

Hi thanks for the suggestion.
We have done for our applications, so at this point i have to finalize and see the different views of schools in those 2. It is the one of the matters that academica which is very important, if school push alot for good uni, or more like relaxed school and etc. Also what is the character of the school, more sporty or academic or art and music...So i am checking one by one for everything that pastoral care , sports, academics.

One thing I would consider is that Oundle is more full boarding than Radley, which has floating exeat weekends. I have also heard that Oundle does tend to put all the international students in the same house, which you may or may not like the idea of!

Oh thats first time to hearing. If only int sharong together, i need to check with schools. Thanks for sharing!

Have you considered Fettes or Loretto in Edinburgh? Both seem to have a balance of academics versus sport. Probably more international at Fettes but I don’t know the numbers.

My children aren't in the system (any more all grown) but we are local to Oundle. There is a very strong local music offering and the school does get involved. Of the two you mention I'd say Oundle is more likely to celebrate his musical skills.

This is incorrect. They do not group all internationals in one house. Every house has broadly an even number of internationals. Usually around 20% or so. Just like they try and spread different skills evenly around all houses. So in each house year group there I’ll be around 4 from overseas and 1 or 2 musicals, 1 or 2 academics, 1 or 2 sporty types and so on to make around 12 per year group for boys’ houses.

From what I've heard Oundle is more academic than Radley. but Oundle also sporty and aims to produce a 'rounded' individual. I don't know Radley so well but it sounds more traditional.

I have DC at Radley and know lots of people with DC at Oundle. I’d agree with the PP that there are similarities in ethos. Re results, you are probably better off looking at GCSE and A level league tables but remember these need to be understood in a context of how selective a school is at the beginning - I’d guess these two schools are similar - and also on light of the fact that Oundle can (and does) manage out under performing pupils at sixth form, which Radley doesn’t.
In terms of full boarding, they are both full boarding schools. Oundle has relatively few exeats that are fixed. Radley has fixed exeats but boys can also take an extra privi/weekend a term.
In terms of pastoral care the choice of house and house master will be very important at both schools, but I have known quieter types do well at both.