Music high schools in the UK, Chetham's, Purcell or Wells Cathedral School?

[Bruennetzh]

Hi there,
my boy (15 years old) has got the offers from the three schools, as a male vocalist (opera singing). Could you please tell me something about one or two or three of the three schools? Especially the music education and the academic education. Thank you very much!

My child is at Wells and loves it. The difference with Wells is that the music school is within a mainstream school which I think provides a bit of balance.

I've visited Chets and impressive. Great location. I'd look at logistics and lifestyle too

I am also attracted by the fact that there are many different kinds of activities going on, not only musical events, because Wells is not just a music school, but also a normal private school. So how do you value the quality of both the music education and the general education? Seen from the website, looks like the A level students did really well this year, and the music students have won quite a lot of rewards.

Thank you for the reply. Could you please tell me a bit more about your visit to the Chetham's School, I am really interested. I live actually overseas and can't visit the school myself. Heard that the schedule of the music students is really quite full and the school is strict with the student. Is it true?

The location is right in the city centre so students have the freedom to go out within set boundaries, but within the walls the campus is lovely & serene. The students seemed very busy but also very happy & highly engaged. Their schedules are full but they are aiming at that age for music orientated careers so I would expect that. They are near media city / bbc / cathedral / multiple music venues etc so music opportunities are great.
It's very much a music school primarily from what I saw briefly

Thank you, very detailed reply, very helpful. I can see your point about the location.

i think it depends on what you want. The academics are good at Wells. Loads of opportunities (both music and not) and a lovely small city to grow up in.

i think it depends on what you want. The academics are good at Wells. Loads of opportunities (both music and not) and a lovely small city to grow up in. All are good but it depends on your child and their preference (also where you are?

Chets has the unis & Royal Northern Collage of music too on doorstep.
Both pros & cons of big city

Yes, Wells gives me similar impression as you said, a very cozy community, with kids from different age and different interest, very vibrant, a lovely place to grow up in. Thank you for the reply.

I asked an English colleague with strong music interest (he used to be a musician I think). He told me that he has may friends at the Royal College of Music who attended Chetham's. Many are still at the top in the UK. I would imagine that Chetham's is very good at training young musicians. Really, Wells and chetham's stand for two very different music schools. Wells is more at the all-rounded education side, with decent music education; while Chetham's is more at the music side with very strong track record of training musicians. So it really depends on what kind of education the parents and the kid want from the high school. Thank you for your reply.

Hi,

Have name changed to post. I have one specialist and one not at Wells. Good mix between the musicians and those not specialising from GCSE years and upwards. Vocal dept seems good - my child has a different specialism. Wells is a lovely place (my family are day pupils) and we made the move here full time a few years ago. Good luck with your decision.

Wells is lovely, I have contact there for professional reasons. The town is small and same though a bit boring for an older teen (I suspect they go into Bristol on days off) all around is very important because not everyone is going to make it as a musician, they will still have their academics.

Just one though, if he's 15 that is half way through GCSEs, or does he turn 16 soon? Otherwise it would be difficult to catch up as they are 2 year courses

@CoraBora Thank you for your advice.

@gogohmm Although Chetham's is also good at academics, but obviously Wells has much more than music to offer. It is good for students who haven't made up their mind to pursue music career.
We come from overseas, and will sit one year to read Grade 10 (should be Grade 11 at his age), so GCSE won't be a problem - my son will have enough time to adapt to the UK school system. Thank you for mentioning this.

I’m in my early 30s so this is a little dated but I think generally speaking still
true. I know many people who went to all of these schools.

Purcell seemed to be the most focused on music/least academic, Chets I think has a fairly good balance, and Wells is probably less music focused/music dominates less compared to other academic subjects.

I went to both Cambridge and a London conservatoire. Loads of Chets and Wells musicians at both (studying things other than music as well as music); loads of Purcell musicians at conservatoire but only 1 that I can think of at Cambridge (possibly also because it’s a lot smaller).

All the people I knew loved their schools. Menuhin was a slightly different story.

@SweetforOrchestra Sorry for reply so late and thank you for your helpful advice. I think we will choose Wells, although I do think Chetham's is a more focused music school, because we can get bursary from Wells, but Chetham's has allocated all bursaries to others, and got nothing left, at the time we applied (in May this year), and also in Wells my son can start GCSE, while in Chetham's he has to start with Pre alevel.

Just seeing this - ex-Purcell parent (my child did well musically and now at one of the top conservatoires). I think all three are great schools and can't go wrong with any of them generally. Chets and Purcell are quite similar in many ways. Chets a big bigger but Purcell still pretty big (much bigger than YMS). Chets offer city centre location, Purcell a bit more town and out of town a touch so more green space. Obviously Purcell close to London so good for students attending Saturday JD and also the school makes excellent of use top London venues - students can perform at Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Southbank venues some years, etc. Academically I think all are ok - plenty do very well at Purcell. The sacrifice is in terms of number of subjects offered and then number of subject each child can take. My son still did 8 GCSEs and 3 A level and got very good grades.

@Hertsessex thank you very much for the reply. As you said, all three are good, so we chose the one which gave the most bursary, which is quite important for the kid who does not qualify the MDS. Thank you again.

That makes sense. Best of luck - sure it will all go great. I assumed already decided but thought I would just add comment on Purcell for others for the future. I've had people message me years after a thread/post asking about Purcell :)

hi @Bruennetzh - I've namechanged for this but just to say we've been going through this too. DD has gone for Wells and joins in September. Suspect she'll be in the same year as your son (10, for the first year of GCSEs) though she's not quite 14 at present. She is eligible for MDS, so the outcome would be the same financially whichever she chose.

There seems like quite a lot of music at Wells to us, and the head of department seems to hold all the cards as to what else DD can do with her time - for example she can audition for a school play but only with his permission. I'm hoping that the school will give the right balance for Dd - who is a bit too much of a 'joiner inner' for most people's comfort. Time will tell.Hope it goes brilliantly for your DS.

I'm often in wells for music, I will be looking out for a young man talented in opera!

Thank you! Actually I am quite curious about the reason why Purcell students still need to join JD in London at weekends. In my imagination the music students should get enough music teaching from the school itself and they don't need external lessons. I might be wrong. Obviously Purcell has the location advantage of close to London, and Chetham's is close to the Royal Northern Conservatories, which is also beneficial. Well's may not have such resources due to the location reason. Yes, we have decided for the Wells, and not regret. I was just curious about this point.

@gogomoto Sounds lovely. 😀

My nephewwas at Chets, now at Royal Northern. Good location career wise being close to media city, he’s looking at a career in composition, lots of links