Current parents - please tell me about Magdalen College School...

[PongoPongo]

We are looking for at options for secondary school in Oxford for our son. He is bright but anxious and I hear lots of different things about the culture at MCS -- some say it's hothoused/pressured, others say that's not the case or at least boys can avoid it.

We spoke to the school directly and they were lovely, sounded like pastoral care was great, very focused on the individual boy.

So now I'm not sure what to think.

Would welcome insight from current/recent parents!

Hi,

we are looking to move to oxford as my son is going to start MCS.I would appreciate if you could give us the location guide to buy a house/rent a house. As I heard about stories about certain locations with regards to number of crimes and family friendly,etc

I have chosen not to go for mcs for my anxious ds.it is very pressured, I think much of that is produced by the boys themselves.

I wouldn’t go for it unless v bright and robust

My 2 sons are starting MCS in September- we are relocating to the area so don't have any 1st hand experience yet. Having looked around the school and having gone through the exam and interview process we have found it very friendly. I agree the workload will be full in to achieve the high grades but do feel the school balances work with extra sports/ curriculum well. Both my sons are highly driven and the school will suit them but agree that it would only suit boys that are highly academic and can cope with a fast pace of leaning. They are really looking forward to starting.

Thank you for the replies. It's the pressure I worry about, and whether it's coming from school or the other children/parents or both and how much that can be avoided....

My children are in a different indie school in Oxford, and I know some teachers at MCS and my understanding is that it is very pressured. I mean, those A-level results don't come out of thin air! Brilliant for a confident, clever boy, I'd imagine, but not sure about an anxious child. (I mean that literally - "I'm not sure", rather than "I actually mean absolutely not.")

@sunnyriver25 East Oxford is closest to MCS (Iffley/Cowley Road area) big houses on some of the streets, mixed-ish demographic, North Oxford is the most affluent/expensive/leafy-feeling - look around Summertown. West Oxford has the smallest houses, very safe and quiet.

Lots of nice villages in the surrounding areas, but Oxford traffic is a nightmare and you might not want to inflict that on your son!

Hi, my DS left MCS last year after being at the school since J1. He is bright but there's always someone brighter or doing better there. I think most boys find their groove. Sports opportunities are good but again they are expected to excel, the pressure as they move up the school if they want to play in A teams is intense. However, he got great results, made lifelong friends and finished a well adjusted lovely young man. We would do it all again.

Thank you so much Ginprincess -- that's really heartening to hear.

thank you Crosspelican

We are looking at Magdalen College School in Oxford and Westminster for our daughter for VI Form, I would really appreciate any information from current parents. She is bright and confident but is very worried about finding friends, particularly after pandemic stress.

Thank you so much!

Interested in the pressure point for a self motivated, bright boy who lacks confidence in himself. He has a tendency to work harder if not right at the top and worry that he could send himself into a spin there. However he really is quite bright and adores learning and a challenge. Is it 'all rounded' in the sense of celebrating kindness/ other skills etc? Not that my son is particularly arty or anything, but diversion and fun are important I think!

We, too, are looking into a possibility of sending our son to MCS ( year 9 intake). Would be very interested in hearing what current parents and boys would kindly say to wackydacky’s concerns/ questions. Our boy does not necessarily lack confidence, but could be sensitive to an unkind word, as he is not good at all at sports ( and not good I mean bottom of the bottom group for games and hates PE “because the coach shouts when I drop the ball”). What I am probably trying to say is, we don’t want a school that puts too much emphasis on sports and celebrates sport almost above all, and in order to fit in with the boys and be seen as popular one needs to be good at sports. At the same time we don’t want him to be completely written off and left at the bottom without teachers trying to actually teach and encourage him to get better. We realise the importance of sport for the physical and emotional well-being. Otherwise he is very academic-adores maths and biology, loves creative writing, music and drama.
We would really appreciate it if anyone can comment on the above concerns and if you think MCS could a fit for such a child.
Thank you

Hello @Oxcam we too are considering year 9! - this September.

Hello @wackydacky, how exciting for you! Our son is in year 7 at the moment, September 2023 entry, so we have a bit of time still. Just thought we need to start gathering information sooner rather than later as we are not Oxford based and have no other way of getting any info about the school but mumsnet and open day , which we have booked. Have you been to the school?

Not sure how to pm you. Yes I went when my son was in year 5. For various reasons decided he wouldn't sit the test but now regretting the school he's at so re- considering. He is sitting the exam at v short notice soon with limited places now available!!

I have two sons at MCS: one in the L6 and one in y9. The older DS started in y7 and the younger one started in y9.

To answer a few questions: We have found that the pastoral care at MCS is excellent. My DS1 had a lot of trouble settling in and the school couldn’t have been kinder or more proactive. There are a lot of extra-
Curricular opportunities at lunch times but not as much as schools like Abingdon and St Edward’s, which have a longer school day.

The school does not have the feel of being an academic hot house, although there is some competitiveness amongst the boys. However, Nobody is top in everything and this has helped both my DSes realise that it is fine not to always be top of the class.

As for sport: both my DSes are profoundly unsporty - bottom of bottom groups. DS1 is diagnosed as dyspraxic and DS2 isn’t much more coordinated than his brother. The sports department have been great with both of them. DS1 does rowing rather than teams sports, and DS2 does badminton. Both have made slow but steady progress in the bottom groups and both enjoy the lessons.

Thank you so much for your reply @Taggieohara. Your post is very reassuring and I glad your boys are making progress, that’s exactly what we want.
Good luck to your son @wackydacky!

Thanks to both of you!

I’m going to just add that we found the pastoral side pretty good until Sixth Form when it felt as if there wasn’t much concentration on anything but university applications (which does include a mad amount of extra curricular stuff, but sometimes a sense that our son doesn’t get much help with his shyness/lack of confidence) Academically it’s excellent however. But I wouldn’t push a child to go there if they might be at the bottom (despite the fact that bottom here isn’t exactly bad) It’s less sophisticated than what I hear happens at some of the top London schools in terms of personal development, and they are like many independent schools under considerable pressure to get places at top universities.(But that’s true of all private schools, and MCS still does well)

You might however think carefully about how you will feel if you child misses out on top unis - and your friend’s less capable ones get in with significantly less high grades/intellect. Because whilst there are genuine benefits to an all round excellent education, you might still feel the £ cost is a lot to end up missing out (depending on your wealth) There’s clearly no answer to this. I’m rather on the fence over it all myself. Good Luck.

Thank you so much for this thoughtful and useful response. There is a lot to think about and I see your point re pressure to get uni places. I imagine that's the reason a lot of parents have selected the school.

the school themselves must feel the pressure re parents etc and at the same time pupils likely less favourably looked at by unis. Our son is quite happy with the education at the grammar school and in fact we are too. It definitely doesn't push them as much as MCS would but I feel it's sufficient to get good results. We aren't really moving him for that, although he is now enthused by the extra things on offer at MCS.

Hi,my son trying for A levels in Magdalen College for next year entry 2026.Please pour suggestions if any parent have a personal experience of MCS as we heard the environment is very pressurised.thanks