[Need help] About UK boarding School

[abcdabe]

I'm a HK student and I'm going to study in the U.K. for my A-level next year.
But since I'm not familiar with the schools, so I want to ask for some help.
These are the schools that have offered me for a place, please comment about them :

1. Epsom College
2. Shrewsbury School
3. Warwick school

( The academic results aren't the most important requirement, but the learning environment and the students are what I'm looking for. )

Thank you :)

I know people at Epsom and it seems a lovely school. They are all very happy there (and it's close to lhr and London). It's the only one off your list that I've heard of.

Contrary to what Dotty states in the small world of independent boarding schools Shrewsbury is well known, it's a well regarded coed boarding school offering lots of opportunities for all. I've heard of Epsom but know nothing about it and I've never heard of Warwick School.

Warwick I believe is a solid academic school, as is Epsom but Shrewsbury is the only proper boarding school IMO.

I thought Warwick was a day school, actually! It has a decent reputation, I believe.

I think Shrewsbury is well-regarded, but I've not heard of Epsom College, sorry.

Warwick is really a day school. Also it is single-sex. The school is half-way between Warwick and Leamington. Leamington has a lively atmosphere due to students from Warwick University.

Shrewsbury is well-regarded and is in a beautiful part of the country. It is a proper boarding school which is important if you are going to be a full boarder. Shrewsbury town is lovely and historic but not very buzzing.

I can't say much about Epsom because I don't know it.

Warwick does have some boarders but is predominantly a day school. Has a fabulous reputation for pastoral care and good academic results. It has a lot of contact and shares some facilites with Kings High which is the girls school in Warwick. All the boys I know who have gone there have been very happy but they are day students. Think its academic results are better than Shrewsbury.

Have you looked at Bromsgrove which has more boarders and has strong links I believe with schools in HK?

Only One real boarding school on that list.that of course is Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury is an excellent school in a beautiful location. Proper boarding too, so you wouldn't be left hanging around while most students went home at weekends.

Thank you for all your advice.
Also, do you guys know whether these schools have a lot of Chinese or not, as I want to learn English more.
And how's the pastoral care of these schools and the students' personality?

I apologise if I have used the wrong word.

Thank you :)

If you want to learn more English, would it be a good idea to stay with a family and attend a day school? (No idea if such schemes exist!)

My flatmate at university was from HK, she and all her friends had done A Levels in UK, then university, but I'm pretty sure they stayed with families rather than boarded (though possibly family/friends that originated from HK, rather than UK IYSWIM)

Shrewsbury is the proper boarding school here. However, I would look at Queenswood in Hertfordshire or Heathfield at Ascot, Berkshire. Heathfield is full boarding and lots to do. Less stay in for weekends at Queenswood. Heathfield does not have many Chinese students so you would learn English. Both these schools are close to London. Shrewsbury is a bit remote I think. Do have a look at the other two, they would still be able to offer you a place I am sure.

Milly are n't those girls' schools? Think the OP a boy since Warwick is one of the initial list?

I looked around Epsom with a Hong Kong Chinese family. We liked it, Co Ed, lovely buildings and grounds and a solid if not the most stellar academic reputation. It has a tradition of serving the families of medical professionals so a particular strength in preparing pupils for medicine. We didn't see too many Chinese pupils so I don't know if there are many but in any case it is how well they integrate pupils from other cultures rather than the sheer numbers. CLC, where friend's DD ended up, is the Boarding school that has best implemented strategies the make sure the pupils mix and that has large numbers of overseas pupils including Hong Kong Chinese Perhaps you could ask the schools if you could speak to a Chinese pupil there?

It is a mix of day weekly and full boarding at Epsom but the full boarders that we spoke to had busy weekends and were often invited out to friend's houses.

The only thing, I don't know how long it has been coed but it felt like a boy,s school with girls, that could be a drawback or a good thing depending how you look at it.

To be honest my daughter just went to boarding in the UK at a pretty good school . Not many Chinese in junior boarding. A few more in senior school and more in the 6th form.

You will find that it will be increasingly hard to find a school which is branded without HK Chinese in it.

As you may well know HK system is harsher than its equivalent GB system. So many of them are trying to get out of the rat race.

I suggest you find a school with low Chinese numbers but great reknown pastoral care. Academic wise your Chiese you will do alright...If you maintain your work ethic. The English should also not be a major obstacle...

Milly Shrewsbury is not remote! It is a sizeable town and is less than an hour, by train, from Birmingham and just over an hour to Manchester & Liverpool. In fact it only takes two & a half hours to get to London.

OP, I only know Shrewsbury on your list, as live locally to it. It is a lovely school with fantastic facilities, highly regarded & has excellent results. The school has mainly local & other Uk students, but also a small number International students. Approximately 10 percent of the students have English as their second language.

You might want to think about your proximity to Heathrow, so look at some of the schools in Berkshire.

Scheme, as the OP has asked for help with 3 schools he's already chosen. It really isn't necessary to be close to Heathrow. There are plenty of flights to Hong Kong from Manchester. Ok they may not be direct but they only add a couple of hours onto the journey.

And Epsom isn't exactly remote from Heathrow! 30 mins around the M25 on a good day. It is more relevant whether they run a bus service to the airport at the end of term, and half term. It is expensive by taxi even to Epsom (think at least 3x the cost of HK taxis) and you would not want to be wrestling your suitcases by public transport to any of these schools.

I went to a very good boarding school (top 10) and we had a few HK chinese girls. I am still in contact with one such girl from my year. She did find it really hard to begin with but had to sink or swim in terms of language.

I woud go for Epsom personally, but then I always appreciated being close to LHR and London.

You also have the option of LGW from Epsom. Pretty sure they will run a minibus to either at end of term but wouldn't take more than an hour by train.

I would find out what percentage are full time boarders. Many years ago I was trying to decide between Epsom and Cranleigh and chose Cranleigh because it was 85% boarders and even day pupils in sixth form would stay overnight a couple of nights a week. Weekends were full of activities and so even if you were local (like I was) you did not want to go home. Epsom was a mixture of day and weekly boarding (with very few termly boarders) and so there was not much going on at weekends. However, I do know Epsom was much stronger academically. This was however a long time ago (the 90's) so lots will have changed.

I went to a very good boarding school (top 10)

...and yet you've never heard of Shrewsbury?

Exactly but it was 20 years ago and all our boys schools were Eton, Charterhouse, Wellington etc. Or boys school where brothers went. I can't suddenly magically remember it, because you want me too! I'm not saying it's a bad school at all, it certainly inspires loyalty from posters on here. All i'm saying is that i hadn't heard of it. I'm not the schools oracle so my opinion isn't that important.

Many, many apologies. I am living in a girls' world!!!
In that case, look at Rugby, Oundle or Uppingham .

Actually Shrewsbury is remote if you are flying into Heathrow. Same applies to quite a lot of the co-ed boarding schools. Charterhouse might be a bit nearer to Heathrow.