what should i do my son has been rejected by westminster, shrewsbury, marlborough, winchester and st pauls

[PerkyExpert]

hi guys i am really in a sticky situation at the moment, we thought our son was bright enough for these schools but clearly not so. Any ideas what i should do?

Or wait a bit until everyone starts forgoing their independent offers and loading into the state system and you might get quite a few to pick from.

Considering they took Nigel Farage and my BIL, Dulwich College might be worth a stab. Is he a terrible dunce?

It must be very worrying for you.

Agree with PP that you really need to understand the reasons behind the issue to ensure that you get the right school for your son.

Emanuel might be an alternative for you.

Bradfield, done wonders for a relative with dyslexia, they had really good gcse results.

There are lots of excellent schools still that are going to suit him better. His current school should be able to help you . You can narrow down a bit by thinking of where in the country will be most convenient for family, airport and / or guardian. You do need some help though in working out which type of school he should be aiming for.Your list is odd on several fronts ; there are three highly academic schools and two that have a wider intake. Two are full boarding and the others are not really. They are geographically diverse and are not all mixed sex. I assume your son is still young. Think about what is important to you and discuss with his school or a consultant if you don't have access to that expertise how to find a good fit.

Rejection is one of life's lessons.
Lower your expectations

Hmm. I would suggest Sherborne but it's more academic than Shrewsbury and possibly Marlborough.

If you want full boarding and have pots of money and he's arty then Bryanston?

Face up to reality

Be more realistic about his capabilities?

Or Mallory Towers?

Knickers. I was also going to say try Hogwarts and I have been beaten to it.

I think the only other way to go is to Home Educate.

Put him in a dress & try Roedean.

OP, you need to ask Shrewsbury for feedback as it's not that academic and then take advice from there. Perhaps Bedes?

Royal Russel - in the early 00's and teens, it was where all the children near me (South East London) who were rich but not that academically gifted went. The academically gifted went to Tonbridge and Sevenoaks.

Stop trying some of the better schools (honestly, the Poster who suggested Tonbridge School is just being cruel) and accept he is not bright enough for a selective private where academics matter. You pushing this is just going to leave him feeling stupid - which is going to harm his confidence.

You need to find a private school that is willing to accept less academically gifted students.

Yes that’s where I’d start op.

You are fortunate in one sense which is that I suspect there will be a larger declining of offers when the time comes for the big deposits commitment simply because the vat issue will be a camel-back straw for many. But to be well placed for that opportunity, you need to know exactly what you are dealing with in terms of right fit. It isn’t just about securing an offer at all costs; this is about finding the right school for your son. It sounds DS to me as though your currrbt school has not given good support with that

It will be easy for Westminster and Winchester to just say well we have a very high academic standard, and they’d be right. In terms of cats scores they aim for boys in the top 2 percent nationally. But Shrewsbury should have more scope to provide feedback on a rounder profile assessment so you can understand just where things didn’t clear the bar.

If I had the money to educate privately, I'd choose a smaller nurturing school over one of the big public schools.
I know that there is a much greater chance of networking at high levels later on if you go to one of the big public schools, but one of my siblings went to one and their life path has been no different to what you'd expect if they'd worked fairly hard at a decent comp.

this thread is an absolute education in “the other half”; what on earth is wrong with the good state schools near you? Do you feel you are better than that?

You do need a school with less stringent entry requirments, OP. There are loads, some very good, you just need to research.
That said, I was in our local village primary a few years ago while some of the pupils were sitting the entrance exam for our nearby public school (reasonably solid but not outstanding.) I could see several kids' answers on the exam paper and was struck by how many of them were just plain wrong.

Also surprised to hear they were all accepted into the school. Bums on seats, innit?

surely it’s about the right school for your DS rather than treating him like a dunce. What kind of a person is he? what does he enjoy? what kind of school will play to his strengths?

St Cake’s?

Why does anyone choose private education?

The private school my dd went to was just loads better educationally than our local state. We had no choice of state school. She's done considerably better academically than some of her peers from primary who were miles ahead of her in year 6. That's a generalisation, but it's true enough to make us glad that we did it. She also did loads of sport and spent formative years in an environment where it was cool to do well and supportive when she floundered. You may have a state that provided all that but we did not.

Try Stowe

I don’t know if you’ve noticed - and tbf it’s easy to miss given the govt are hell bent on attacking the private system that eases pressure on the state system- but it’s struggling to cope.

@PerkyExpert

What are his strengths and interests, OP? Play to those strengths when looking at schools.

Would you have a preference for a particular region, if there were a choice of schools?

Hire a schools consultant