state school child got into Eton

[kris123]

Dear Mums,

Our son was accepted into Eton, and we are indeed very happy, but as always there are now new concerns. He is currently attending a state school, and is due to finishing this year at year 6, whereas Eton only starts in year 9. This means that we have two years "inbetween".

Please note that the offer to Eton, as all of them, is conditional on passing the common entrance exam , which I hear is not difficult, but still requires some work (especially as there are specific subjects like history and geography and latin to cover).

Our choices are:

1. play it safe, send him to the local prep school waste 14k a year basically, and put him under totally not needed stress with kids fighting for 13+ intake. Most prep schools will take him as he will simply improve their statistics.

2. send him to the grammar school, which our son will most probably get into (he did pass the test, but decisions due in March). Issue there for me is that they will not know the Independent Common Entrance System, and will not prepare him for it, and furthermore will not even know that he is leaving them at age of 13 to go to Eton. To add to this they do not teach Latin, one subject that is needed on Common Entrance Tests i think.

3. send our child abroad for one year, to France or Germany to learn a new language, have some fun, ski, relax, and basically enjoy a year after the stress of last two months, learning to board etc. Then bring him back for year 8 to prep school and prepare him for the exam that is towards the end of the year.

Now, I am lost with this topic, but maybe someone can guide me, especially on feasibility of plan 2) and 3). You see we are very much pro state school system - grammar of course, and want our son to learn that there are grammar schools for smart kids and be proud of his years there.

Now my concerns are:

a) how difficult are these common entrance tests? can someone actually fail them if they are smart and do some work, or do you need a lot of work and prep for it like with the admissions process?

b) what is the level and type of work done at the grammar schools... is their program similar to prep schools so that this knowledge can be used for common entrance?

c) how risky would it be to take a child out of the UK education system for one year, and bring him back to the prep school and prepare for the common entrance tests in one year?

Thanks, happy but still concerned parent

Do look at the ISEB requirements. My husband and I found the History extra-ordinary when we first looked. Syllabus is:

Section 1: Medieval Realms: Britain 1066-1485
Section 2: The Making of the United Kingdom: 1485-1750
Section 3: Britain 1750-circa 1900

Sections 1 and 2 contain questions on five common areas:
? War and Rebellion
? Government and Parliament
? Religion
? Social History
? General Topics
Section 3 contains questions on four areas:
? War and Rebellion
? Government and Parliament
? Social and Economic History
? General Topics

Who needs a degree!

RE was quite a stretch as well and needed a real capacity for analysis and argument. The top of a prep school, especially if you get small classes because the girls have left, can offer (relative) good value.

Kris, going back to your post of 17th Dec 04.33, you mention you have a 6 person household....does that mean you have 4 kids? Or perhaps you are caring for elderly parents in your household.

but, if you do have 4 kids and you can't afford to send them all to top, top public schools (which I can understand), how do you make the choices about which ones benefit from the super expensive educcation that is Eton? And wouldn't it be fairer to consider a less expensive option that all 4 children would be able to do?

Just a thought.

Well ,well ,when I mention no one in the admissions office had heard of the test,kris backs down,who would have guessed that,now a cynic might think looking at the evidence that the whole of the op was rubbish and the poster had no more "knowledge" of Eton than could be gained by doing the tourist tour,but Im sure thats just a cynical view,if that view was right then the whole of this thread would be a total waste of time,and no one would do that ,would they?

Seriously bizarre. Why would anyone do that?

I agree that it is very strange, propatria. Her ignorance of the Eton process seems bizarre.

Added to which in her very first post she claimed that her son had passed the grammar school test yet then later, when challenged, said that she would not know until March. Very odd.

The only thing like the OPs exam I could find were the New Foundation Scholarships, but these are for the very deserving poor but bright boys.

Also if you have been to Eton you might have noticed Windsor just a short stroll across the bridge?

Yes, the "Eton village" thing is utterly bizarre, sounds like something one might write if one had never actually visited but gleaned info from a website. The actual place is as urban as you can get. Not at all the public school out in the country or even in a village....

The plot thickens.

to be fair the grammar school point makes sense to me. you find out whether you have passed in October before you submit your preferences but don't find out whether you have a place until March. for the superselectives where exam score is the only factor then you can have a pretty good idea before March even though it'd not confirmed until then.

the rest of her posts are odd though. and if her child was really weeping for joy when he got the place I really hope she gets the rest of the process sorted out for his sake.

Don't worry, I;'m sure he'll get over it - his reasons for wanting to go to Eton were distinctly shallow - and he will find that most of the things he wanted are available at any good school. Apart from the single room snd the grandmotherly matron, obviously.

I thought everyone knew Slough Comp was in a rural village setting..lol..

Not for St Olave's, MrsWobble - the exam is held in November after forms are submitted so there is no benefit to being told your child's result.

ah but seeker, you forget the greatest advantage of all: not having to meet up with his parents at half term

For the first time I see his point!

I wonder qwhich paper will publish the article - and what angle will it take?

Have you seen this? It says that if you post you will see change! I reckon Kris is Michael Gove.

Eton gives some scholarships to boys from state schools at 11. Part of the scholarship is to cover two years at a prep school, to fill the gap between 11 and 13, to provide the "catch up" and to get the boys ready for boarding. This suggests to me that this is what Eton would think sensible in order to make sure that your boy is not behind when he starts.

Why don't you just make an appointment to see the Head at Eton and talk to him about it? He won't bite.

I don't think Kris is a journalist or Michael Gove.:)

I think she/he is genuinely not au fait with the English education system. I am sure her eyes have been opened to it all by now though.

I wonder if the Eton Village thing was about the fact that Eton School is in Eton village and not in a city?

I can't help at all with the admissions process seeing as how I... a) have two girls, and b) they go to the local comp

However, I can assure the OP that going to Eton is not necessarily the route to fame/fortune/power.

A few years back I had a group of friends who had all been at Eton together, they were a massive bunch of layabouts, doing nothing much with their lives and living off their trust funds I think some of them have moved on now, from what I know one of them is a junior school teacher, another is a jobbing musician and another works in a call centre. I'd say that particularly for the latter, that was money well spent, don't you think?

Meunscrabbly
That's the point: Eton College is described as being in Eton Village, but it is actually in Windsor, a big town, not anything like a village. It's picturesque, of course, and on the Eton College website, it looks very lovely, but it would be very, very odd indeed to choose Eton because it's in a village, as the OP says.

Again,it makes the OP's story....odd.

Come back, Kris, and clear up the confusion.

PixieOnaLeaf sciencedad has taken her place as the most ill judged and misguided poster.

I was wondering too.

Do people really come onto MN for 3 weeks, cause havoc, then bow out?

I think everyone has said what is to be said - that the 11 thing is just you may be okay but don't bank on it so I hope that was explained and there are other options too. 2 years at prep school is probably very wise for all the reasons stated above. As said above it doesn't seem to tie up. Also how could anyone be very against prep schools but not against Eton? You would have thought the same objections would apply.