Cokethorpe VS St. Hugh's (senior school) Dilemma

[Cutesbabasmummy]

My son has just been offered a place starting in year 7 (2026) at St. Hugh's, Carswell. He had a taster day and really enjoyed it and subsequently we received an offer. We need to accept the place by 28th November.

He is due to sit the Cokethorpe entrance exam on 31st January, and we are having another visit next Wednesday morning. The dilemma is whether to accept the place at St. Hugh's. I got a lovely vibe from the school every time we visited, and I think my son would be happy there. I have some reservations about the forthcoming senior school - it's not actually built yet and they are expecting a very small number of pupils in the 2026 year 9 cohort. I have heard mumblings that current parents think it's crazy. I am worried that if we take up the place, my son will make friends and they in year 9 they will leave for schools such as Abingdon, MCS etc. We wouldn't want to follow that path and would like him to be able to stay in one school until at least GCSE point. The good thing is he wouldn't start the senior school section for another few years, so by that time, there will hopefully be more pupils staying.

Cokethorpe obviously has no continuity issues and would take him up to 18 but I'm not sure if it's just a beautiful school that doesn't encourage pupils to reach their full potential. Obviously, we won't hear about a place until February. I don't want to pay the St. Hugh's joining fee needlessly. We got slightly burned by the OLA drama.

I'd love to hear opinions, particularly from current parents and those who are considering St. Hugh's senior school.

Hello,
I just want to follow up the thread here.
I got the same dilemma. My girl got offered from St Hugh and we did put the deposit down.
However now she got offered from HelKat which she did work hard to get the place. I could not make up my mind which school to send here.

What was your decision back then?

Oh crikey if she's been offered to SHSK, go there!!! Far better results by a mile than cokethorpe, and also st hughes senior school brand new and therefore untested....

We still have not decided as the Cokethorpe exam is on Saturday. St. Hugh's is holding a place for us. We have a slight preference for Cokethorpe. We have partly chosen it because it's not a hot house school. I went to a school that was similar in terms of results but got 3 top grade A levels and went to a Russell Group uni. I have a son so SHSK is not an option. I hear they have improved massively in terms of pastoral care since my school days which is good.

Good luck to your boy with this incoming exam. I wish I have known how to negotiate with St Hughs to not put down the deposit in November. Now if we choose SHSK, it is kinda waste of money :(. We do prefer the vibe of small school with good pastoral care, however I don't know if the senior school will do good to my daughter. SHSK could provide much more to her, I guess. And again a dilemma that St Hugh's is having the scholarship exam on Feb 3-4 while I have to answer SHSK by Feb 2th.

Don't go to Cokethorpe. We also fell for the 'not a hot house' school and pastoral support aspects. Big mistake.

Lots of nice marketing, very little substance in our experience. We pulled our son out of Cokethorpe as we became very disillusioned with it very quickly. Interestingly quite a few of his classmates also left.

Your money will be much better spent elsewhere. Don't fall for the marketing.

@ThisQuirkyHare when was your son there? Where did you move him to?

I figured that the scholarship is really just offering you 10% off fees which as an early adopter of the senior school, you already get. And probably a badge for the blazer! After a year of working hard for entrance exams I can't put my son through another round of exams so we are not going for that. If I had a place at SHSK I would choose that - it is a very good school. I am still nervous about the senior school at St. Hugh's being untested, and also at how many kids will leave in year 9. I don't want to keep moving him.

He left a couple of years ago.

We moved out of the area so it was good timing to change schools but we were looking to move him anyway. We lived in West Oxfordshire so would have looked into moving him to Abingdon School or possibly Kingham.

The teaching at Cokethorpe was mediocre and despite pushing the pastoral care aspect the SEN provision was disappointing and lacked any real understanding. We found the teachers strangely aloof and lacking in any real depth of support.

Our DS excels in Maths and was completely uninspired academically. When we moved him to his new school, the new school discovered gaps in his learning that should have been covered. Luckily the school he is at now are excellent and have managed to help him catch up. He's thriving and very focused on pursuing a STEM subject at uni.

Cokethorpe in our experience spent too much money and time on the grounds and marketing events and should have spent more on academic excellence. I would not recommend it.

@Cutesbabasmummy oh really, I missed some information then. I thought the early adopter discount only applies from year 9, but year 7 and year 8 we have to pay the same amount. So, the scholarships aim for whom then? if all of us were offered that early adopter discount?

Ah you may well be right!

I don’t think there is much of a comparison as they are hugely different schools and just not comparable.

CokeThorpe runs to 18 and has been there for a long time- since 1957 apparently.

St Hugh’s doesn’t have a senior school yet- it hasn’t been built and would only run to 16. It’s a conversion of a bungalow onsite which has been used as a flat for the gap year students and junior members of staff up until now. It’s absolutely tiny.

SHSK is an entirely different entity. If your daughter has a place there then I can guarantee St Hugh’s is not going to be enough for her. It is being sold as an option for children who might not cope at a normal senior school or are here in the short term, for example military families who are here temporarily or children with additional needs who do not think they will manage at a senior school. It currently does not have enough pitches or astros for the prep school so cannot see how this would pan out for senior now in addition. I am not sure whether sport is a factor in your choices but there will be little opportunity for team sports for the foreseeable with such small numbers. The very few people we are aware of who have signed up are neurodiverse and are focusing on the positives of a lack of change and continuity in a very very small environment while their peers move on to other schools.

I hear many deals are being struck at the moment- along with discounts for new joiners who have come from the closed OLA so I am sure you could negotiate a discount as they seem to be being offered all round.

STSK is a school for clever girls with brilliant teachers and girl specific pastoral care. It exceeds every year and am sure has just won an award for ‘best something’. It is a long history and years of success behind it.

CokeThorpe has a new head and the last one was there was 20 odd years so I imagine there will be a lot of growth and change now after such a long tenure.

Bloxham or Abingdon would be other schools in the vicinity to consider running from y7 to age 18.