Stowe school v haileybury college

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i've just been looking at the telegraph league tables and to my surprise stowe s achieving 96% A-C gcses passes where haileybury is achieving 84%, their IB results look better to.

I always thought as stowe's results would be rather well..medeiocre being non selective etc, haileybury is not highly selevtive but is all the same i just assumed where way ahead.

Can anyone tell me if perhaps i am misinterpreting the results ? Haileybury is our second choice for ds and has just been offered a place for 2014, although i do like Stowe as well i was put of as i felt tney werent achieving much academically.

Bump

I can help with intepreting the statisics. I think it is important to look at the school in terms of what it would do for your child, rather than the percentages that get a particular grade.

Some schools with seeming "low" achievement rates actually take in a wider range of children academically speaking, and work really hard to get some of those that are struggling to get four GCSEs. Yet the same school gets the ten A*s for the top ability students and gets them in to Oxbridge.

I think it is more informative to know whether there are some students that get A. If so, it means that the teaching is good enough for pupils to get A. If they all get A* it probably means the school is more selective on admissions. A lower percentage of top grades probably indicates a wider intake in terms of academic ability, rather than a lower academic teaching standard overall.

I looked at Stowe, I am not familiar with Haileybury but from the web site it does look to be one of those excellent schools that is simply less famous than some of the big names. I checked the Good Schools Guide. Haileybury has 100 children that have SN, which would skew the statistics in terms of how many get top grades, but would not affect your DCs experience of education or their chance of top grades.

Either of the two schools would be an excellent education for just about anyone. I think you can choose between them on non-academic criteria, eg. do you want all boarding and fixed exeats? Is there a difference in the extra-curricular activites? Do you want to join at 11+ or 13+? How convenient are they for getting to matches and musical activities? Will your child be pushed academically to achieve as well as he or she can? And most important, will your DC be happy there?

Between those two schools, it is probably quite a close call, but I don't think there is any need to choose between them based on league tables.

Thanks trix2323 that was useful. We have looked at all the other criteria you mentioned and both would be a very good fit for ds. we only discounted stowe bevause we tnought haileybury was jigher up academically.

We are looking at 13+ 2014 entry and ds is "sporty" but not sport mad, so still have time to juggle our options if they change both are less than an hour from home etc You mentioned the GSG, was it 2012 that you read or 2011 ? I havent purchased the 2012 one so would be interested in the new reports. Does Stowe not take any SN then ?

Does Haileybury do IGCSEs which would not be in league tables?

I have the 2011 GSG, which is what enticed me to consider Stowe, as it explains that Stowe is trying to improve academic standards. (What I liked most about it was the great sport facilities for a very sporty DS). SN is mentioned (as you can read) but I don't think they have a special programme for SN children. Also, I have heard that they are actively discouraging people to pursue their applications when it has been identified that the student either won't do well or will struggle.

Some schools have a special support programme for students that need quite a bit of extra help for certain things such as dyslexia. These students do one subject less but get extra help on assignments, etc. If Haileybury has such a scheme, it would certainly bring down the average grades but that wouldn't be a reason for avoiding it.

If you are looking at 2014 entry and you live less than an hour from both of them, you could go to a couple of events or show up at matches at each school. I went to watch a random match at a school I was interested in, standing around and chatting to a couple of parents there was very useful for consolidating my impression that it was a good one for DS.

I looked at Stowe for DS1 5-6 years ago. i personally couldn't stand the head who I thought was smarmy. We were shown around a boarding house by a matron and I thought it was like Lord of the Flies (this later proved to be true for a friends DS) and we watched a mock lesson and I couldn't understand a word of it and it was my degree subject again the same friends DS agreed with my opinion on the quality of the teaching!

If you want sporty have you looked at St Edwards Oxford it has a high standard or pastoral care and a new head who I suspect is going to push up the academic results.

My dd is going to Stowe in Setember and we have now visited several times including an overnight stay for my dd and spoken to numerous parents with children there all of whom sing it's praises. It seems that kids are pushed to be the best they can be whether it be academics, sports or music or all of these things. I thought the head was inspirational and found him to be extremely down to earth. The grounds are breathtaking. The standard of sports is extremely high but most of all we were impressed at how happy all the kids there seem to be. The school really does seem to focus on the individual, my dd can't wait to get there.

Haileybury I believe does both science and maths IGCSE.
My friend's DD has just left the sixth form at Stowe and she is very complementary about the school. She was impressed with the pastoral care. There were a number of events that involved parents in school life. Stowe also ran homework clinics each evening so teachers were alway accessible to students in the evenings.Above all her DD left with the academic results she needed for a RG university

I'm not sure how the Telegraph tables work (eg but there is no doubt that Haileybury has consistently been considerably higher in the FT rankings which are probably the most rigorous analysis available. Suggest you look at the percentage getting top marks - that will show that the top cohort does well. More to the point though is what Trix2323 said - over and above a certain level it really doesn't matter if the school can achieve the very best result for your child. Haileybury is a very good school and would wholeheartedly recommend it. I don't know Stowe except that one of the dimmest people I ever met went there (very polite and nice but very dim) - I just remember being in awe of what his teachers had achieved when I learned that he had passed two A levels. The point being that your child will be highly likely to get the best possible results, be well taught and educated, have a good time and make good friends at either school.

rankings.ft.com/secondary-schools/haileybury-and-imperial-service-college/secondary-schools-2011
rankings.ft.com/secondary-schools/stowe-school/secondary-schools-2011

Congratulations OP on being offered a place at HB, it looks to be a great school. We have been looking at it for DS, again for 2014 entry at 13+. However have I read the website wrong? It suggests places will be offered in yr 8.... Is there a chance we could get an earlier offer do you think? Sorry to be so specific! Thanks.

oftenlurking i have pm'd you.

Malvern college vs Haileybury College.
Please can anyone advise as we are looking at both schools for DD. We want a boarding school that can help DD achieve the best academically and in sports as well. I have read that they are both good schools but we need advice as to choose which will be best for her considering other factors such as a good international mix , pastoral care, etc.