Advice on Withington Girls

[Bridgewater7]

Our DD has received an offer from Withington for Y7 Sept 2026 start.

She is a bright girl, although she had been prepping with a tutor for another school which does not achieve anywhere near the same results as WGS (GCSE & A Levels) approx 4 months before the exams she only practiced for Withington 1 week before. So she’s smart! I was surprised that by past paper 4, she was correctly answering the GCSE style questions. I had actually told her that I wasn’t expecting her to answer correctly but just wanted her to have a go. Even if it that meant writing or even drawing the question out in a way she understood.

However, my concern is that although she is very bright she places an awful amount of pressure on herself.

I’d be grateful if any parents have girls at the school what has been your experience?

we also have the additional issue of distance. We are looking at almost a 1.5 hour journey each way by coach. I would have to drive 30 mins to another town to catch the school bus. There is the option of the train but I wouldn’t feel comfortable with her travelling alone.

whilst she wants Withington on account of the academics (she believes she will not receive the same education at our second choice school) she is also very worried about how she will manage with all the travelling.

It still outperforms all the state options in Bolton.

This is difficult. I think similar happens in areas with loads of grammar schools. I suppose Bolton School is your best option then. I wouldn’t do a 1 hour 30 minute commute. It could end up being more with traffic/road works/bad weather etc. and friends will be miles away. She could end up feeling very isolated.

I think that’s a very valid point @DanceMumTaxi kids will commute to these schools from 90minutes in any direction which makes meeting up at weekends and holidays a whole lot harder!

send her to Henrietta Barnett

Bolton school is well regarded. My friend's DD has loved it, been there since prep.

My dc commute to a trafford grammar takes about An hour. 2 hours is crazy (1.5h on bus plus 30min drive to bus). They need time in the evening for homework plus extracurricular so an hour commute is about max you should consider.

Have you left it too late for Urmston grammar? That would be nearer than Altrincham girls. Don't know about Stretford and Sale. Urmston is on the train line and I know lots of children commute thst way from year 7. It really helps their independence. I spoke to a few commuting by train to UGS and they loved it.

Also I went to private school and no-one has ever asked me much about which school or university I went to . I'm a partner in a professional services firm.

Same here (and I went to a comp)

Me too, and I dropped out of elementary school

I went to MHSG and nobody ever asks, and if it does come up I’m never sure if they’ve actually heard of it! Can’t imagine WGS has any further reach. Knowing which northern day schools are more academic than others is quite niche information.

My information is old, so take with the obvious pinch of salt and the hope that things have changed, but no one I know who attended Withington Girls has a good word to say for it — they describe it as a highly-pressurised hothouse, rife with eating disorders.

the only people i've ever had ask me where i went to school are those who grew up in a similar area and it's more in a "I wonder if we know any of the same people" sort of way.

I attended WGS many moons ago and can confirm that on the exceedingly rare occasions my schooling has come up in conversation no one has ever heard of it!

Also agree with pp re it being a very pressurised environment, with a similar caveat that I don’t know anyone who has gone more recently. Frankly as with most of these schools I expect the main reason its results are so good is because it is highly selective in who it admits and ruthless in culling those who it thinks won’t meet the standard at exam time.

After going MIA we have today declined Withington. Logistically it wasn’t going to work as much as I wanted it to. I have to say after visiting the school the girls who showed us around were really such lovely girls and really engaged.

We paid attention to the other girls too and both DD and I noticed that they seemed content, witty and engaged. The staff too appeared supportive and the girls spoke really highly of their experiences. I do not believe it was just a show.

We also were not made to feel as if this was the be all and end all of, a criticism I’ve heard of other schools.

I also agree with @Catlady007007 that the right setting is important. And seeing students who are engaged and on the ball is really inspiring.

Unfortunately we just don’t have the state options where we are and the commute to the Trafford Grammar schools is equally as bad if not worse.

Bolton School on the whole is not bad and we know DD would have access to fantastic extra curriculars. From my own experience I know that the complaints are by and large from parents who believe that the responsibility of their child’s academic success lies solely with the school. We are comparing two very different schools and the opportunities they can provide. Staying local would also mean she could continue with her external clubs. She has a wide range of friends that she has picked up from all over the place already at the school. We have agreed that we would support and supplement as best as we can at home. Finally we both have a fantastic network ourselves which we will be tapping into.

Thank you all for your input.

Congrats on your decision. We made a similar one today for similar reasons, but I totally agree that the girls we met on both the WGS tours we did (pre and post offer) were a huge credit to the school - down to earth, friendly, honest, and just, well, normal. The teachers were lovely too and keen to tell us that they are actively trying to get girls into more creative subjects (they have the opposite problem to most of the co-Ed’s in that everyone wants STEM subjects and they are pushed by parents). The decision was a very close one.

Sounds like you’ve made a very sensible choice given the constrains of WGS and poor state options locally. I hope your dd will be happy in her new school.