Choosing a school in surrey

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Hi

We live in South Africa and are looking to move to UK. We have 2 sons 11 and 15 who go to a traditional boys school here. They are both very strong at rugby and cricket - both A team. The older son is not as strong academically but the younger one is very strong - always top 10 in the grade.

We need help choosing a school for them that is not too focused on academics but more the all round education including sport. We also can’t afford the expensive independent schools unless we get a bursary.

Please could someone set us in the right direction or is there a company that could help us? We would also be keen to look at the bursary option as our younger son is a very special boy and would love to give him the best opportunities we can in life and a bursary would get him into a better school.

Unlikely he could repeat now - year 11 is gcse year so teaching is driven by revision and exam prep, so he would not benefit, and state schools rarely agree to placements out of year. Better to start year 12 when level 3 courses (A level, IB, NVQ, btec) start. If needs be he can repeat during 6th form although private schools would probably be less amenable. Does he have any qualifications from SA?

SA is very different. He is just finishing grade 9 here and will be starting his last 3 years of school year. Only then will he get his matric which is the end of our schooling system. We write exams every year and if you pass then you proceed to the next year.

England is very different - very few students are "placed out of year", although it sometimes happens in private (I have known 2, 1 was advanced as very clever, one dropped back due to glandular fever). If your son is 16 before the end of August, then the best thing is for him to go to Sixth form. He could do 3 years (talk to the school/college), getting some GCSEs in the first year and then proceeding to A'levels/Btecs.

For your younger son, you could talk to RGS, they do sometimes take boys from overseas (and out of year). Charterhouse etc. ae 13+ school, so you would need to get him into a Prep for a year, and they might be reluctant with Common Entrance coming up.
However I wouldn't rule out State schools (for Guildford: George Abbot, Guildford County or St Peter's). They have much shorter days (but longer terms) and there are very good sports clubs available - which can be a better route to high level sport.

FEES: a cheap school like RGS is about £6000 per term, Charterhouse would be considerably more. And they often rise by about 5% per year.

You need to allow for around 20k per year each in an independent, unless either is eligible for a scholarship. If your household income is likely to exceed 50k it is less likely that you would be eligible for much means tested financial assistance, if any (each school will have different thresholds). Bear in mind Surrey is an expensive area for housing, plus commuting costs etc.

I think it is a bit of a sweeping statement to say that state schools don't offer competitive sport. There are grammar schools near me that have very good rugby squads as well as very good girls rugby sixth form squads.

Their intake means that they are very strong in cricket too.

Obviously these are out from the OPs point of view but just wanted to counter the idea that no competitive sport was going on at state schools.

As an Indy parent I regularly watched the local state school, Wimbledon College, stuff DS1's school at rugby every year in spite of the millions DS's school spent on sports facilities. Some state schools are known to have very strong rugby teams. WC beats RGS as well.

RGS is an academic not a sport school - any pretty open about this (nice Rugby top though).

How soon can you move? You might be able to persuade an independent school to take your eldest son into Year 10 by January. Could he board for 2 terms? Several day and boarding schools in Surrey - St. John's Leatherhead is strong on rugby - average and above ability - Caterham School is similar I think. Reigate Grammar School is pretty sporty - good academics - your eldest son might be able to take GCSEs etc. at Reigate College, which is a state sixth form in the same road. Otherwise you could pay for an intensive GCSE crammer school for one year - several good ones in London.

I am very aware that RGS is more academic than sporty, as was DS1's school but they both have excellent facilities, good coaches etc and still get battered by WC. I was more making the point that some state schools are traditionally good at some sports, although WC has a terrible cricket team.

As it seems rugby is very important OP check out this site. It is the school national sevens event and is a very big deal in the rugby world. It will give you a good idea of the top rugby schools.

www.national7s.co.uk/competitionintro.asp?TID=E9CBFACC-80BB-4CFF-BDCF-D895D5E5C8B1

If you are looking for an academic school I would go for RGS or CLFS or Hampton. Hampton and RGS are boys only and CLFS is co-ed. One thing you could do is look at a prep for a yr and sit for yr9 when most of the schools mentioned above will have extra places. That would mean you could go for scholarships as well as bursaries. Also look at fees - the fees at Epsom and St John's are higher than CLFS and RGS at 13, so a small bursary from the former might only bring the fees down to the level of the latter. My DC attend CLFS and my DS plays for Sutton and Epsom Rugby.

Agree with cakeisalways the answer Wimbledon College's rugby team are very good and think they always beat CLFS.

I'm sounding a note of caution re the suggestion that schools like Hampton and RGS will have places at year 9 for your younger DS. I moved to the area with a DS aged 11 with the same plan. He went to a prep school for a year and our intention was for him to go to one of the independent schools at year 8 or 9.

Most of (all of?) the day schools in the area work on the basis of a pre-test at 11+ even if you don't want the place till year 9. Therefore, spaces for year 9 entry are largely allocated in year 6. As a result, when we moved, we found there were very few spaces available at 12+ or 13+. Schools like St George's in Weybridge and Reed's in Cobham had maybe 3 places available with 25 boys sitting for them, because a lot of people move to the area at odd times for their DCs' schooling and need places at non-standard entry points. Some of those schools also have a sibling policy so will allocate a place to a child with a sibling already at the school even if another child gets a higher mark in the entrance exam. This happened to my DS.

There is huge pressure on independent school places in Surrey and although schools do have some places available at non-standard entry points, it definitely is not as straightforward as being able to pay the fees and pass the exam.

I agree with Midimitch. My DD is at Royal Alexandra and Albert School in Reigate and it has excellent sports facilities. Rugby is huge there and they compete with other local schools (both independent and state schools) and do very well. The school is located in a landscaped park. It's well worth a visit. It's a flexi boarding state school and the fees are around £6k p.a. for flexi boarding (10 nights per year) or £12k p.a for full board.

I looked at several state boarding schools for my Son. I took him to visit them with me. There are several in the Uk and they vary from Outstanding to... not so impressive! We live overseas and my Son is very sporty. He wanted a school that was academically driven but also would allow him to pursue his sporting interests. He chose St George’s school in Harpenden, Herts. It’s a 40 minute drive from Surrey. “It’s a great state school and fancies itself as a rugby school. With two or three England Rugby players having attended I think. However, they do offer other sports and have an impressive workout gym and two indoor gyms as well. It’s academically a non- selective school but was rated as the Sunday Times best Comprehensive( that means state non-selective school) in the entire country. That is impressive! Academically it’s also impressive and the exam results are on their web site. It’s worth a look if you qualify ( passport wise). We pay less than 15k pds a year including boarding and tuition. The boarding staff are very nice and strike a great note between friendly and firm. The place is clean. My Son hasn’t experienced any bullying or seen any in the boarding house. To qualify you must have a British passport or PR I believe. Hope this is helpful. They have a school chapel too and the school has a Christian ethos. Surprisingly most of the boarders chose to go to chapel services every Sunday ( it’s not compulsory). My Son tells me the Chaplain is funny and his services are good. Hope this is helpful.

If he went to private school, especially a Prep rather than Senior there’s a good chance he could repeat a year. In general the children I have taught from SA in my prep school are ‘behind’ their UK peers, so we tend to advise repeating a year.

CarolineJames which state boarding schools did you not find impressive? Interested to know for my own DS's next move.

John Fisher in Purley is a state school and is excellent at rugby and competes with all the private schools but you do need to be Catholic.