Marlborough vs Wellington college

[Smod]

Hello,

I’d love to hear from parents of children at either Marlborough College or Wellington College please. What is the general “type” of student who attends either school?

Both my two are bright, confident and kind. My DD gives everything a go, generally has a positive attitude and high enthusiasm. My boy is more reserved, hates to get in trouble and is young for his year group… in year 7 and still loves to play tag.

neither are sporting athletes in the A team (usually B) but both play a variety of sport although not ones “typical” of their sex. Daughter is into rugby, football and waterpolo (dislikes netball, hasn’t played hockey as not offered) and son loves tennis with a bit of a rugby. Both have friends but don’t chase popularity, preferring to be with people who make them feel good about themselves. As long as they have friends they are happy. So I’d love to know the types these two schools attract to decide which would suit them better.

thank you so much.

The issue with Marlborough is that it's likely already full for your son's year as they do the admissions for Year 9 in Year 6 and offer places plus waitlist- or do you mean you already have places at both these schools and are just trying to decide between them?

The other thing to be aware of is that Marlborough is one of the few genuine "full boarding" schools left- i.e. the children only go home for exeats and holidays. They must stay in all other weekends other than one personal exeat per year, no exceptions. Wellington on the other hand is close to weekly boarding- clears out at weekends other than the international students. You'd need to decide which arrangement would suit your family better.

Finally, as the parent of a rugby playing daughter, it's unlikely that either will have girls teams that play at a serious level- might be half a term of touch or something. You therefore would need to have a convo with the school in advance about whether they will facilitate her playing for a local club- the good thing is rugby matches tend to be Sundays so don't clash with school matches, which are typically non-negotiable. However, because Marlborough is a full boarding school this is likely to be very difficult, as they'd be overriding the full boarding rules . Wellington possibly more accommodating. DD's school will allow her to come out for mid week training and Sunday matches providing it's not a closed Sunday (2 per term - all boarders must stay in) but I have to do all the ferrying and she has to catch up anything she misses (evening prep etc)

@LaPalmaLlama thank you so much. I hadn’t considered the impact on rugby for my daughter. That’s a very fair point and one I will enquire about. It’s her favourite sport so I would want her to continue to play it if she wished to.

It sounds like you could cast the net wider, @Smod , since the full/weekly boarding difference between these two means you effectively have a choice of one once you work out which approach to boarding is right for your DC. It'll be harder to find schools that are genuinely full boarding.
I can't help much on these two, except to repeat advice our prep school head gave us about Marlborough when we asked for our DS, namely that the girls there are such a force to be reckoned with that boys who are young for their age or not full on Alpha types might be rather steam-rollered by them.
How important is co-ed for you?

Marlborough is full boarding but you can also take 2 'privs' a term when your child can go home after sport on a Saturday and return for prep on a Sunday evening.

They will also allow Sunday sport if your DC plays for an external team - you may need to facilitate their travel though.