Highgate vs City of London... 6th Form

[ConfusedP]

My DS has received offers from CLS, Highgate, and Sevenoaks. We have decided not to go with Sevenoaks as that's outside London. So the choice is between CLS and Highgate. Commute to both will be about the same. We want to pick the school that is academically more challenging. Are they both about the same? Or is CLS clearly the better school in that regard? I am told that CLS sends about 20% of its students to Oxbridge while Highgate sends about 10%. Do you reckon those numbers are about right? My DS is passionate about football. Some folks are telling us that CLS is a better brand and looks better on the resume... do you agree? We are told that Highgate has too many kids from super wealthy celeb families... we are worried about that. I would be grateful for your advice. Many thanks in advance.

A further question... We know that CLS is multicultural. Is the student population at Highgate multicultural or is it mostly white? We are a mixed race family, so would prefer a multicultural school. Many thanks in advance.

They're really similar academically. Identical even. This year City did very well in those tables but in other years, it's way behind Highgate. The differences are probably in just a few pupils who will have done less well for a host of reasons.

Neither will look good on a resume. That's completely irrelevant unless the interviewer happens to have gone to one or other.

I would make the decision on whether you want boys or co-ed especially since it's sixth form. Also find out how many new pupils arrive in year 12 - you want it to be more than a handful otherwise your son might feel socially isolated.

Which one does he prefer? Is the commute really the same or is one going to be more reliable? Isn't he tempted by the sports facilities on site at Highgate?

Personally I'd save my money and go for Woodhouse College in Barnet - amazing state sixth form college that get fabulous results for all their very mixed, multi-ethnic intake.

Of the private schools, City is more ethnically mixed, lots of Asian families. In terms of CV, no university or job interviewer will care which school they went to, and there's an argument that they may be better off coming from a state school because that shows a greater degree of self-motivation. Universities are scrutinised on the basis of the proportion of private school entrants they take, so a good candidate from a state school may have a marginal advantage over the same candidate from a top private school (and they will not unreasonably assume that the private school candidate will have been more intensively prepped).

Highgate is co-ed and has better facilities. That's the only difference. No difference academically whatsoever and Oxbridge will in no way differentiate between the two

Highgate is likely to have more new joiners in year 12 because it is a co-ed school.

@PatienceVirtue

They're really similar academically. Identical even. This year City did very well in those tables but in other years, it's way behind Highgate.

They're not identical and the difference is the other way round. 24% of City's leavers got offers from Oxbridge over 2014-2018, vs 18% of Highgate's. 2018 was the only year over that stretch when a higher percentage of Highgate's leavers got Oxbridge offers than City's leavers, and that was 21% vs 20%. City and Highgate each have 135-155 students a year, so the difference is more than just "a few pupils" each year, closer to 10.

Thanks all for your responses - very helpful.