Help! Boarding school drama!

[drinkteaandrelax]

My DD is 15, looking for a full boarding school to spend her sixth form at. She is very academic and thrives in a hard-working environment. A school that is pushy, but also has many societies, co-curriculars and fun weekend activities is a must. We are definitely looking for bursaries and scholarships.

I have been looking with my DD for a week or so, and the four we have cut our list down to is:

Christ's Hospital
Marlborough College
Rugby School
St Edwards Oxford

Which one do you think she would suit best? And what knowledge have you gathered about them all?
The other full boarding schools haven't really appealed to us, but we are still open to ideas. Any information about boarding life at these schools would be much appreciated.

I only have limited second-hand knowledge but as I was reading your post and before I got to your shortlist, the two thoughts in my mind were that St Edwards Oxford and Christs Hospital sound like the best match from what I know.

I think I there a lot of weekly boarders at St E and a lot Dom London so I expect a lot of pupils go home at weekends.
But this is the case more and more at all Boarding Schools.

From not Dom!

Christ’s Hospital all the way.

If you need the scholarship/ bursary, I would apply to all of them tbh.

@BangingOn what do you know about CH? I'd love to know!

@KihoBebiluPute do you know anything about either of them? I'd really appreciate if you shared any details on what you've heard!

Most people don’t go to St Edwards because its pushy. It’s not really that sort of school. Not sure CHS is either. Scholarships might not be worth much in £££ but bursaries are different. You need to check the criteria at all of them. Your request feels very demanding!

Misleading title, it’s hardly a drama is it?

@MissyB1

Misleading title, it’s hardly a drama is it?

Expecting a huge spat over tuck? Me too.

None of those are really at the cutting edge of academia.

If you want 'pushy' (!) maybe look at Wycombe Abbey. Westminster?

She could be in the first wave of girls at Winchester- sounds like that might suit.

@TheQueef or at the very least a pillow fight that descended into a full blown punch up! 😂

@drinkteaandrelax I know a lot about CH, but not a huge amount about the others, so it’s not a balanced view . In my opinion, it’s an exceptional school with excellent academics, sporting and extra curricular. The fact that the majority of pupils aren’t paying full fees is a great leveller and would remove any worry about not having the same financial means as families at the other schools.

Have you checked to see whether you would meet their financial requirements?

Is she y10 or y11? I hope y10 otherwise you will probably have missed the application dates.
I wouldn't say any of your shortlist is a pushy academic school. Would she go to a girls only school?

No. The op said no girls schools. I posted that this decision cuts out a lot of academic schools, and their money!

@drinkteaandrelax I don't really know a huge amount about either of them. In both cases (as well as for various other boarding schools) I have very-out-of-date knowledge of the experiences of friends who went there from among my university friends but I also have more recent knowledge from more recently as my work (when there isn't a pandemic on) involves selling specialist products and services for a niche market that includes the private school sector, so I regularly visit lots of schools and have meetings with admin and management staff and I get a general impression of the ambience and ethos of each school, but I don't have any recent knowledge from the point of view of a parent or student. Sorry not to be more helpful I can only contribute my "gut feel" really rather than hard evidence.

@BangingOn My DD and I are looking into the requirements for the bursary business! What is boarding at CH like? Is it full of activities and societies and weekend opportunities?!

@PresentingPercy Is ST Edwards really pushy? I've heard mixed opinions on how they teach kids there. Its very appealing to my DD, but I need to know if they really challenge their students- and if its significantly harder than a regular state sixth form.

@reefedsail I am interested in looking at Winchester, though I assume there won't be that many girls?

I don’t understand why you want a pushy school but have mostly chosen ones that don’t have that reputation. St Edwards is fine but there are more academic day schools in the area. If you want all the trimmings and money from a school, it’s often best to apply to the less prestigious ones. Your DD will be competing for the money. Most decent schools will get very good results from their pupils and can certainly teach bright pupils. I’ve never felt St Edwards was the most pushy/academic school in Oxford but it does have broad appeal. We looked there for 6th form for DD a few years back.

It depends what you mean by regular state 6th form. Just over the county border in Buckinghamshire you have grammar schools. The Royal Latin School at Buckingham is free. They get very good results as you might expect. Magdalene College (Private) in Oxford admits girls into the 6th form I believe. However these are day schools.

I don’t know how subjects are taught at St Edwards. The same as most other schools one would think. What subjects does your DD want? I do know DC who went to Rugby and enjoyed it. One was a very good mathematician. I don’t think he under achieved!

I have just compared St Edwards A level results with RL Grammar school, Buckingham. St Edwards are better. So for most people, academic enough. You could ask about results in the individual subjects.

I should think Winchester will have as many girls as it is prepared to offer places to.

I'm still unclear why you keep saying academic standard and challenge is paramount, then listing not particularly academic schools?

Your schools are all B+ at best for VIth form.

B+ schools are absolutely fine. Often nice, well-rounded, unpushy schools. My own DS will go to one and I have not doubt he will thrive socially and reach his academic potential.

However, academic powerhouses B/B+ schools are not.

@reefedsail that's a useful chart. Where is it from please?

If you want weekend activities then look at a 100% full boarding school like Uppingham. Any other flexi boarding options mean that the boarders go bone on Saturday afternoon.

On the other hand, my DD was a full boarder and got studied very hard at the weekends as there was nothing else to do.