wycombe Abbey or cheltenham ladies college

[Popmart]

Hi everyone,
My daughter got 13+ offers from both schools and we are experiencing some difficulty in choosing one. It would help us if you or your daughter could share their experience in either school.
Thank you.

My DD was at CLC. Loved it. Fab school. PM me with your specific questions

I have daughters at WA and family friends with daughters at CLC. Both are brilliant schools. Your choice would depend on what you’re looking for, though I wouldn’t overthink this too much. You can’t go wrong with either of these schools.

WA is definitely stronger academically. It’s a very competitive school (in a positive way—the girls support each other and thrive on the competition).

CLC is more traditional and perhaps less cut-throat in its attitude to everything. It still delivers great results, though.

CLC is definitely full boarding. I believe there are a couple of short leaves each term, but other than that, your daughter will only go home for half-terms. At WA, though technically full boarding, a significant number of girls in the lower years go home after fixtures on Saturday afternoon and return for evensong on Sunday evening. How many stay in depends on the year group and what’s going on that weekend. Some weekends 15% stay in, some weekends 80%.

I went to CLC about a hundred years ago so can't really offer any up to date info(!) but just wanted to point out that the boarding has now changed and is far more flexible regarding leaving at weekend etc. Have a few friends who daughters went/ are there and they mentioned it so just checked on their website where they confirm it.

@whereisthesunplease Thanks for the updated information. My impression still is that going home during a weekend at CLC is very much the exception - something you email the school to organise - while going home Saturday to Sunday is quite common at WA. Though, as I said, even WA never empties out over the weekend.

i have a daughter at WA who loves it. One consideration for her when looking at schools is that WA is contained on one site whereas CLC is across a few sites. She likes the feeling of being on a single site school. She also likes the ability to come home at the weekend (although largely just to see the dog and sleep!)

Good point re grounds. We looked at both CLC and WA for my eldest daughter and opted for WA partly because of the academic excellence but also partly because of the brilliant grounds. It may be in an urban area but feels like the countryside as soon as you’re through the gates.

Friends of mine chose CLC over WA because at a sport tournament including sides from state schools, the WA girls were overheard making quite condescending comments about the state school teams kit, whereas the CLC girls were cheering a team from a relatively local state school because they were giving it all they had. The friend said that it's things like that which distinguish school values and attitudes.

I’m sure you will be glad to hear that this does not reflect our experiences with WA. The school regularly holds events with local state schools, and the girls have greatly enjoyed this. The girls at WA are generally very down-to-earth. It aligns with the ethos of the school, which dates back to Dame Frances Dove.

As the most selective girls’ boarding school in the country, sadly, many people have an interest in perhaps spreading less-than-true stories about it. While I in no way question your friend’s story, all I can say is that I have never heard any WA girls express such opinions.

It is always interesting to see questions like these on mumsnet. Not trying to be controversial here, but would any parent decide on a school based on a bundle of comments online. Granted, all comments are fair and reflective of various people's real experiences. We are talking about two prestigious schools with almost similar academic results. Your girl would definitely get into a good university in the end and have good training in academics and personal development. Both full boarding (kinda, at least during the week), single sex, long history and tradition. And yet there are many differences. Besides the points noted earlier, you can add for example that CLC has dining in House, whereas WA centralised dining; CLC offers IB, WA doesn't; CLC student body is slightly larger. Would any one single comment tilt the decision either way?

But the OP hasn't responded for 10 days nor indicated what his/her daughter's character is like. Clearly the deadline is coming up soon in March. Wouldn't the headmaster for example at the current school provide good advice on the final choice? Also if I remember correctly the CLC application (at least the 11+ one) asks which other schools you are applying for and where CLC ranks in your choices. Even with all the information one has (pros/cons), you have to make a gut decision on this. And one must have an internal ranking on this. I know we had. But we know that there is always a 20% chance that it won't work out. I know kids who left WA after 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years. I also know kids who left CLC because the parents had some disagreements on boarding house arrangements in the 6th form. And then you have most girls happy (or survived) the 5/7 years at both institutions.

Anyway maybe rambling a bit.