Charterhouse or Whitgift?

[Honeyhoney123]

We are living overseas and planning to send our DS1 to UK boarding school (year 9 2019 entrance). We got an offer from Whitgift while being put into the Reserve List of Charterhouse because we applied late. That said, we felt CH is quite positive during our visit and CH has invited DS1 to take the CH entrance exam straightaway.
DS1 has done the exam and he is quite confident with it. Even a confirmed offer from CH seems like a long shot at this stage, we still want to know which is better for him, W or CH. Especially, if it really comes, we will not have much time to decide.
DS1 - English as a second language, but his English is pretty ok ("C1 or above" at the Cambridge English Scores). Good at math and science, not sporty, low self-confidence and needs monitoring and a constant push.
Heard there is bullying in both Whitgift and Charterhouse, can share some insights?

Is entry to CH dependent on CE for UK based applicants, if so you may not receive an offer until June which would seem rather late . CH has a more established boarding ethos, most Whitgift pupils live relatively locally even if they weekly board. Do you want a rural or urban setting? Where is your intended guardian based?

Dear LIZS,
I think the admission is based on Charterhouse' own entrance exam.
We do not have the peeference over urban and rural setting.
For the guardian, we need to appoint a guardian service company, so it does not affect our consideration.
The key consideratoon is whether Whitgift or Charterhouse is most appropriate.
Our DS has never been away from us, and he is only 14 this Sep, we want to choose one which is best for him.

Just checked and for UK prep school pupils , although CH pretest, offers of places are conditional on achieving a standard at CE or year 8 equivalent program. Not sure how often they turn applicants away but some pupils may still be looking at alternatives. Not aware of specific bullying issues but there may be some in every school. How long do you have to respond to Whitgift? Can you afford to take it and change your mind if another offer comes up? The environments are rather different though, which did your ds prefer? Do you want single sex or coed , as CH is planning to admit girls in future.

CH might be more suitable for the child if coming from overseas. Lovely setting, gentle ambiance.

We looked at W but found it to be a little intimidating in terms of its proximity to Croydon, which is (bar a few small enclaves in Shirley, Sanderstead and the Webb Estate) going to be a lesson to your boy in the school of hard knocks!

Dear LIZS, I have done some research and found some parents are complaining about the ignorance of the CH on their reported bullying incidents. And just read that there is a TV broadcaster reporting her sexual harassment during her study in CH during the '70s. For Whitgift, we received their offer by early January, I don't think we can drag it on further and we should confirm by end of February. By then we need to pay the deposit of around one term expense that we don't want to forfeit as it is quite an amount to us. Since DS just finished the CH entrance exam and it is now CH half term, we doubt the CH can give us a confirmed answer in time. Our DS prefers W, it may be due to the fact that: 1. he did visit W first, 2. W new boarding house and facilities and 3. (most importantly) he realizes that CH is a prestigious school which may be too competitive. We (including DS) dod not have a preference for a co-ed or single-sex.

Dear Longtimelurkerhere, the "Croydon" factor is also our concern, while there is a comment saying that "there is always someone waiting for the school bell outside W's gate and to rob the latest smartphone and iPhone from those W boys". Be honest, it frightened us. Also mentioned that we found parents are complaining about the ignorance of the CH on their reported bullying incidents. These also worried us. If leaving these aside, which one, W or CH you think fit to our DS? He is 1. from overseas; 2. never away from home; 3. English as a second language, but his English is pretty ok ("C1 or above" at the Cambridge English Scores); 4. Good at math and science; 5. not sporty; 6. low self-confidence; and 7. needs monitoring and a constant push.

Honeyhoney123,

Honestly? Your DS won’t be able to go his whole W career (5, 7 or 8 years) without experiencing some kind of nastiness or abuse, physical confrontation or worse on public transport or from some of the townsfolk.

Have seen a number of W threads over past 2 or 3 years on here. Your not very confident DS could be in for a world of hurt.

Dear Longtimelurkerhere,
What you mentioned is mainly from W? Croydon? or public transport? While he will be year 9 this Sep and I do not expect he will go far alone.
Also, are such common among boarding school, so should I expect the same to be common at Charterhouse?
I do expect some of these, while may not be at his first year aboard though.

I'd personally be inclined towards Charterhouse as it is a proper boarding school (even if it empties a bit at weekends). It's not that "prestigious" if you mean academic, in fact for academics I'd put Whitgift higher, not saying Charterhouse is unachieving.
There are unpleasant news stories about both schools. I know a past headmaster tried to deal with bullying and was attacked in newspapers for the changes he was making, but I still believe Charterhouse is changing (and lots of female pupils were sexually harassed and lots of co-Ed schools in the 90s).

Dear Bekabeech, thanks a lot. That's why we want to ask the local
We have read the stories of Cathy Newman and Jimmy Leach, so we started to worry.
You mentioned a past headmaster (of these two schools) was attacked because he wanted to deal with bullying? Surprised us as we thought bullying is not a good thing.
For academic, we realized that CH is not far behind of W in most league table; nevertheless, CH is more than good enough for our DS (at least academically).

Your DS will want to venture out to Godalming or Guildford, which are just lovely quaint places.

W is rather run like a protection facility, and the townspeople are acutely aware of the privileged young men holed up inside of it.

Your DS will need to grow up really fast if you should decide to send him to W.

Dear Longtimelurkerhere, thanks a lot. What we will do is to defer the deposit of Whitgift as long as possible and wait for the outcome of CH.

Longtimelurker. “ Whitgift is rather run like a protection facility and the townspeople are acutely aware of the privileged young men holed up inside it”.

“ Your DS won’t be able to go his whole W career without experiencing some kind of nastiness or abuse, physical confrontation or worse... from some of the townsfolk.

Well over half of those “privileged young men” receive financial assistance and some are on 100% bursary thanks to the Whitgift Foundation.

My son has travelled on public transport to W for 5 years now and has never experienced any “physical abuse or confrontation” you speak of.

Just what makes you think the “townsfolk” of Croydon will be any better or worse than those in other towns?

Your referencing of “enclaves” such as Sanderstead and Shirley demonstrates both immense snobbery and also a lack of understanding that abuse is often just as rife in more “well heeled” areas.

The beauty of Whitgift as a school is the complete absence of snobbery, the real sense of community amongst the boys and the strong links it has forged with those local “townsfolk” you speak of in such pejorative terms.

Climb down from that ivory tower, shake off the snobbery and you will find a vibrant, inclusive community comfortable in both its own skin and its place within the local and wider community.

Plenty of boys travel around Croydon to Whitgift, Trinity and grammar schools daily without the sort of intimidation mentioned. It is urban despite its leafy grounds but South Croydon is hardly the Bronx! Having said that Croydon centre is probably not where a naive teen boy would ideally spend time at weekends. Maybe having Guildford on the doorstep would be preferable. Where do you currently live?

Btw it seems longtimelurkerhere is not based in UK so may not have a local perspectve.

LIZS. I think Longtimelurker may have parallels with a certain Walter Mitty judging by other threads.

My two DS both went to Charterhouse (younger one finished four years ago). It is a lovely setting, and as far as I could see, the pastoral care is excellent and if there were any signs of bullying (or homesickness) they were dealt with quickly and effectively. Both of them were very happy there and their housemaster was lovely. What I would say is that though it's full boarding, many of the boarders' families live not too far away and they spend weekends at home, so the boarding houses can be quite quiet at the weekend. Your son might well be invited back to his friends' homes at weekends though.

I grew up in Croydon and wouldn't send my kids there! I didn't even know they had boarding, it's a private day school principally (we lived near their sister school Trinity). Plenty of people I knew went there and it was quite sporty, but not a proper public school - most start at 11 straight after state primary.

CH is a proper boarding school. Friend went there, very musical

W is rather run like a protection facility, and the townspeople are acutely aware of the privileged young men holed up inside of it.

Oh, for goodness sake, what complete and utter rubbish.

Hmmm there is a lot of goady anti-W and anti-Croydon nonsense on this thread which I've seen before. And most of it made by a poster who may win a creative writing award for her own thread.

Anyone seriously considering CH should look at their academic results, last years A level results were actually lower than the large state 6th form college in Esher as well as below many of the state comps. I've attached the govt list for Surrey. This was particularly relevant to us as it was DS1s peers and CH was his boarding choice, although he eventually chose to go to a day school. Unlike his close friend who went to CH and is currently esconsed in a London crammer doing resits.

There are other boarding schools OP. If you start a thread asking for general advice someone with extensive knowledge like HappyG will respond.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/schools-by-type?step=default&table=schools&region=936&la-name=surrey&la-name=surrey&geographic=la&for=16to18&basedon=Overall+performance&show=All+pupils&datasetfilter=provisional&searchtype=&orderby=ks5.0.TALLPPE_ALEV_1618&orderdir=asc&datatype=integer&sortpolicy=inversepolicy

What a load of tosh re:Whitgift and Croydon. The Whitgift foundation includes 3 schools. My child is not at W but another of the 3. These schools are fantastic and integrate and support the community in which they are based. Whitgift takes boys from the locality and many are state school boys . Many. It’s are scholarship or bursary boys so isn’t as elitist as many private schools which will appeal to some and repel others.
Charter house has a reputation but in my experience takes boys who haven’t got into Whitgift.

Seriously OP -please don’t let your child’s future be determined by the deranged opinions of one poster. Goodness knows what’s behind the weird posts -one can only speculate .

It doesn't sound like either school is ideal. Surely it's better not to settle for a school that doesn't meet his needs. Can he stay where he is, you do some more research then move him for sixth form?

Dear All, most grateful to all your input, they gave me many different perspectives for our consideration.

LIZS, "Where do you currently live?" As said, we are living overseas, over 9,600km from Whitgift. That's why we need to be very cautious.

cakeisalwaystheanswer, Thank you so much for your link. What it shows really surprised us. Compared to what we saw from different league tables, in which Charterhouse A-level result was handsome if not shining and it was not far behind Whitgift and Warwick.

Wobbles21, Thank you so much.

BTW, have you guys heard of any bullying incidents at either Whitgift or Charterhouse. Even though the story of Cathy Newman happened long long time ago; the story of Jimmy Leach's son has really drawn my attention.

I meant where do you live in terms of environment. If you lived , for example, in a Far Eastern or US city then Croydon might be less of a culture shock than if used to a small town or more remote location. Whitgift is a slightly easier journey to either Gatwick or Heathrow by public transport if that might be a consideration.