Magdalen College School

[saikungmom]

Hello,
Can anyone advise some feeder prep schools into MCS please? Apart from the obvious Oxford city choices like Dragon, New College School, the MC Junior School, abingdon prep, Moulsford? Ideally, we would like a prep school that is in the countryside as we don't want to travel into Oxford everyday because of the traffic. Thanks for any advice!

Moulsford is miles away from Oxford city, right in the middle of the countryside on the Berks/oxon borders. St Andrew's is also just outside Pangbourne in the middle of the countryside.

st hughs?
Chandlings?

Boys go to MCS from every independent prep within an hour (or even more) round about.
I wouldn’t base your choice of prep on just feeding into MCS, especially if your ds is still young as it may not even be the right school for him when you get to that stage. All the preps will get a child in if it is right though.
I have heard Abingdon prep don’t provide much support for senior applications as they want all the boys to progress to Abingdon senior.

@houselikeashed i hear they’re not that academic and more nurturing. would you agree? I love that st hughs has a great swim program though.
@ChocolateHoneycomb all valid points if a boy is bright enough then he’ll get in no matter which prep he is in. Our problem is that we can’t view the schools as we are living abroad at the moment so trying to get a sense what are the main feeder into senior schools. I think St Edward’s casts a wide net and Abingdon takes mainly from its prep. We are looking only at senior day schools as we don’t want our boys to board so just trying to get our head around the reputations of prep schools in general.. thanks for all the advice! Any more opinions welcome!

for countryside setting, and academic, I reckon you're looking at
St Hughs
Moulsford
Ab Prep

I've just noticed your user name - I have a friend in Sai Kung! Well, just outside, in Pak Sha Wan. Beautiful!

Chandlings generally get several boys into MCS so might be worth a look - they seem to have better odds than Abingdon prep, as Ab prep want them to go through.

@houselikeashed what a small world!
@undermilkjug yes that’s a good point. Chandlings would make more sense than Abprep

As a pp noted, boys come into MCS from prep schools within an hours drive. For example, Winchester House School and Beachborough School or Swanborne School to the north of Oxford.
There are dedicated buses taking children to all the private senior schools in Oxford from the surrounding areas.

@saikungmom Look at all school options, not just the big names. I think everyone should do this as it is easy to just get swayed by league tables and feel MCS is the only choice. I would include for senior
St edwards (day pupils finish 5.30-6 or optionally later, Abingdon finish 5.30 so not really different)
Abingdon
D’overbroecks
Bloxham
All these are strong academically compared to any state options. Cokethorpe less strong academically. Also Pangbourne college further south.
All these schools take from local preps regularly.
You can do virtual tours etc from where you are.
Good luck.

Or you could look at boarding at RGS High Wycombe. Or even live in Bucks and go to a Bucks Grammar. There’s RLS at Buckingham. There are clever DC just over the border in Bucks!

Sorry if I am hijacking the thread, this felt like a place visited by mumsnetters aware of MCS or may even have their DC there. We are in the middle of making a decision for yr7 and MCS is one of our options. And during our search we've heard a lot of things about MCS that it's a pressured environment and there's no time to play, pastoral care not good etc. How true are these? Because it is quite hard to find posts by MCS parents anywhere on the web, good or bad? Is there a reason for this?

I'd discount St. Hugh's if wanting MCS. They just aren't strong enough academically and the year 8 parents have been up in arms over onward places since the new head arrived. It's a lovely school in a lot of ways but it isn't for those with too academic aspirations.

Hi, my DS left MCS in 2020 after joining in J1. There are lots of posts from MCS parents on various threads but also lots of opinions from people who haven't had DC at the school. There is academic pressure but they select well for entry, playing sport in the A teams can also feel intensive. The pastoral care is good, committed staff and a lovely group of boys and girls in sixth form.

Hi CharmJ
I highly recommend MCS. My son is in year 8 having come from a primary school (during COVID they had one lesson a day ). He had done 11plus and passed with a view to going to Buckingham grammar but didn't get offered a place due to .... (that's another story). One of our friends recommended MCS- he sat the exam the next week and interviewed and they offered him a place. They were very helpful . He found it a bit of a shock to start with but they helped them all adjust - he absolutely loves it - he bright but not top of class but loves the sport, art, DT, drama- he's always off doing a club at lunch- he friends play Warhammer -.The older boys really looked out for them to start with and tutors very approachable- really good pastoral care. In the first couple of weeks when we were looking for match locations- if you asked a child at the school they would walk you over chatting to you. Absolutely no regrets.