Pastoral at Winchester College

[UKBoardingMum]

Hi,

My DS has an offer to join Winchester at 9+. We quite like the school but couldn’t get a sense of how good the pastoral care is now under the new HM. We see that there was some criticism of pastoral offering on mumsnet few years back, wondering if that has changed ?

Also looking at university destinations, it seems like 20 pupils took a gap year. That seems awfully high to us, would be great if someone has any input about that. Thanks !

I’d say 20 ( so less than 20%?) is pretty low for dc of that demographic. What is it about gap years that worries you? It’s not an indication of YP not getting uni places as many of them will have their places but have deferred.

There are some posters who had family members that had a distressing experience at Winchester, who are pretty vocal on here. In contrast, we’ve had a great experience as have family friends. My sons, not “easy” by any stretch, although I doubt many kids are, have been very supported and cared for genuinely. I can’t fault the pastoral care, but there will always be some where it wasn’t successful.

Would totally agree with alljoyandnofun in that lots of kids now take time out. Especially in the current environment where choosing what to do next is not obvious, unlike in the past where a degree at a University was the clear path. Choosing the non obvious path could be viewed as intellectual confidence not a lack of a pathway?