Winchester college or Sherborne

[Wintergardener]

Good afternoon,
I am new to mumsnet and hope you can advise. My DS has a conditional offer for Winchester College and also an offer for Sherborne.

We were a little surprised that he received the offer for Winchester as I was unsure if he would meet the academic level but they obviously thought otherwise.The question I need to ask is how will a boy do at Winchester if he is average academically? Is Sherborne a better option?. I know some very bright boys go to Sherborne but the seem to have a wider intake.

We have a third option, DS could attend as a day student. Is this the best option? Leaving everything to the school does worry me.

@OVienna In terms of predicted grades, I can only comment on our personal experience and the school was spot on. Ds got exactly what was predicted on his UCAS form and so did his close friends. That's all I know!

Any updated experiences since last term? We visited the school and found it quite 'old-school'. The boys we met were great, rank and file teachers less so, the Head and Deputy look ok, but look to be feeling the pressure a bit as they are both newish. Probably a back up choice for us depending on how other offers land.

DS1 is coming to the end of his time there , we chose a different school for DS2. Our experience at DS2‘s school is streets ahead. Winchester has been underwhelming to put it mildly ,DS3 will go on to DS2 school if he is lucky enough to get a place.

We didn’t leave things to the school when it came to University applications, friends in the years above had warned us about the lack of support. I wouldn’t use Winchester as a back up ,there are much better options out there. Your observations on the teachers and head/ deputy head are very perceptive.

Good luck to your DS , hopefully he will have an offer from his first choice.

Hi,

We have received an offer from Winchester College for a 2024 start, but our visit left us underwhelmed by the house tour, the lack of facilities, and the general upkeep of the buildings. There is a lot of ongoing construction, with more expected next year. We're questioning why we should pay for facilities that don't exist and deal with the building disturbances during our son's time there. Given the fees, we're already struggling with the idea of such low standards.

Reading this thread and the comments from current and former parents has increased our worries. We expected some level of favouritism, but significant issues with pastoral care, bullying, and a tendency to brush problems under the carpet are deeply concerning. During our tour, we specifically asked about bullying and were told it was rare and usually just disagreements among boys that get resolved. However, the messages here suggest otherwise. There appear to be many disgruntled parents, and rightly so. It’s confusing why the standard of care seems so different, as some parents have very positive experiences.

I understand that unhappy current parents might not want to share much detail out of fear of repercussions. After reading this thread, I’m truly lost. I don’t want to send our son, knowing we might face these issues next year, but I’m also unsure if not sending him is the right decision.. Please feel free to PM me if you don't want to share any information here. Please, please give me some advice. I would really appreciate it.

@MayBeitsNotRight congratulations to your DS on winning a place at Winchester. If you've read this thread you'll know we made a late decision not to send our DS there, but that was at least in part about the feel of the school at that time, their handling of change etc. specific to 2021, and since I don't have more recent direct experience of Winchester I would hesitate to advise you for or against it. But I would say, just because your DS has an offer, this doesn't oblige you or him to take it. A boy who is holding a Winchester offer will find many other doors open to him. So my advice would be to keep your field of options wide and visit some other schools with an open mind. You might find that having seen some great facilities and swept-up organisations elsewhere, you find yourself coming back around to WinColl. But you might start to realise that there are other schools that could give him what he needs without the issues so many Winchester families complain about. And a school that has a slightly less 'great' name might put in more effort to win and keep talented pupils: that's been our experience. Our DS receives a lot of individual attention, challenge, opportunity and pastoral support- we will never know whether that would have been the case at Winchester too, but my hunch is that it wouldn't.

Thank you so much for your reply. It's the fear of making a decision now, as it's too close to time. I have had a few things that I didn't like and communication being the most important. We have been sent a contract to be signed by Tuesday next week. Also, our current school has been informed so there is a deadline to keep there too.
If anyone has got any more information or guidance please send it my way.

We have never been so indecisive.

@MayBeitsNotRight what is your gut telling you?

...and do you have a back up plan? Are you holding any other places? If this is for September 24 entry give yourself the whole time available before your contract signature deadline, re-engage with other schools you were interested in and test out your choices. This is such a huge commitment you are making that you mustn't allow yourselves to be bumped into something that isn't right.

I really appreciate your help. I will DM you . Thank you again

@MayBeitsNotRight I’d be very careful using any online forum as a decision factor in making a final school choice. None of the information here is factually verified and it’s one person’s narrative. I’d look at authorised and verifiable sources of information. This is a guide rather than something which is objective. Also there is a higher tendency for people who have had a bad experience to talk about it versus all the families that have had good experiences. There are no perfect decisions just ones that you can course correct - or not. A lot will also depend on the house you get, two children same school different houses can be different experiences. Talk to the school about your concerns openly. Don’t only look at subjective comments on a web forum which isn’t factually verified.

You are absolutely right. In our current school it’s the same. No school is perfect. But I agree that kids can have entirely different experience. We are getting scared partly because of the online outlook & the way communication has been handled from school.
Where would you recommend I can look as verifiably source? My stomach is in knots and it’s a very difficult decision to make.

Gut not very helpful & very unsure at the moment.

It’s not easy but try to look beyond the physical fabric of the house. The single
most important thing is whether you all like and trust the housemaster. If the answer is yes, and the HM is not due to move on for a few years, then you will be fine.