Whitgift or Bromsgrove? Help please!

[JanaXX]

My son has been accepted to both schools to do the IB. We are Middle Eastern and live in the Middle East, and for a number of reasons were not able to visit the schools in person, and must now decide this week which offer to accept.

My son is very bright and predicted to do well. Not very sporty, more bookish but independent and confident (think Model United Nations, Debate, etc). His English is fluent (placed highest in English entrance exams among all IB applicants) and he is currently at a British International School so quite similar system, etc. He would be a full boarder in both cases and would fly home during holidays.
Both schools have similar IB results but other than that different pros and cons. We are looking for somewhere where he would be comfortable, develop his character and thrive. Finding it impossible to choose as we have not visited either school. Any thoughts, advice or first-hand experience would be very very welcome!

I would not send my child to Whitgift purely on the basis that it is in the middle of Croydon/London. I would choose a more rural boarding school. I suspect Whitgift is strong on sport..has an amazing pool but it doesn't sound as though that would be a positive for you.

I'm afraid I don't know much about Bromsgrove at all.

If you didn't have to make the decision this week I would say maybe you should look at a wider range of schools. Eg. Boxhill school does the IB and is in a lovely setting, and has a good rep for pastoral care. I expect it would have places. I haven't had a child there but know people whose children have moved there from other schools and been very happy with it.

Ps. I would not base the decision purely on results as the results depend a lot on the intake. Eg. Whitgift is selective and Boxhill is not selective at all. However a bright child will still do well at boxhill and be nurtured at the same time.

Whitgift isn’t in the middle of Croydon and definitely not in the middle of London.

It’s going to be difficult to offer advice as many people will have experience of one but not the other. I have children at Trinity and only have second hand information about Whitgift from friends - generally they have been happy and their sons have thrived in the environment. Whilst they do have a strong sporting side, I don’t think this is to the exclusion of boys whose talents and interests lie in more academic pursuits.

It’s a shame you haven’t bee able to visit as ordinarily my advice would be to go with gut feeling! Academically there is rarely anything to split the schools as most boys would have the same personal result in any of them.

Does Whitgift have many boarders?

You do really need to visit as the locations are vastly different. Relatively few full boarders at Whitgift, boarding has only started in earnest within last 5 years and many are local boys who weekly board to save the daily journey.

Thanks to posters....actually the London location is a plus as it saves one day for travel to Heathrow
I'm thinking in terms of environment, culture etc. which school is friendlier, less stuffy, more focused on the individual, better pastoral care, wider range of non-sporting activities, better placement for university applications (both in the UK and US), etcc

Is there absolutely no way you can get over to look at them? I get that it’s not just hopping in a car for an hour!!

Bromsgrove is coed and has a feeder prep school, whereas Whitgift is focussed on boys aged 10+ . Whitgift probably has a higher elite sport and academic reputation. Not an easy trip to
Heathrow though by public transport. Gatwick is much more straightforward.

I was at Bromsgrove on Sunday for an event, it's a beautiful school.

In your situation I would pick Bromsgrove because Whitgift is new to boarding, it doesn't have many boarders and I would be unsure how many come from overseas like your son. Because most of W are day pupils they will not be around at the weekend. Bromsgrove is known as an international boarding school so it should be easier for him to make friends etc, but I would still check the number of boarders. My other reason for B would be that more pupile sit IB there, it is only around 30 at W. This is important, DS is at a school that offers IB and A level and he has found that because the IB mob are pretty much permanently in lessons they bond very closely and he doesn't see some very close friends in school hours at all now. Pupils sitting A levels have lot more spare time.
I am looking at this very much from your personal perspective and in a different situation I would pick W because it is an excellent school. Also, before choosing I personally would try and contact happygardening because she has been around a lot of boarding schools and she probably knows something about Bromsgrove. As you are under time constraints it may be worth pming her - she is always very helpful to people trying to choose boarding schools.

Op sorry I can’t help with your actual question - did you apply to Sevenoaks school? It is mixed (if that is ok for you) but an amazing boarding school and only does IB. Great for international boys with a dedicated boys international house- all join in the sixth form (for that house so great opportunities to make friends). They really know how to help their pupils apply to the top US and UK universities as well

I'd second Sevenoaks too if it's not too late and I think they're expanding their boarding provision.

How old is your ds?

@LIZS he will be 17 in September
@totallyrandom I did try Sevenoaks but we had missed the deadline
@cakeisalwaystheanswer i do see all your points fully and am inclined to agree but also, Whitgift is so prestigious and hard to get into, so maybe that would improve university prospects?

Soupdragon "Whitgift isn’t in the middle of Croydon and definitely not in the middle of London."

Depends on your perspective. Living outside the M25 I regard most of what is within the M25 as London even if some of it may refer to itself as Surrey! I was very impressed with the pool at Whitgift when my DD went to a swimming gala there.

Anyway it sounds as though the OP is happy with London/outer London as a location anyway!

Unis don't care what school you went to and if anything they are biased towards state school applicants, the less presigious the better! I mean this nicely so please don't take offence, but being able to boast about a name is not going to be much compensation if your DS is lonely for 2 years. Don't underestimate the importance of being happy and how this can affect academic progress.
Have you asked the school how many W boys of his age group stay at school at the weekends? I don't think it will be many ,like previous posters the boys I know who board are very sporty and only board to make it easier for their parents midweek and go home at weekends.
There are a lot of threads on MN about the difficulties faced by overseas boys joining schools that empty out at the weekends.
As others suggested Sevenoaks would be a good compromise as full boarders and a better known name.

@cakeisalwaystheanswer absolutely agree that his happiness is v important. Thats why torn, otherwise would have gone straight for Whitgift.

@cakeisalwaystheanswer there would be around 20 sixth form boys at the weekend with my DS at Whitgift vs much more obviously at B.
These 2 schools are the only option at the moment

20 in 6th form is 10 from each year group. I don't know how that works in practice but if we keep bumping the thread one of the boarding experts will come along!

I regard most of what is within the M25 as London even if some of it may refer to itself as Surrey!

That makes no sense.

There will be a good number of boys who are local to Whitgift - I don’t know how the boarding works in terms of having free rein to go out at weekends but a low number of boarders might not be a huge problem if there is flexibility for going out. I don’t think there are ever going to be a huge number of boarders at Whitgift as my impression from the prospectus was that the accommodation isn’t very big.

@SoupDragon per W Housemaster the boys especially the older ones have going out flexibility and London is near. I don't know what the policy is for Bromsgrove and the school is closed this week 🙈

I grew up near Bromsgrove and live near(ish) Whitgift. I don't have any experience of boarding but can definitely say that as a teenager I'd have been far more entertained living in Croydon.

Bromsgrove is a lovely spot but for a teenager not lot going on - you'd need to rely on stuff happening at at school.

Croydon with close proximity to London would have been much more fun. Even a less social DC would appreciate museums, theatres etc in London.

Not sure why you would go straight for Whitgift if both schools deliver similar results at IB and Bromsgrove has
a much larger boarding contingent with the structure and activities that entails including at weekends. The only real advantage for Whitgift with your DS's situation is the proximity of London. The pastoral care should be good at both schools but Bromsgrove has a track record for boarders including overseas.
Neither school will confer future benefits simply by having their name on your DS' CV and both will support university entrance appropriately. The rest will be up to your DS and how rapidly he can make the most of school life and opportunities. IME he will be helped more by having a lot going on at weekends in school with a large pool
of potential friends rather than having a few trips into London but not much else However your DS must already have a feel from the websites and location what type of life he would prefer.

Bromsgrove is a lovely spot but for a teenager not lot going on - you'd need to rely on stuff happening at at school.

That could be seen as a positive, of course. It means that they will bond better.
Believe it or not, teenagers in Worcestershire do have a social life.