Winchester College

[Doolittle1]

Hello

Does anybody have any insight please into which houses are good. I am especially interested in the housemasters / if they are staying or going and facilities in the houses.

Many thanks.

I am very surprised however that Winchester has treated your son this way. This is not what they promote or share with parents

Parents are under the impression that each is boy is told to do 2hours of homework a day

@Jenny12345 All boys are doing 2 hours prep a day in prep time, it is compulsory. Some boys are even doing more work in their spare time. Also there are many other activities to get involve. Dons (teachers) have a lot of times for boys who are motivated in subjects with out having to be good at it but they need to let dons know what they don’t understand.

Boys who are not doing well are not all about whether they are doing prep or not. I think many boys who are not doing well at Winchester found it is difficult to motivate themselves to attend other social or school activities, participate in house competitions or doing their independent extra reading for class discussion. They might feel lacking of confidence when they feel that they are no longer at the top of the class or in top set any longer. This problems could also happens at all academic boarding schools but for days school, parents could help those son more but the whole point of boarding schools are to help kids becoming more independent as a self starter which will help them a lot in the future

Does anyone know if Winchester boys can go home (with individual parental consent, of course) between Saturday noon and Sunday evenings?

@Next11

Apart from exeats ( twice a term), boys can go home once a term after sport on Saturday ( of any chosen week) . However I know some boys who went home more than that but parents have to give a good reasons to get a permission.

Boys have a lot of freedom on Sunday after church so you can also take them out for lunch and dinner ( they have to be back by 9 pm).

Just following up and if anybody has any insight into the interview process I would be grateful. Is the Maths Assessment written or verbal and what type of questions are asked? Are the questions abstract? Thank you so much.

My DS said he was asked to do some.maths ( which he found very easy), he was asked to read a passage which he and the housemaster discussed. He was also shown an object connected with a past pupil from Winchester and he talked to the housemaster about it. They also had a general chat about hobbies, favorite subjects, world events etc.

He found it all very relaxed. This was a few years ago now , before Winchester introduced the ISEB test ( he did sit it that year for other schools ).
He started at Winchester but left in the 1st year, the interview and test might be completely different now.

I would also love any help with the interview process. I’m asking for a friend whose son has an interview and she has limited English. Any help appreciate Kate’s as I also can’t help and don’t know the system.

Appreciated! kate’s ???

The interview is fairly relaxed

The maths was much easier than other schools

They talked about various things from paintings to being asked which direction would you swim to get to Seychelles and how long do you think the journey would take

I think the interview was quiete pacy but our son came out happy.

He was offered a space but we decided to go with a another school.

Thank you!

Sorry it seems that I missed this reply! What happens if a boy wants to go to town on Sunday (e.g. since WinColl doesn't offer mandarin as anymore, it might make sense for some to learn mandarin at the Winchester School of Culture on Sundays 9am-12.30pm instead) could he attend evensong on Tuesdays in place of the 9.45 Sunday morning chapel?

Ok so there is no Winchester School of Culture in Winchester, UK 😜but the question still stands. Is there an alternative to the Sunday morning chapel?

There is a faith circle group within the school.

Has there been any rankings of all the college's vs what they excel or are their primary focused on ?

Does anyone have current /recent experience of Winchester? We are considering it as an option for DS. Tonbridge is another option for us.
I am still not completely sold on boarding as I think DCs will always do better with our support at hone.

I have a son there. Things to consider

Pastoral care not great

Macho male culture very much on the rise since the advent of sports scholars and push on sports in general. The culture has certainly changed from being admired for academic success as it once was. A huge shame.

They keep parents at arms length

They work very very hard

Son just started at WinColl. Couldn't be happier with the choice we made. He is in Morshead's (Freddies). Housemaster and matron are excellent - on the ball, great pastoral care and know my son.
My observation as a parent - it is full on. Lots of work, lots of extra curricular and for a child who likes to get stuck in, there is so much on offer. My son plays in an orchestra, sings in a choir, has played fives for the first time, rowed for the first time, plays sport every day and somehow manages to do his work too. He seems unbelievably motivated (having been horizontal about work at his prep school). The house you choose matters as you eat in house and socialise in house. Our son's cohort has a diverse range of interests and personalities - sporty, musical, extrovert, introvert - there is no one 'type' - and we love that. Year groups mix which didn't appear to be the case at all in the houses we looked round at Eton.

Early days I know, 2 terms in, but so far v happy with the choice we made and our son is thriving. Hope that helps.

Good to hear your son is doing so well @Baggytrousers2021 best of lick to him. What are your thoughts and/or experience re difference between a commoner house like Freddies/Beloe’s vs. College?

To me it appears that the scholars in College sit a more difficult entry test and thereby gain academic kudos, so academic expectations are higher throughout, which I expect means more pressure less slack. The year groups in College also seem to be more integrated, more sense of belonging due to the shared study halls across all years… maybe similar at Freddies?

The facilities in College also seem decidedly more spartan in comparison… but are these differences cannot really be that substantial?

Hi WEEonline, No idea I’m afraid re College.

@WEEonline I doubt any parent can give you a realistic comparison between college and commoner houses unless they have children in both.

My son is in college and is having the time of his life there. It's true the buildings are 600+ years old but the facilities inside either have been, are or will be renovated. I'm not sure about your expectations, but my son has not complained a bit about it being spartan. (afterall they are there for a Wincoll education not a five star holiday). The food is quite good and he has everything he basically needs. The only complaint is the wifi provisions as the signals have trouble penetrating the solid stone walls.

I don't think the scholars automatically gain academic kudos and I don't think there's added expectations or pressure. All students go into sets for each academic subject. Not all scholars are in all top sets, nor are they expected to be (not every scholar is good at everything). Internal "competition" is moot because at the end of the day they are all taking public exams. The person who tops the top set can get straight A*s at A levels but so can someone who is at the bottom of the bottom set.

But they are a tight knit group (the master of college recently told us he was warmed by seeing the boys help each other revise/quiz each other the night before their mock GCSE exams.) and always seem to have time for each other.

Of course I'm a Collegeman parent so inevitably biased towards College...

I think if you went through early application in Year 5 and already like and know the housemaster and you won’t qualify for a discount for scholarship, then what is the point of the additional pressure in doing harder exams? Also, child with early entry gets to do more settling in with peers early on.

I don’t think there is much additional kudos anymore. It is more of a late entry in for highly academic kids whose parents aren’t at preps in the know about lengthy public school entry processes.

Many bright kids in preps whose parents won’t get any scholarship discounts just won’t do the harder exams because there is no point in it…. Except if you think it might be some sort of CV point later down the line. I don’t think it is….

No scholar gets any discount for their scholarship anymore (whether they have an early offer or not) as all money has been diverted to need based bursaries and everybody starts in year 9 so everybody settles in at the same time.

There is no point in taking election if the sole object is to win a discount on school fees. There is no point if it means additional pressure just to do the harder exams. However, Wincoll being the intellectual school it is attracts intellectual kids, many of whom enjoy the challenge of a "harder" entrance exam.

Just my opinion of course.

There were get to know meet ups with housemaster and peers in Year 7 offered for normal houses and fun activities …

Some of these schools are having difficulty in persuading some parents to get their child to sit for music and academic scholarships now that nothing is offered in return. That is a fact across several top performing schools.