Academic, full boarding, south of England- Marlborough ?

[yotty]

I am genuinely interested in peoples opinions of Marborough College. I have visited Canford which I like, but was wondering if Marlborough was worth a visit. Previous MN threads seem to make guarded negative comments about the school which I am not sure I quite understand. My son is not sporty, so how would he fair at Marlborough ?

I'm glad my unsporty boy is made to do sport. Good for them to learn the lesson that if one wants to get on in the world then they will frequently have to do what they do not like, namely a boring job!

Colleger- just wondering where you get your information from? You seem to be very knowledgeable about public schools all over the UK. Do you work in the business, or are they opinions formed from hearsay? Perhaps you did lots of research before deciding on schools for your boys.
Only curious, because I have been trying to do lots of research on line, read good schools guide from cover to cover in an attempt to narrow down the options. Yet I am beginning to come to the conclusion that once you take the obvious differences out of the equation ( eg. Coed/ single sex, town or rural campus, mega academic/good for less able), then there is not much to choose between these schools other than peoples anecdotal experiences.
Not trying to question your opinions, just trying to find the right school for DS without visiting 20 schools. For example, you seem very anti Canford but I don't understand why, because on paper it looks terrific,eg. Ofsted,ISC report, good schools guide, league tables, A level results, facilities. Is it just because it is not well known?
Sorry to ramble on, but beginning to think I am missing something that should be staring me in the face.

If you want him to full board then your first criteria should be is it a full boarding school - Eton Harrow Winchester etc. not the fact that he's not sporty. All of these offer a wide variety of activities that cater for all.

I've never posted before but feel obliged to write in defence of Canford. My DS is halfway through his schooling at Canford thriving both acadeemically and outsde the classroom,and very happy. From my perspective it is a well-balanced successful place that delivers exactly what it promises, and every bit as beautiful in real life. With regards to your original question, DS has visited almost every boarding school in the south of England for matches, and tells me that Marlborough is one of the few he would consider as an alternative.
Choosing a boarding school is difficult, particularly from a distance. All the prostpectuses emphasise the same things - here are a few tips from my own searches, and experience of a range of public schools:

• Does the school look outward or inward, seeing its role to prepare children for the adult world, or fill them with the school's traditions, as some do?
• Do the school's academic strengths match your child's interests?
• Is there a good range of A levels and other six form courses on offer so that the studdents have a real choice?
• Do the teachers you meet inspire you? Would you like to spend hours every week in their company?
• Do you get a sense of really caring housemasters/mistresses who understand teenagers and would be there in a crisis?
• Does the school have clear policies on bullying and homesickness? Do you agree with them?
• What sorts of families send their children to the school? And from where? This group will form your child's social set, probably forming lifelong friendships.

-Is it a town or country school? Is there an on-campus social life at weekends, or does the school empty out? (beware of too many buses to London)

• Do the teachers you meet inspire you? Would you like to spend hours every week in their company?

Hope this helps. Good luck with your decision.

Thanks Intheoaks, for your very helpful comments. Out of interest, I was wondering how your son found the weekends at Canford? I really like the school but it does concern me that my DS maybe lonely at the weekend, which is why I was considering looking at Marlborough. I was assuming there would be more going on at Marlborough, just because there are more kids who are borders. Perhaps I am wrong!

What are the entry requirements to get into Marlborough College for 6th Form please? Is it a very academic school?

In your head, in your head... Zombie, zombie...

alst, you'd be best off asking this in a new thread, or seeing if there is any information on the school website.

Incidentally yotty, I think you were bang on. If you're not sporty, boarding school is a different/difficult experience. And unless the school enforces a strict full boarding atmosphere, (and possibly even then) the weekends are bloody boring - it's nice to have a Saturday match as it means fewer dead hours to fill your time.

I'm glad my unsporty boy is made to do sport. Good for them to learn the lesson that if one wants to get on in the world then they will frequently have to do what they do not like, namely a boring job!

Fuck me, Colleger, that sounds horrendous. Yes, have them do physical exercise, but school sport is the worst if you don't like sport. I don't even accept the premise - do something you resent, because life is shit? What a lesson!

Sorry I am new to this. The website says six Bs (6s). I was not sure it is correct

Marlborough has a academic reputation Id be surprised if its entry requirements are 6 Bs I did a quick look and couldn't find anything about their entry requirements. If it is 6Bs then this is likely to be the bear minimum academic coed boarding schools get lots of applications for their 6th form and they can afford to be choosy.
Id speak to the admissions dept if I was you.

Hmmm sorry ti disagree with the PP but its reputation really isn't great IME. I know lots of parents who mutter about not being happy with it, and we looked round it a year or two ago and didn't proceed with our application - it just felt a bit rubbish compared to some of the other places we looked at.

Thank you. What is PP? Do you mean the reputation of Marlborough is not great?

I have looked through and found this information in their scholarship brochure for 16+, the admission office not clear if they have standard entry reqs. Is the pastoral care good in the school? Thank you so much for answering.

"Most of those who attend Marlborough College Sixth Form will achieve more passes than six and at considerably higher grades."
This is also stated in the same brochure!
In terms of academic reputations its results make it one of the highest achieving coed full boarding schools: 82% got A*-Bs. It's never has been regarded as a super selective which course are often singled sex.
I know it well and personally wouldn't have chosen it for my DS but its one of the few full boarding schools that are over subscribed so appears to be popular with many.

PP = previous poster

I know a lot of parents who live fairly locally who are a bit disappointed with it. Which is a shame as we were very keen to love it for our DS.

When I looked round I noticed the children weren't keen to look you in the eye, and they looked really scruffy. Which isn't what you pay for.

But we met a lovely housemaster so not all impressions were disappointing.

"they looked really scruffy. Which isn't what you pay for."
Im curious so are you paying to have your children impeccably turned out? What I know of Marlborough uniform its policy is strictly enforced and IME they looked less scruffy than others full boarders at other schools.
Don't foregt full boarders where the same clothes day in day out and in all weathers they often do a lot of walking so looking "scruffy" is not uncommon. Marlborough used to and probably still does insist that school uniform is worn when going up Marlborough High Street some schools allow children to change into home clothes when they go off the school premises thus causing less wear on uniform and shoes.
Personally scruffy uniform wouldn't bother me but I accept some feel differently.

My DD joined in 6th form and whatever is said about minimum entry qualifications, the majority had mainly A*s at GCSE. I am not sure how this will translate with the new 1-9 grades. Once there, if you want to be academic the school will do its best to support you, if you don’t, well they won’t spoon feed you. There are a lot of DCs who don’t need to succeed academically as they have a trust fund to support them.

My DD absolutely adored the school but know others struggled there. The pastoral care was much better than some schools in my experience. But be prepared that certainly for 6th formers they get quite a lot of freedoms and, by extension, opportunities to misbehave if they want. For those who suit the school, they will have the most fantastic experience.

Growingboys - I have to agree the 6th formers do look scruffy but I wouldn’t let that put you off the school.

Dauntseys or Teddies.

Dauntseys is very definitely not academic. But it is nice and cheery.

happygardening the children I saw had long, lank hair, untucked shirts etc and yes, I would want my children's school to teach them the importance of self-respect and personal appearance, 100pc.

I work in a professional environment where looking clean and tidy really matters, and so I try to instil that into my children, just as I appreciate that their teachers do, too.

Having said all the above about Marlborough, it's still a nice school and in my favourite town in the world. And I have plenty of friends with lovely children who go there. (They could just wash their hair a bit more often, that's all).

It’s weird how we see the same place and experience different things. I not going to explain how I know it but I never saw children with “long lank hair and untucked shirts, well no more than you’d see at any school.
I’ve no idea how old your DC’s are but mine went through a scruffy phase as you described above except no long hair then he went through a really over the top smart phase this lasted much longer than the scruffy phase now (at nearly 21) he just looks like a normal young man.
I believe that we should let children go through these harmless phases they are trying to work out lots of things about themselves and IMO (professional and personally) most if left alone grow out of it.
Secondly Marlborough has a reputation for having very “smart” families and again from what I saw I think this reputation isn’t totally undeserved.

I'm sorry to have struck a nerve happygardening but it was noticeable how all the other schools we looked at handled the issue/scruffy phase rather better.

On the separate issue you raise of class, I, too, went to school with some extremely 'smart' families as you describe but do not see this as a huge advantage, really. I have some friends with vast piles but they are no better than my other friends.

I don’t think “smart” is advantageous although I don’t necessarily equate smart with “vast piles in fact we know quite a few who live in vast piles who definitely arent what I mean “smart”.
But I do think scruffy children with tiffu long lack hair and “smart” parents might be incongruous. {grin}

To be honest I think the scruffiness is part of the Marlborough culture. There are a lot of families with serious money there but actually no one is impressed by that. In fact quite the opposite - those that flaunted their money were rather looked down upon. Showing off in smart designer clothes just didn’t seem to be a thing at the College. In fact, when out of uniform, they all seemed to dress down in scruffy, often charity shop clothes. I think that extends to the lack of care with the uniform.

Yes dancingdreamer I have noticed that those who don't have the burden of having to work for a living are far more inclined towards that look.

One of my richer friends had blue hair at our ten year school reunion but she was also the one who didn't have a job/a boss who might object to the hair as she had a trust and didn't need one!