Malvern St James

[sheep73]

I just saw that MSJ is going to go from all girls to co-ed. What is the background to this? How will it compete with Malvern College?

Background is, long term decline, poor management, VAT on fees, challenges for single sex schools within that context and new Chinese backed ownership. Very sad.

itv will struggle against MC and will fail.

That seems a very short-sighted decision. I'd imagine it will lose the only real Unique Selling Point against similar local schools by doing so. There are lots of co-ed private schools, perhaps they'll lower the fees against Malvern College.
Also one term for such a large shift in ethos makes me wonder if they will attract enough boys.

We looked around MC and MSJ about 3 years ago. MC had much smarter sports facilities but we really liked the head of MSJ who was a woman at the time. I'm guessing they brought a man in to take it co-ed? I've been told pastoral care at MSJ was v good.
We opted for a co-ed day school in the end.

All private schools are struggling right now and changes are going on with most of them. Be that forming partnerships with other schools or being taken oven by a business's. Going co-ed in a rural area totaly makes sense all stats will point in that direction. MSJ is totally different to MC it is small and the pastrol side goes above and beyond it has lovely family feel about it. MC is huge, plus take a look at the fee difference of the two schools!!

RGS are bursting at the seams. I don't think they are struggling at all.

As the state schools get shitter, more people are willing to move their children.

In my DD's class, around 50% of children are from only child households. In many cases, 2 parents making £50/60k a year each, can afford £2k a month.

Kings or RGS?

I get it the state schools around me are rubbish and I'm a single parent family earning way less than your 2 parent family you quoted. We have no grammar schools near us sadly. In my childs class there are 2 one child familys, myself included. Most will have to go state. But having had a father in the army and moving around every 2 years thank god for boarding schools. My schooling would have been messed up if I had had to change every 2 years . They have their place. Ever day in the paper there is some announcement or two of schools merging, being bought out.
The state schools are a mess and even the rubbish ones are full to bursting thanks to Labour. I wish all schools goodluck in navigating the field we are in, state and private.

We had been thinking about sending our daughter to MSJ , and were encouraged that it was an all girls school. Commonly all girl schools are better for girls than coed, in the main. We were disappointed that it is going to be coed, I wonder if the school management has projected difficult times ahead, and is attempting to increase the schools chances of financial stability. If our daughter does join it will be in year 9. Even though she receives a good education overall in her current Herefordshire comprehensive school, I remember how attending a private boarding school really enhanced me at a young age . Also it's worth considering a new coed school serving years 9 to sixth form has opened just outside Tenbury Wells ( St Michael's College ) and will eventually be drawing students from MSJ's patch.