Any recent parent views on Exeter School before we decide?

[Mrscannanoo]

My son has a place to start at Exeter School, but I have heard such mixed reviews I am not sure whether to try other options. Any views from current or recent parents would be really welcome. Thank you!

Hello! It’s a good school for traditional academics and traditional approach. We decided against it on the grounds on wanting something more “future” appropriate! We’ve chosen Wellington as the head is hugely dynamic, refreshing and really in touch with education - not just churning out the same traditional private school approach. No Saturday school either - tons of sport but also children there in Hollywood films, choirs, bands, incredible art and golf. Loads really. Well worth a look. 30 minutes on the bus from Exeter service station .

Thank you so much for responding - really helpful.

Another perspective here - we actually moved our daughter from Wellington to Exeter as the former just wasn't meeting her academic needs, i.e. it wasn't academic enough. Discipline in the classroom was not great, she wasn't being pushed enough and we felt that the lack of setting (science) further up the school would be to her detriment. There is no Saturday school at Exeter and we are glad we made the move. In an academic sense, she is thriving much more at Exeter as the culture/focus is more academic which suits her. However, it might not suit every child - there is more homework for example.
The breadth of co-curricular offering at Wellington is admittedly excellent. However, saying that we were incredibly frustrated with the lack of quality sports coaching at Wellington and how more resources were given to sports scholars and that they automatically had priority for the A teams. We like the fact that at Exeter scholars are not given fee discounts, which at Wellington caused lots of resentment amongst parents.
Although the Head at Wellington appears "dynamic" lots of parents complain that in reality he is ineffective.
If your child is not massively academic then Wellington might be better suited to them than Exeter, though of course it is more expensive.

That’s super helpful - thank you!