Magdalen College School

[KatyBoots]

hi, I wondered if there are any MCS or local Oxford parents who might be able to share their experience. We’re moving to Oxford from London - my eldest has a senior school place at MCS.

He didn’t get a chance to visit before sitting the exams, so we went up to have a look around. It seems lovely, but I was just interested in the mix of backgrounds in the lower years (year 7/8), as it felt less diverse that what we’re used to. I hope this does not come across as insensitive in any way, I just am curious. Thanks

We also moved to Oxfordshire from London and DD1 did attend MCS for 6th Form. Everywhere in Oxfordshire will be less diverse than what you’re used to because that’s genuinely the demographics of the county. It’s a good school. Pretty demanding. I think it can be tricky to navigate if your child does not excel at something. But there are lots of opportunities and teaching standards are high. There are far fewer independent options for boys than girls in Oxford and MCS is genuinely the best of them.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It seems like a great school, and my son is quite academic - he was offered places at St Paul’s / City, for example -but we decided to move. So hopefully he’ll ok with the academic side.

I had expected the school’s demographic to reflect the local area, as you mentioned, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. In the younger years, it appeared to be predominantly boys from SE/South Asian backgrounds, which is absolutely fine, just not what I had expected, that’s all. Just wondering if my perception is correct?