Harrow/Eton/Radley/Winchester Entry 2028

[MrsHLQ]

Starting a thread for all those parents whose sons are currently in Year 6 and who are hoping to join one of these 4 schools in 2028

As the first stage of their assessment process, the boys are sitting ISEB exams this month

Here we can discuss anything and everything to do with the entire application and assessment process over the next 6 or so months or so. By which time we should all know if we have offers, rejections or have been waitlisted

Good luck to all the boys sitting ISEB exams!

@Themockingbirdsings I am very sorry for your loss , I have no idea what happened to any of these children , unless we know the full details why these parents are against Winchester college ! We will never know and continue to send our boys there and have to find out for ourselves . It’s all well and good saying not to send our boys but you know , we need a valid reason . It would be helpful to know the facts so what ever happened does not happen again .

Omg what a kind souls! , may your son spirits rest in peace, and you and your family fine a true peace within to fill the emptiness.
am deeply sorry for your lost , i can’t believe you are so pure hart and even gave your bias opinion on here . I really pray God totally heal you of any pain.

Referring to “you all” and describing schools that offer 100% bursaries as simply “businesses” feels rather tone deaf and creates an unnecessary them-and-us narrative, which won't be helpful for your own integration into the school community as a parent. 100% bursaries are, by their very nature, philanthropic. I wouldn't be surprised if you also supported VAT on school fees if they are, as you suggest, simply businesses. It wouldn't hurt to have some humility and dignity about the wonderful opportunity your DS has been afforded.

Jealously? Hardly. We’re very fortunate that we are not bursary candidates, but that's not really the point.
Given what another poster shared about losing their son, the tone of your replies further down the thread rather speak for themselves. We have been very involved in the admissons process for these schools, a year ahead of you. Thank goodness you have chosen a different route.

So very sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing something so personal. I can’t imagine how difficult that must have been to write. Wishing you strength.

Has anyone received the results from Harrow?

Received bursaries application form

I just wanted to check what this means.
Is this related to the outcome (offer, waiting list, or rejection), or is it simply confirming receipt of the application?

@Woolala what did you get ?? Am guessing mine is clearly related to the outcome not just acknowledgement, besides a freind unfortunately got rejected Just now

Just got our Harrow offer. Wishing everyone the news they desire today x

@Woolala yes we have received a positive, I wish Winchester would get a move on 🥴

Received a positive as well from Harrow. Good luck to everyone still waiting.

Everyone we know who applied got an offer from Harrow.

@MrsHLQ where are you hoping for ?

It is interesting that there have been so many offers - didn’t someone say the same about Radley upthread?

Do we think applications are down?

I'm not surprised at all. They seem increasingly to be offering to many more DS, given the high number of recently rejected offers.

I think single sex, full boarding is going out of fashion for many Brits due to very high cost

Plus there are so many excellent day and weekly boarding schools (where kids go home for 24+ hours every weekend)

high demand from overseas for “traditional British” education plugs the gap

but I wouldn’t be surprised if applications from British kids were well down but overall applications up due to massive foreign contingent

eton widely considered the best and academic cut off is brutal so they can choose the cream of the crop

the other three boys only boarding schools (Radley, Harrow, Sherbourne) fight over the remainder alongside Winchester which is moving towards co-Ed.

that would lead me to conclude that virtually all British kids would get an offer from the above schools (except Eton) as they desperately try and retain white British prep school kids

because they don’t want the cohort to be 100% foreign and I am sure they could be given the volume and caliber of foreign candidates

@MrsHLQ i know boys that didn’t even get and interview to Harrow but was excepted to Radley and another boy didn’t get interview at Winchester but got Eton ! And another poor boy that did not get any interviews at all !!!

@MrsHLQ why “white British prep school kids” and not just “British prep school kids”? I thought the concern voiced on some of the threads about Harrow was about the large proportion of non-British kids not the large proportion of non-white kids.

@MrsHLQ do you think the full boarding model survives long term? Will Rugby, Oundle and Radley still be full boarding in a decade?
(And incidentally which weeklies do you think have really picked up families that used to go full boarding?)

It has been so interesting to watch the London day school scene evolve - massive reduction in 13+ entry, shift towards co ed etc. I wonder what will happen to boarding long term.

Interesting!

the schools know what they are doing, but it is sometimes hard for us outsiders to fathom!

I think there a lot of pressure to be co-ed and flexi boarding.

you can see this in all the mergers or expansions to accept girls, even at Prep level.

off the top of my head…Charterhouse, Winchester, Abingdon, Cothill, Westminster, Bruern Abbey, Magdalene College School

That’s just in the last couple of years….doubtless there’s loads more.

so the remaining boys only schools must be coming under pressure to make changes but also they increasingly have a niche

the question is can demand for that niche sustain against the pressure to change?

after all they need pupils and income and by keeping their customer base narrow, they face greater risk

I can’t see Eton ever changing. It will be boys only and majority British until kingdom come

harrow has already changed a lot with massive amounts foreign pupils and building a global brand

Radley is perhaps most similar to sherboune boys …not a global name but just trying to continue to carve a niche as the last bastion of traditional British boys only boarding. Probably why it is so popular at the moment

Sherbourne doesn’t need to change as they have a separate girls school already

From our own experience of Radley admissions, and from discussions we’ve had around the process, the picture seems a bit different.

Radley has been heavily oversubscribed for a number of years and that appears, if anything, to be even more the case currently despite the broader challenging environment.

Part of this is likely the school’s traditional UK home bias (although there are of course international boys). It’s also simply a smaller school than places like Harrow, Eton or Winchester and is capped by regulators at around 770 boys, so capacity will remain relatively tight.

From our discussions and from speaking with current parents we know there, they continue to attract a large number of very bright UK boys who are strong academically but whose lives aren’t centred solely around academics: boys who are also serious sportsmen and often very involved in music, drama, DT or other pursuits. Harrow has a similar approach but now has to rely heavily on the vast international co hort of pupils it attracts.