13+ boarding SOS

[firstboard]

Dear moms,
My DS will got to Year 6 in Sept . My husband is being transferred to Switzerland and we may be moving countries frequently. We have decided to take DS to Swiss for 2 years and then send him to UK boarding schools from 13+ age.
I live in Manchester, so we don't have local boarding options. I have been franatically searching internet and have managed to register DS for Winchester, Westminster, Eton, Kings, Tonbridge, Harrow and Whitgrift ( Yes, I am paranoid !!) .
DS is very bright, managed to get through Manchester Grammar for Boys here. His maths is good and English is also above average.
I have received test dates of Eton and Tonbridge. Where should we begin preparation.
Getting registered and getting a test date all happend in span of 15 days and I am now wondering if I should prepare DS or leave everything to his potential because there is not much time left to shift gears.
We will be doing 11+ English, VR, NVR and maths - GL assessments . What else should I do?
Thanks for your replies .

... and for Stansted, Oakham. Direct train to small town station. And they do IB

DS is fine now. He is looking forward to Winchester interview . I will hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.

Ingrid - Thanks, I am OK with the result now. You can't pass everything!!

Longstall - I have already applied in so many schools that it is getting bit difficult to take him to exams . I will google St Edwards . Thanks.

xpatmam - I have to ask DS to go gentle on Rugby. He hates Rubgy with every single cell of his body, so if Housemaster loves Rugby, DS'll be kicked out pronto !!

ResponsibleA - This is a very good and useful list. I have applied to Wellington and Harrow. I think I was too late for Rugby and never applied to Millfield.
Thanks for all the practical advice.

"Exeats occur twice a term Friday 6pm until Monday 8am"
10 years + of full boarding we've never had a exeat like this! Nearly always Frid lunch to Sun pm usually 9 pm very occassionally Sat lunch time to Mon 9ish. Also not all schools have two a term Winchester doesn't always. This is why you're DS might need a guardian within sensible driving distance to school.
OP also no rugby at Win Coll.

The first set of schools you mentioned are the most competitive and sought after schools in the UK. I'm not surprised your son didn't get into Eton, it's a very heavily subscribed school and the chances were always next to nil. But I do worry about the other schools, not because of your son but because of the sheer number of applicants versus the number of seats available. A lot of places at those schools will have been earmarked for boys who were put on the list the moment they were born!

If you're still looking at schools, you may want to consider Charterhouse, Bedford College, Sherborne, Shrewsbury, Milton Abbey, Ardingly College, Clifton College, Lancing, Malvern, Oundle, Radley, Repton, Sedburgh, Stowe?

There are plenty of excellent schools that are not Eton or Winchester.

Tally Wouldn't it be better to find out about a school before coming on to a thread where most posters do actually know what they're talking about.

Not that you shouldn't have an opinion but you're talking complete crap about the school in question. If the chances of getting in were next to nil, as you so confidently state, several well thought of prep schools would have to consider closing. And if names were being put down at birth I cannot imagine why boys, staff and parents spend their time preparing rigorously for exams.

Seriously, why be so unhelpful?

I'm sorry if my post was surprisingly unhelpful.

I only wanted to point out that the original poster (in her first post) listed only a handful of schools that included the most well known boarding schools in the UK.

I do know some things about the boarding school admissions process so I'm not wholly ignorant.

At schools like Eton, in any given year there are only a certain number of slots available.

Eton has to consider all the traditional prep schools that feed into Eton.

Eton has to consider all the siblings.

Eton will want some diversity, it isn't the purely establishment school it was a few decades ago and they do want some international students, some students from interesting backgrounds as well as students from families that have a strong historical link with Eton.

Eton has a bunch of other priorities in its admissions process that only you and I can guess at.

Very bright boys will be rejected from Eton and it's because there isn't space. The number of spaces available in any given year to a boy who doesn't have one of the above advantages is extremely limited. The original poster is coming late into the game compared to many families who have had Eton and other schools of similar calibre in their sight since their children were born and their names on waiting lists as well as preferred feeder prep schools, and that has put her son at an additional disadvantage.

If you're only applying to Eton, Winchester, Westminster, Tonbridge and Harrow and so forth, especially without coming from one of the traditional feeder prep schools or family connections (the father or grandfather was a student) you are facing stiff odds. Not impossible, but stiff, although each school will have slightly varying odds depending on the nature of the applicant, Winchester, for example, loves brains and will look more closely at genuinely bright boys, Tonbridge likes sporty pupils and so forth.

And the odds do vary from year to year, once the preferred applicants from the prep schools or those with other sibling/family/diversity connections are admitted, the number of spaces available can be just a handful or can be many more. It might only be six seats, it may be 20! But since we can't guarantee what the chances will be as it's never a neat formula, it's always wise to look at a wide range of schools. I'm sure her child is extremely capable and a good school will certainly take him. But then we get to the other half of the story, finding the best school once you've been admitted. You want a number of schools to compare before making your final selection, it's no fun applying to only five schools, rejected by four, and ended up having to go to the school that was the least suitable because it's sporty and your child isn't sporty.

I get the impression she's not very familiar with the larger boarding school scene in the UK and there are many more just as excellent schools that are easier to get into and that may not have been on her radar. So that's why I nominated a bunch more very good schools for her to consider.

I give up.

Almost.

For the benefit of people reading BOYS DO NOT HAVE THEIR NAMES DOWN FROM BIRTH FOR THAT SCHOOL. (RTFwebsite.) There is a competitive pre-test in yr 6. Boys who pass have a place conditional on doing as well as expected in CE or the Scholarship. Boys not at prep schools do a modified exam covering the state school syllabus. Roughly 1 in 3 boys who apply might "get in." They do not reserve spaces for siblings. My family and friends have been through this process. I have spoken to the admissions staff and teaching staff. I know boys who have been successful and some who gave not. I know families where one sibling has got in and another not. Your "advice" is unhelpful.

The OP's son is already at a highly competitive school. There is no reason to think he does not stand a very good chance at any of the schools she has selected.

Sorry to see your son failed the Eton test. So did mine a couple of years ago. Actually it was a blessing in disguise, as all his friends who were on the waiting list have been in limbo for a couple of years are now resigning themselves to going elsewhere, whereas we knew straightaway that we were going to plan B. I hope the Winchester interview goes well.

I am curious about the exeats described - DS1 has only one fixed exeat a year, and is allowed out for one optional weekend a term (from after Saturday games to Sunday night). DS1 has 2 x Friday-Monday exeats a term, but he's still at prep.

Tally you might know "something" about boarding school admissions but clearly nothing about admissions to Eton, Win Coll etc.
Eton does not have a sibling policy.
The OP was not coming "late" to the Eton admission process because you don't register your DS from birth you can register him any time up until he's 10 years and 6 months old, as far as I aware only Radley requires very early admission.
At Eton grand father, father connections also dont add anything much we know at least four old Etonians whose DS's didn't get in.
Some preps do send quite a few each year but plenty of preps only send the odd child! I'm no Eton fan but they made this very clear when we looked round.
When we looked round it over 6 years ago we were told that there were about 6 applicants for every place I believe this hasn't changed significantly so logically your chances of getting in aren't nil. Win Coll has to restrict the numbers registering for a place due to the nature of the interview process so there are about 3-4 applicants for every place so again your chances aren't nil.
You then go onto to suggest other schools the OP should look at you clearly haven't read the OP's comments or really do know nothing about boarding schools. She wants and will need full boarding most of those you suggested are weekly boarding schools particularly for the OPs DS's age group and finally no one in their right mind would suggest a very bright sporty child should consider Milton Abbey!!

Oooh, that is interesting. I presumed most exeats were the same, based on sporting fixtures and calendars set at least a year in advance. Lessons on Saturday am, lunch, then sporting fixtures.

I've kids are at the schools listed, my kids play against schools listed (and I am a guardian to kids at Harrow and Benenden) and all their exeats match. My mistake, apologies.

I know St Johns, Leatherhead, have a slightly different arrangement because of their ecumenical background and Sunday service.

Zero is right, the sibling rule or names down at birth rules don't count anymore.

Tally's list is good, forgot Lancing and Charterhouse, the only reason I didn't list some was proximity to airports, but others have since mentioned, Stanstead (Christ Hospital?) or Manchester (Ampleforth, Sedburgh?).

You've plenty of choice.

Keep us posted. Good luck

You would think so ResponsibleAdult - I just assumed that the exeats stopped when they went up to senior school (just spotted the typo in my post - DS2 is at prep and has the long weekend exeats, DS1 is at senior school and doesn't have them).

As former expats we were quite happy with no weekend exeats, although obviously that wasn't why we chose his school . This term we seem to have one or other DS home almost every weekend for exeats/University open days/optional weekends, but rarely at the same time .

Tally - I get your point about restricting myself to only highly competitive schools and loosing out to "more prepared" boys. This is a chance that we are willing to take. It is possible that DS may not be offered any place due to whatever reason. In that case, we'll keep him in IB schools in whatever European country we go to.
But if I am sending DS away, it better be a very good school - much better than the schools that are available locally, where we live.

Regarding Eton registration, I registered him AFTER the age of 10 yrs, 6 months . We were precisely 10 days over registration age. I explained our circumstances to the admissions and they sent me forms and asked me to send everything asap !!

Happy - Yes, Radley didn't let me register and refused point blank !!

St Paul's advice was that DS wouldn't be able to pass CE unless we put him in a CE prep school. They made it very clear at registration stage that if we want to go ahead with our application, we have to make sure that we have a plan for CE, otherwise it'll be impossible to attain the standards they require . I didn't register at the school.

Jennifer - I agree with you about not being on Eton Waiting list. Atleast we know that we have to give our 100% efforts to the next school.
For us, its takes lot of effort and time to travel to a school for taking assessment / interviews. Plus DS will have to miss his school . So its a blessing in disguise to get a clear decline result

Have you asked MGS for advice? I know this school very well and think they are knowledgeable and wise!

Its never advisable giving out expert advise on schools if you are not an expert, as it could lead to a child missing out on a good school.

OP a lot of the information Tally has given is inaccurate. Your DS has as much chance as anybody else of getting a place at the boarding schools you've mentioned. They certainly don't reserve places for only 'feeder schools', our prep would have given up by now as we only sent a few each year. So long as he registers by the deadline which is stated on the school websites and certainly NOT from birth (except for Radley who encourage applicants to register as soon as possible, I still managed to get ds name down on the WL for Radley when he was 7yrs!) Failing that, there's still a chance of getting onto the warden's list for very bright boys.

It's a shame you missed the deadline for Rugby school which only closed this term. However there's nothing stopping you ringing up and explaining your situation, you never know!

Sorry your ds didn't get a place at Eton, but like another poster said at least you now know and can strike it off your list instead of being in limbo.

Registration for Charterhouse by the way closes end of this month! (For 2017) So you need to move fast (visited two weeks ago, lovely school, but didn't apply in the end due to their boarding arrangements).

Noteverthebest - DS joined in MGS Junior school this September. I am not sure they know him well enough to advice us about Boarding schools. I took advice from his Prep school and they assured cooperation on School reports to which ever school we apply. But they didn't give me any advice on which school is suitable .

educationrocks - We can apply to Charterhouse in Year 8 as overseas candidate.

Whitgift and Charterhouse - We can apply in Year 7 and 8 respectively. For Whitgift, we can apply in Year 6 and if DS is not successful, can apply in Year 7 as well .

Education, please be assured I would only feel qualified to talk about schools; I went to; DH went to; schools my friends went to; schools my DC played against; schools whose Open Days we've been to; opinions of friends with children at that school.

I agree it could be unhelpful to comment without personal experience, otherwise it is just hearsay. OP, you will find the correct school and have plenty of time to do so. HTH.

First of all, you have plenty of time to get your DS into a top quality Uk boarding school for the start of y9!
You have been pretty aspirational up to now. Eton, Harrow and Winchester are all over subscribed. They are hard to get into even from traditional preps, so getting your DS in is/was always a long shot. Neither you nor he should be despondent about refusals. Winchester is a school for very clever boys. If he is not very clever, he will not enjoy it.
Living in Europe, you will need full boarding. Charterhouse, Bradfield, Westminster, Tonbridge and St Pauls are to all intents and purposes weekly boarding in Y 9, 10 and 11. So if he is in at the weekends he will be one of a small handful of boys. Not always fun.
For full boarding, offering a substantially better education than the international schools in Switzerland, you might like to look at Oundle, Uppingham, St Edwards Oxford and Kings Canterbury all of which will probably offer your Ds a place. Kings Canterbury is very accessible from London City which is good for Switzerland.
You might also consider Sevenoaks, Marlborough(may be full) and Brighton College. But I would recommend visiting these schools and coming up with a short list of three - otherwise you risk overwhelming your Ds!

Whitgift is also weekly boarding.

There is no reason to think that firstboard's DS is not clever enough for Winchester. The importance is not to camouflage his natural personality and spontaneity by interview coaching. I suspect that Harrow is less likely as an option as they will be looking for similar characteristics to Eton. However some quite unlikely boys (no major extracurricular interest or very strong academics and quite quiet) got into Harrow from my DS's prep so who knows.
Brighton is no more full boarding than Charterhouse or Tonbridge.
I would definitely consider Sevenoaks, King's, Rugby, Marlborough and St Edwards. Oundle I have heard mixed reviews about their pastoral care from this site.

Drinks You may have missed the bit where the OP said her DS is at MANCHESTER GRAMMAR SCHOOL. I seriously doubt that any other school in the country could, from an academic pov, be considered a "long-shot."

Of course there will always be very clever boys who don't make it into Eton, SPS, Win Coll and Westminster just like there will be very clever boys who don't make it into Oxford or Harvard. Schools, universities and lets not forget employers make the wrong decisions. Such is life. So for this reason alone your DS shouldn't be too upset.
OP you can find out which area your DS didn't do well in for Eton pre test, well at least I know prep school heads can contact the admissions office and find out. It may be helpful to know or maybe it won't! At the risk of peternas coming down on my head we felt Eton were very much looking for a type not a bad type just a certain type, who will get the maximum out of all it has to offer, (friends with DS's currently there or who were there generally agree) and that loose canons in particular weren't welcome in fact this was very much implied when we looked round it.

Win Coll is probably broader in the type of boy it will choose; loose canons, eccentric non conformist and lone wolfs are positively embraced. The boys certainly seem different when ever I meet them.

Zero: I did not miss the point about OPs DS being at MGS. Nor did I miss the bit where she described him as "above average" and specifically not "very bright". So I think my point about competition stands. MGS is a day school with a local catchment area even if some boys commute significant distances. Eton, Winchester, Harrow in particular are boarding schools wiith a national and international catchment, so it follows that competition for places is greater.

DS is very bright, ...