City of London for boys

[Diagonallley]

Could you tell me about City of London for boys? What is it like for boys who love sport and music? Do your children feel that it has more of an academic focus or that it’s an all rounder school? How does it compare with Alleyn’s and Dulwich College? Thank you for your help!

Thanks for starting the thread, our son has offers from Dulwich College, CLS and Whitgift (year 7). We have decided to short list DC and CLS and it's proving quite difficult to make a decision. We love both schools but for different reasons, our son feels the same and we think he will be happy at either school. Super nice problem to have I guess!
Logistically CLS is a few more stops further on the train line, so adds 15min extra each way which adds up over 7 years!!
We will attend the offer holders morning next Wednesday and hopefully make a final decision by the weekend.
Would also love to hear from others!

I think the main difference is the grounds. One very urban and the kids are bussed our to the sports grounds in South London, the other very leafy with lovely grounds on site. Dulwich probably offers a wider range of sports but I would say City has a more academic focus. Both get excellent results.

Hi we are in a similar position to nutellafox with an offer from DC, CLS and Latymer. CLS has better GCSE/A level rankings and oxbridge placement % than DC but the grounds for DC are indeed amazing. CLS is known for being strong in STEM. I have heard great things about both schools so I would say both are great choices. DC is further away from central London but has a very convenient bus service. My DS absolutely loved DC and has he got offered a scholarship we may go for that. As you we will attend the morning session on Wed and decide.

DS got offers from Alleyn’s, CLSB and DC, DS really likes CLSB, but we worry he might feel a bit like he’s missing out on sport as the sports ground is offsite. We know he will adapt to all the schools well but we hope he could go to a school that is both academic at the same time as being nurturing. It would be great to hear the opinion of parents of boys already at CLSB or DC who was in the same position as us and why did you choose CLSB over DC or vice versa .

"Academic and nurturing" is right for CLS... the stated focus is on turning out well-rounded young men, not on results. (Of course, consequently the results are pretty good too.) It's also a bit more metropolitan and socially mixed than the other London indies, and certainly much less "public school".

Sports, PE and Swimming are onsite, games is a coach to S. London an afternoon a week, but if your son is hot on sports he'll be at other schools for fixtures half the time (whether he's at CLS, DC or wherever else) so there's less of a difference than you might think.

I have a close friends who has a DS at CLS......she and he have been very disappointed by the sport provision as there is very little going on aside from football and even in football they do not play in the "main leagues" and the facilities are quite a hike away. Her son has all but given up doing sport in school and instead has continued with his club sports outside of school. However, he IS very happy at school, has made lots of friends and finds the teaching stimulating ( he is a bright boy).

While it's not a massively sporty school (and there's no rugby/hockey) the football training is on-site at the rooftop astro, and basketball and water polo teams are strong and on-site. The only time they go off-site is for games afternoon fixtures. Cricket is a bit meh because it's summer term and focus is on exams. If sport is absolutely your top priority, City is probably not for you, but provision is not exactly bad.

Feel compelled to write. Not impressed with boys' swagger and behaviour witnessed (as a member of the public) recently when school ends. If you are considering this school - maybe go and check that out. Bright privileged boys should know better. Manners maketh the man!!

We were in the same position but quickly dropped City. My DS didn't like the atmosphere and I was thoroughly unimpressed by how some of the teachers took stabs at other London boys's schools on one of our visits.

We felt the same about Westminster. It just didn't strike either of us as a nurturing, healthy environment.

We opted for Dulwich. DS felt at home there right from the start and the boys are incredibly polite and pleasant to be around (we've spent quite some time in the area as we were making our decision).

It feels like they have room to breathe, both physically and mentally, in a way they don't at City, Westminster or SPS.

But it'll a depend on the boy too, of course. Some schools are better fits for different personalities.

DS is super academic and received a significant academic scholarship to DC, and they do seem to really challenge the top boys.

Agree with PPs. We really didn't like it. The boys were scruffy and unprepossessing, ditto the teachers, the open day was chaotic, the grounds (such as they are) depressing.

Plus DS would have had to get the tube there every day.

Urgh. We left with an awful feeling about the place. Weird.

We chose city at the end, DS feels home there.

My Brother attended city

He earns far more than me and is a banker . I don’t know if he was especially happy there but it churned him out with great A levels and an orientation to make money

Oddly, given PP, the (good) behaviour around town and on transport of CLS boys was a tick for us in choosing the school. It's certainly a lot more diverse and less public school entitled than the other half-dozen London private schools we looked at.

As a pp I certainly wasn’t commenting on entitlement and diversity! Yes, undoubtedly many other schools are less diverse and more ‘entitled’... and equally many schools are more diverse and less entitled! To be honest my experience was regarding unbecoming behaviours which would be disappointing from any establishment and I would just expect far more from bright, educationally privileged boys.

Sure, my experience was of course only anecdotal - another day of course you would just as likely see a very different picture. I was piqued as a member of the public and that’s why I posted.

I’m always struck by how lovely and well behaved the City boys are plus every boy I know who went there or still goes there has a lovely down to earth but not arrogant confidence. Only reason we turned it down was the sports being off campus and not that strong