Oundle or Rugby

[Chilli2005]

DS is currently holding places at both Rugby and Oundle for 2023 entry. We live in the midlands and so both schools are pretty much the same distance for us. He'd be looking to board in any case. DS is pretty academic, sporty, musical so we'd consider him to be a bit of an all rounder. He's not currently at a prep school so we have applied him for these schools ourselves. Now that he is holding offers for both of these schools (as well as being waitlisted at a London Boarding school, but we don't know if that will move anytime soon). We are very confused as to which one to pick. We have seen them both and like them both for different reasons. Could anyone shed light on their experiences for both of these schools? Our current pros/cons list is:-
Oundle Pro's - Lovely & safe town centre, agreeable phone policy usage
Oundle Cons - Houses are a bit dated and dining rooms are a short walk away.
Rugby Pro's - Not so keen on the town centre and not sure of phone policy
Rugby Cons' - House allocated in NEW with dining room inhouse.
Is there anything else we should consider? Academically they seem quite similar.

They are very similar schools. Probably geography is a good decider if you want to go along and watch matches or concerts.
Oundle have just announced a boarding house refurb programme. They are imminently building a new boarding house which frees up a spare house they move whole boarding houses into enabling an efficient sweep though existing houses to be overhauled - and will sweep round all houses this way.

not sure what you means about dining room being a walk away. Most houses take all their meals in house with their own house catering team. Two houses walk next door for a shared dining room but the other 5 boys are in house.
academically they are similar .
infact both really great schools are you’ll do fine at either.
i would go with location as a deciding factor maybe.

Yes there are only 2 boys boarding houses that eat within the actual building it self, School House and St A. The other houses are only a short walk away and the boys really don't care. What seems important to you now when your DS is aged 11 or 12 is actually totally irrelevant to him when he arrives and settles in. The town itself is lovely and locals are all really nice to the children. The food at Oundle is notoriously awful, there is even an Instagram page on it, so useful to have the Tesco so close! The main things to consider is that Oundle is very academically driven and the kids are really pushed to get the best and more out of them. This in turn develops the most amazing work ethic BUT if your DC can't keep up and may struggle with the pace, the pressure and the amount of work then def consider Rugby.

The facilities at Oundle are amazing and if your DS is musical too then all the better but if he is sporty then Rugby does better even though Oundle has new sports facilities the emphasis is on academics.
Both schools are brilliant in their own way but if I had my time again and I had to choose we would opt for Rugby out of the 2. Others to consider are Shrewsbury or Uppingham. Don't rule out Stowe which is also massively improving on its academics and is a super all round school.

Stowe going weekly boarding though.
Oundle changing caterers and going back to the previous (better) ones which cook in house.
mall these schools are much of a muchness. Distance to drive is a key consideration.

Both quite similar set-up to the schools but wouldn't say academically similar actually.

One needs to remember, this from my quite recent understanding, Oundle takes far more Pre-U subjects than other schools. So when comparing grades on rankings, if Oundle is getting a similar percentage to other schools, it is doing harder exams for more subjects. Would say it is quite a bit more academic than Rugby, and academia and doing well at it is seen as cool. It also is a seriously hard-working school, maybe more so than Rugby. Children have stamina, self-motivated and drive comes from them. Lots do much better than they would have thought at 13 because of this environment.

House wise, all but three houses have dining rooms in house actually. Only Fisher, Crosby and Bramston eat out. It has no affect on boarding experience.

One difference I have noticed is that Rugby, compared to Oundle, and it is not just Rugby pushes the all-rounder just a bit too much, and I don't think personally this is a good thing, I dont think people are all-round, you are better at somethings than others. I think at Rugby this can be at the expense of finding and honing a skill or passion more. Don't think Oundle has this perfect but I find students are more individual.

Tbh they are both quite similar and v. good not sure can go wrong with either. Good luck

Legendary industrial group Throbbing Gristle once played a gig for pupils at Oundle school.

Personally I am opposed to private education, but if I had to choose between the two that would swing it. That said, Pete Kember of drug-rockers Spacemen 3 went to Rugby.

Hello all, wondering if there’s any update on the Rugby v Oundle topic. DS considering options and these are top two. Location isn’t a challenge. He is academic, sporty and likes music.

Can’t go wrong with either. Oundle possibly more of an academic ethos running through its core. Very very strong on music. Concerts by pupils in the Great Hall all the time.
but basically both very good schools.

Thank you so much for your response - much appreciated!

We loved Rugby when we looked at it for DD - especially the director of music who was amazing with her when we looked round (and one of the few that didn't want to know if she would fit in with his orchestra spaces!).

We opted for state in the end, but if we had gone with an indie, Rugby was very much top of my list.

Hey just going off what @leftandaright says, with whom I agree.

Academically I feel Oundle has a higher top end - top 20/30% might be more naturally smart than Rugby but this is subjective. Middle and bottom will be the same. Support at both v. good.

Neither are ridiculously selective, hot-house academic schools but for the more academically capable all rounders. Oundle only do A Levels and SATs. Rugby do this as well as the IB. Oundle has an off curriculum course which is cool called Trivium and Quadrivium started year after I left. Not sure about Rugby.

Music is stellar at Oundle; it is paired with the Royal College of Music so support from their professors etc. I am sure Rugby's is great too. Difficult to compare music, likely same amount of opportunities and support from grade 3 flute to wanting to go pro.

Oundle is huge so is never scrambling to fill spaces in anything in my experience: orchestras, plays, sports teams, societies. I liked that about the school, it really allowed you to do what you like and not force you into anything (bit like Eton in that way), and due to size you'll likely find others interested in something even the more off-grid things. If it's not on the cirriculum, they will put it on (we had a tapas and tertulia society started when I was there).

Student amount-wise:

Oundle 850 Full boarding, 250/300 day

Rugby 650 full, 200 day.

I'd go with your gut. It was between Oundle, Marlborough and Rugby and we liked Oundle town more, the "vibe" and it was a closer to home and didn't feel the need to travel to Rugby or Marl. But Im sure I would have done well at the other two and loved my experience.

Good luck

Thank you so much for this detailed feedback. Will surely put all of what you’ve said into consideration 🙏🏾