Winchester schools

[doorsopen]

Does anybody have an idea of the current ratio of 12/13ys applicants to number of places at Winchest College. Also is a cheque book the main requirement for Pilgrims Sch or is there also a complusory brain search?

Pilgrims are selective at intake (and do they take boarders only? not sure).

Winchester College is VERY selective, you have to apply to a college (house) within the college, and not to the school as a whole. A friend of mine just did not get her very bright son into Winchester College. Another friend has her son there, but if he slacks for a few weeks they get a threatening letter home that he'll be sent away. Very hardcore academic selective place!

You can find lots of info on the schools' websites.

For us they are out of our league, financially and academically....sadly

I dont think Pilgrims is only boarding.
Winchester College is VERY selective and as far as I understand there are about 30 applicants for 12 places in each boarding house. Children are interviewed in year 6 and offered provisional places and then have to sit their entrance test in year 8. It is much harder than CE and from my experience your child needs to be in a school where they are familiar with its format and ideally have more than 1 - 2 children sitting it, preferably seperate classes from those doing CE; the maths, Latin and French are much harder than CE I was told similar to Harrow Scholarship although I dont know if this is really true as I've never seen a Harrow scolarship paper. Pilgrims is obviously the place or I believe Horris Hill.
On a positive note they do offer generous bursaries.

W college very tough - papers are at GCSE level apparently. Looking for quirky independent learners. Lots of feeder schools not just Pilgrims. Pilgrims day and boarding although a lot board in yr 7/8. It is also pretty academic and they work them hard once they are there. Twyford also worth considering as feeder for Winchester College.

Thank you all for your feedbacks. My experience years ago when my oldest son sat for KCS Wimbledon Junior School was 380 boys for 80 places (4 x 20 intake forms). Nowadays its arouind 1000 boys for 80 places. London catchment area I suppose. Winchester doesnt seem bad at around 3 to 1! Must be the economic times pricing out most.

I think the housemasters at Winchester, who do the interviews and offer the provisional places, close their lists when they've got about 30 boys registered with them probably because they interview all who register and interview take a couple of hours.

Chandon - is that really true about if a boy starts slacking they send a letter home? I mean a boy can't always be on top form can he? That sounds ever so unreasonable. I am interested to know where you get your info from as I was hoping to consider the school for my sons

what would they do if a boy slacked academically? it wouldn't be in their best interests (financially speaking) to chuck him out

Very selective boarding schools often only have a 3:1 ratio. Harrow has more because it is less academically selective so more boys apply.

Pilgrims has quite a rigorous academic entry process but Twyford is less selective.

If your son is older than Y5 then the Housemaster lists will be closed.

I'm not sure the house masters lists are necessarily closed if your son is in year 5. I registered my son before year 5 but another boy at his school registered in yr 5. I think it depends which house you register with, some are more popular than others (thats a seperate issue). There is a very helpful lady in admissions who can advise you.

Hope this helps! My son has done his first term at Winchester College. Academically, we are so impressed with WC and the housemaster approach, support for settling my DS . I am hoping WC will take my youngest son in 2014!. Winchester College is not for the light hearted, many very intellectual and naturally bright boys, which come from abroad. Music is excellent. There is roughly about 2 and half hours off Toy Time (Prep), every night. We I think IGCSE is the way forward and Cambridge Pre U. Over all my son is very happy and hopefully he will go onto Harvard from here. Winchester Scholarship, majority off these papers are written by the master of WC and these boarder line beyond AS papers, preparation is a minimum of 2/3 years. My youngest son personnel tutor (old Etonian - Scholar) mentioned that you should reach 90% on common entrance by the time your son is eleven,(2/3 years before entrance) before even preparing for scholarship.

A thread entitled "Winchester Schools" that does not seem to be about Westgate, Kings or Peter Symonds
by golly Mumsnet is not of the real world

the VAST majority of Winchester residents send their kids to the unbelievably good state schools (a busload of Oxbridge entrants per year from PS)

only on MN would they be not under discussion

Ahem. It is complete tosh to say that the entrance papers are "borderline AS". Tricky, yes, traditional, yes - but definitely not AS. Homework is 2 hours a night. Entrance is as much a face-fitting exercise as it is an academic one.

Parents are (of course) kept informed if their son is under-performing. Effort and achievement grades are issued at least once every term, with exams at the end of term, too. When a boy continues to struggle, or looks to be on course for IGCSE grades too poor to make Pre-U a realistic option, the parents are encouraged to look elsewhere for his VIth form education, as that is likely to be in the boy's best interests.

Talkinpeace is talkinsense.

Oh, blardy hell. Old thread bounced to boast. Great. Sorry for bouncing further.

Old thread : Silly me - did not realise!

I have gym friends with kids at Winchester, Twyford, St Swithuns, HCS, KES, Bryanston, Port Regis, Stroud, Norman Court etc
BUT
the thing that links them is husbands who work STUPID hours and are likely to relocate
those of us who are settled round here and are rich enough to live in the winchester catchments (I do for 6th form yippee) pay for it through our taxes

the rest of us have to settle for the FAB schools in southern Hampshire (bar a couple that those in the know avoid)
BLISS is not living a grammar area or in London

I am so with you. Other than the reason you gave for going private down here, the only reason is Social - regardless of any other guff given. As you say, the state schools are great and attract most locals from every background.

You do not have to be "Rude " using the word Tosh! Everybody has a right to there opinion and views!!! Lemonsole!!

You certainly have a right to an opinion, Angelscakes: mine just happens to be based on fact... My choice of "tosh" is pretty appropriate here, in fact. They are not AS level papers, or even close.

(btw - it's "their", not "there" in this context. HTH.)

Mine is also fact!! I have reported you!

Blimey. Why? Have you ever written a Winchester entrance paper?

Could you point out where I have been rude, please?

Please not contact me again! I have reported you twice.

Oh sorry, Please do not contact me again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to state here that I have not contacted you. Posting a correction to what you have posted on a public forum does not constitute contacting you. If I had wanted to do that, I would have used the "Message Poster" option, which I have not used.

I don't know anyone who sends their kids to Win Coll for social reasons. In fact I'd say it was for the exact opposite and why they avoid a number of other similar schools. My son started off at the top performing village state school in Hampshire and it was poor in every way compared to the no-frills prep school I moved him too. There are plenty people in Winchester/Hampshire that do not rate the state schools!

Lemonsole perhaps you would care to expand on how you know so much about Win Coll entrance papers? My DS also started this term having successfully sat their entrance exams. The opinions of teachers in both the state sector and independent sector and with no axe to grind is that 1 part of the Latin paper was AS level, parts of the maths harder than GCSE level and the French written was GCSE level but the oral harder. Angelscakes42 was in fact referring to the scholarship paper. My SIL DS was in the scholarship stream at his very successful but pushy London Prep and and they were told that the Win Coll scholarship (he wasn't doing it) is 1. the hardest in the country and 2 nearly A level standard.
Secondly you are entitled to you opinions but I and I think many are becoming increasingly tired of a handful who are clearly anti independent ed. or at least anti independent ed when it comes to the big names ranting on. Are you really so arrogant to assume that your rantings are going to change the views of the original OP?
TalkinPeace2 I'm afraid your claims for the academic success of PS don't stand up to careful scrutiny. Yes a bus load go but on their web site they state that they have 2832 full time 16 -18 yrs old, 97% doing AS/A levels assuming an equal 50:50 split then approximately only 4% go onto Oxbridge that is hardly something to crow about, rather it is something to keep rather quiet (I haven't added in another 1000+ part timers to my figures so in fact it could be lower than 4%.)

Finally I very much doubt Angelcake42 "bounced to boast" Colleger is correct few "send their kids to Win Coll for social reasons."