How does JAGS compare to St.Paul's (SPSG) or City (CLSG)?

[Aika]

They claim to be very selective and highly academic, but interestingly they are rarely mentioned in the same sentence when describing London's top schools. Why is that? They seem to have excellent results. What do you think?

Well I don't know about the academic results but I do remember watching Rich Girl Poor Girl on Channel4 and being horrified by the JAGS girls.
They were certainly nothing like the City girls I know and I have known quite a few past and present.

I remember that programme, but I thought the girl was from G&L. Was it just one episode or more? I only saw one. I agree what I saw was horrifying and would pretty much mean a big fat no for JAGS if the girl I saw was indeed from there.

Could you please clarify girls from which schools you know/ have known. I'd really appreciate your opinions.

My daughter went to JAGS for the sixth form and I thought it was fantastic. You can't judge a whole school on the basis of one selectively edited TV programme featuring just a handful of girls at most.

There are lots of extra-curricular opportunities at JAGS and the results are outstanding. The Head is great, the Head of the Sixth Form is superb. Why don't you visit?

I have visited the school but they all look nice when you visit, don't they? And I met a few JAGS girls who were very nice. I like the school and they hold high rankings in the league table so I was trying to see how it compares to the very top schools.

the reason those 3 schools are not mentioned in the same sentence is probably due to geography - they are not close to each other so your options, unless you are going to move house, are unlikely to be applications to all 3. You should go and visit them and see what you think - league tables etc are one factor to consider when choosing a school but, in my opinion, only a very minor one. You need to think about which school best suits your daughter - including thinking about her journey on a cold winter morning laden with hockey kit and violin.

mrs wobble, I was going to say the same thing ie geography.
City and St Pauls take girls from a wider geographic area because of their locations as such they are often referred to across london.
There are other top schools such as North London Collegiate who are definitely on a par academically but because of their location they are not an option for many parents and so come up less frequently in discussions.

I'm sure JAGS is a very good school and comparable in many ways but the impression I had was that its not quite in the St Paul's strata (or Westminster if we're talking 6th form).
But the point is not pecking order or desirability but what suits your dd. I wouldn't dream of sending my DD to St Pauls despite its excellence. I am keen on City for her however as I think the ethos and girls are more her type iyswim.

DD is very keen on St.Paul's but we don't live anywhere near it.

thenevernever, do you consider City to be in 'St Paul's strata'

My younger sister went to JAGS, which was her choice, as it was the right school for her. She got accepted into SPGS (and others) but chose JAGS.

My twin sister and I were Paulinas at the time, and the expectation was my sister would follow us, but she didn't.

She saw SPGS as an 'acdemic hot house', and it is, so it's a school for girls who thrive on pressure. My sister wasn't one of those girls.

My sister's opinion of JAGS was, it offered academic excellence, but as you rightly said, as it isn't often talked about alongside schools like SPGS, she felt the pressure was lifted a bit. She thrived at JAGS and headed off to Cambridge to read medicine.

As someone previously said, you can't judge a whole school on how one show has portrayed a small group, that would be mad.

After all, I know some Old Paulinas who would horrify people, you get them in all schools.

DD is now set up at Jags and absolutely loves it. A fantastic school with incredible grounds, a nice uniform, informative polite teachers and sparky girls full of ambition and drive.

Ive got nothing against paulina`s but they are so driven and their schedules are so strict its almost like a soldier training camp. DD came back mortified after 11+ exam interview. she felt they had been rude,decisive and wanted a certain type of girl that she definitely wont change herself into just for them. JAGS would be my choce any day

JAGS is seriously and consistently high in the league tables. It's weird it's not better known. SPGS might do better, but CLGS doesn't.

It's a marmite school though, again not sure why.

SPGS might do better, but CLGS doesn't

Meh.

2012 JAGS A-level maths: 15 A* out of all 34 entries (44%). CLSG: 20/36 (55%).
Physics. JAGS 3/21 (14%), CLSG 8/19 (42%).
EngLit % is the same.
Number of entries of Maths+Physics to number of children. JAGS: 55/95 (0.58 per child), CLSG: 55/67 (0.82 per child).

Maybe, CLSG is just a better know brand which can attract stronger children, maybe, there are South London grammars pull out a number of strong girls, while North Londoners have to battle for indies, but still technically CLSG's results are better.

*known

3 subjects in one year doesn't make a sustained trend. I suggest people who are comparing schools look at the fuller tables from eg Times or Telegraph, and they will see which schools are consistently stronger performers.

SPGS has strongest reputation. JAGS and (will I get the alphabet soup wrong here? ) NLCS are very strong too. CLGS and the boys too taper currenty very fashionable, though.

Another way to lo

It is dangerous to get caught up in the minute differences between the academic results of all the good indies we are lucky enough to have in London. These notional league tables are self perpetuating since better results lead to increased demand, increased selection and pupils that are better at passing exams. Most schools in the top 100 of the league tables pretty much will be capable of enabling your child to fulfil their academic potential, and a few that aren't even in the top 100. They all enable clever pupils to get A*s and to top unis.

It is much more important to consider the ethos and all round strengths of a school and it's fit with your DC. SPGS in particular suits a particular sort of girl who thrives on uncompromising academic rigour. It is certainly the only school I know of whose response to the recent GCSE debacle was to make every girl who hadn't got an A* resit.

I know of lots of girls who have thrived at JAGs and was under the impression it sat easily alongside the NLCSs and LEHs in any sentence about London's top schools.

My DDs went to the same school, one thrived, one was affected by the pressure and a really dysfunctional year. We got it right with the first but I wish I had gone with my gut instinct that another mixed school further down the tables was right for DD2.

MsAverage You do realise there is more to life than Maths and Physics right? (Says the Cambridge mathmo). CLGS pupils are bloody LOUD. I'll say that for them.

Being stupid - what does JAGS stand for?

James Allen's Girls' School.

Note careful placing of apostrophes.

AntieStella Ive got nothing against paulina`s but they are so driven and their schedules are so strict its almost like a soldier training camp.

Where did you get this impression?

Sorry I should have addressed te

Russians, Math and Physics in this country are male subjects which mean money. If you noticed, I looked into English and found the performance equal. French and other fluff (9 Russian A-levels in JAGS - is it "heritage language" or what?) do not suggest income after unis, comparable to Maths+Physics degrees, stats is available.