Malvern College & The Downs

[asdfghasdfgh]

We are thinking of sending our DCs to MC, possibly starting from Year 7 at The Downs. We live abroad, therefore they would be full boarders. We have visited both schools several times and loved what we saw, both in terms of the academics and the vibe. The area and the town also felt amazing. A breath of fresh air (literally) after London, where we are originally from.

It would be really useful to hear from parents with recent experience of boarding at MC/The Downs, especially about pastoral care, safety and relationships.

For reference, we have seen many schools, but MC is one of the very few that clicked.

We have friends at MC - some very happy boarders, some less enthusiastic. It seems to be determined by your peers but that's true for any school. We looked around it and it's a lovely school in an amazing setting. The academic results don't seem very good for the money so we didn't pursue it further. Sports and art looked very good.
The head of the Downs seems really nice and we've played plenty of fixtures against them and the kids seemed a cheery bunch. You need to grill any prep school on how many full time boarders there are.

i grew up in Malvern and knew lots of kids who attended MC and The Downs and even now I still have lots of family there and know of a lot of the local MC kids. It’s a lovely school and the setting is so important. The kids always go on to do really well.

I have a boy in the sixth form at Malvern College. It is an extremely well run institution which turns out well rounded confident kids. Caters well for all abilities academically, elite in cricket and rackets.

I have a son at MC in the sixth form. I went to a different boarding school, one which was famous for rugby, Malvern excels at cricket, rackets and so much more. I sent my son there because the school looked so well run. It hasn’t disappointed. the school drives people to step outside their comfort zone to be the best version of themselves. He has emerged so confident and driven, it’s amazing. It appears superbly well run school and the Downs prep school is first class. At MC, around 80% of the kids board full-time - that is becoming rare and should be a pre-requisite for anyone who sends their child to a boarding school.

This is very helpful. It is interesting to see that MC decided to relocate The Downs to its own site. Presumably, it was a matter of either moving to cut costs or closing it down. I hope it works out well and the expanded site is delivered on time in 2027.