Eastbourne College

[Zara2020]

Can anyone give us any insights on Eastbourne College? My DS would be boarding in year 9. He liked the school but it does seem more independent than others we have seen (almost like a college campus), the facilities look great, but what about the pastoral care and quality of teaching and results? It doesn’t appear on any league tables so difficult to compare its results to other schools we are considering.

@Zara2020. I cannot give you a huge insight but my dd will be starting at Eastbourne College this September. We loved the feel of the school and the amazing new facilities. Highlight for DD was the science block. DD spent the day there before lockdown for scholarship exams and said the staff were lovely and friendly and the food was really very good.
I’ve heard the pastoral care is excellent from friends who have children there. Results are very good but then you’d hope for that from a semi selective school. I believe their GCSE and A level results can be found on their website although we got most info from our individual tour of the school and interviews. We then did an open morning in Feb last year I think when we made our final decision.
We personally liked the campus feel and the houses have a very competitive spirit. Is your ds in year 8 now?

@Ohwiseone. Thanks, good to hear! My DS is currently year 8 so would start this September too. We liked what we saw and the staff we met seem lovely, but wasn’t sure how the results compare to other schools on the league tables as it doesn’t appear. Perhaps the school decided not to include themselves, but the info from the website is encouraging. The school days do seem long but expect that is the case with most boarding schools. Will your DD be boarding?

All of the schools we looked at did not publish their exam results in the tables. I believe they don’t have to if not a state school?
I have a list of their latest results (2019) somewhere. I’ll try and dig them out. The loveliest 2 girls showed us around when we visited. A yr 9 and a yr12. I remember the yr 12 girl as she had joined from my daughters school and had achieved 10 grade 9 GCSEs and was a Forbes Wastie scholar.
My dd will be a day pupil as we live 30ish mins away. The day is only marginally longer than her school now. Finishes at 5.15 at the moment. But we do like the option of staying, doing prep on site, having evening meal and then getting the later bus meaning she can come home and just relax!
Happier now that they’ve stopped academic lessons on a Saturday too. Now it’s optional extras and subject ‘surgeries’ where they can catch up with teachers and go over a topic they might not fully understand. Or at least that’s what I understand from the new weekend plans. Did you meet Roy? I know that the house my daughter wants to join has a resident dog too. It’s taken us over 18m to decide and DD is very excited and raring to go. Good luck with your decision. What other schools have you looked at?

That’s all positive and encouraging to hear. We looked at Lancing College and Worth. They are all great schools for different reasons. Eastbourne appears to be excellent on the pastoral front with great facilities, quite sporty and not too pushy on academic results though they it seems they still do very well. A lot of our decision will rest on the boarding experience too. Thanks for all this helpful info!

@Zara2020
www.eastbourne-college.co.uk/academic/exam-results/
Hope this helps. We looked at Roedean and Burgess Hill (obviously no use to you!) and Hurst.
Might see you at the Eastbournian welcome meeting in September.
Good luck to your DS

@Ohwiseone - thanks for the link and your helpful responses. We’ll certainly be in touch once we know...

Does anyone know when early offers (those still in year 6) are expected for day pupils for Eastbourne College?

I have a child at EC. The pastoral care is outstanding. Year 9 students are put in sets for some classes (maths, latin/greek etc) and the more able students are very well supported.
We also considered Lancing but chose EC for various reasons. Please feel free to message me if you have any more questions.