Any recommendations on some 16+ coed boarding schools?

[Corgi1234]

Hello all,
My DD is planning on changing into a new school to start her sixth form because she absolutely hated her current school. Unfortunately I am not able to attend open days and neither can my DD as she is an international student and we don't live in the UK, so it would be very helpful to hear some opinions and recommendations from other parents who has their kids in these schools.
DD and I have found a few schools that we quite liked:
Westminster
Brighton
Wellington
Oundle
Epsom
City of London Freemen's
Charterhouse

DD is academically decent but she doesn't really excel in anything else. She is also quite active and plans on doing Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths for her A Levels, so she's kinda a STEM kid. She will also be a full boarder.

Moreover, Oundle and Wellington require DD to complete a UKiset examination since her first language isn't English. So im not quite sure whether that is worth it.

Thank you so much in advance

St Paul’s School in London will be going CO es soon, not sure if they would take girls boarding though.
Did anyone mention Marlborough yet?
Sevenoaks? IB only
And Rugby also a good option?

A friend sends her DDs to Badminton (Bristol) and rates it highly, esp for STEM. Pretty strong academically but certainly not a hothouse.

I also know happy girls at Malvern College which is great for all-rounders.

Best of luck!

Ignore Badminton; it's a girls' school...doh

Yes I was wondering why the OP hadn’t considered Marlborough. It’s a great school for a girl to join at 6th form as they have a relatively large intake of new girls for 6th form. The international girls that my DD knew ranged from geeky to outgoing and they all seemed to find their own group of friends. Whilst it’s not near London, no one notices because the school has such a great social life that no one really goes home at weekends apart from when they want a rest! There are lots of DC who live there and buses that take DC to London at exeats and end of term if wanted.

Another vote for King's Canterbury.

@Parkerspiece
Yeah DD is in year 10 right now. She would love to go to some boys school that are taking girls as she is more of a tomboy. Would you mind telling me the names of the schools please?

Truro

[quote Corgi1234]@Parkerspiece
Yeah DD is in year 10 right now. She would love to go to some boys school that are taking girls as she is more of a tomboy. Would you mind telling me the names of the schools please?[/quote]
Perse in Cambridge is a co-ed school, and MCS in Oxford is a boy's school taking girls at the sixth form. Based on your questions, I'd suggest you research on some of the schools and discuss with your DD to see which schools fit her the best.

6th form entry can be competitive as there is normally a less student intake than say 13+.

I have witnessed schools like Westminster or MCS 'poach' (its not really poaching since the students themselves are applying, but ykwim) very high achieving students from the likes of CLC, or grammar schools. But all that being said, it's worth a try, if you just manage expectations and your DD is very focused. These schools seem to be eager to fulfil their Oxbridge figures at this point.

I would like to second most of the schools on the list, as I believe they have naturing all rounded focus. I have had good experiences with the following schools
-Marlborough (always tops my list of co ed, the HMs were incredibly humble)
-Wellington (strikes me as a fun school -also have you seen their videos on WTV?)
-Rugby (very inclusive)
-Charterhouse (met the Head elsewhere and he talked to us like it's some kind of unknown obscure school, which I thought was humble for such a high profile school)(75 girls and 30 boys join 6th form, but they must mostly achieve A's)

• Bedales (no uniform key words are liberal, internationalism, environmentalists, adventure, unique)
• Kings Canterbury if looking for that traditional English experience.
• Sherborne girls (I include it because most of the 6th form classes are shared with the boys school next door. I would say the boys school is very traditional English, while the girls is more modern, so maybe a middle ground nowadays).

All these schools either have easy transport to London, or one is arranged by the school. But there tends to be groups coming into London or connecting.

Good luck

Can you be clearer about what you mean by “academically decent”. Are you understating her achievements or is she middle of the road in her peer group?

Sixth form entry is very competitive in the most popular schools. They are looking for students who will boost their Oxbridge success rates and/ or make a major contribution to another aspect of school life. eg Westminster for girls would be looking for top 2% in a selective school, plus all top grades at GCSE plus an outstanding talent in another area. It will be similar (slightly lower academically maybe) for some of the other schools you have listed - Brighton, Wellington, Oundle, Charterhouse etc So unless your DD is “academically outstanding” it might be more realistic to to aim for slightly less selective schools.

There are more full boarders at Sixth Form level but many schools particularly those near London empty out on a Saturday night. I suspect City of London Freemans and Epsom will be in this category.

Is your daughter set on co-ed? Maybe look at Bradfield, Malvern, St Edwards Oxford.

You might be more successful with single sex girls schools especially if your daughter is looking to specialise in STEM. Sherborne girls is great - mainly full boarders and the relationship with the boys school means it has the best of both worlds.

It will be interesting to see how Covid impacts on overseas boarder numbers in the next few years. If the number of applications drops some of the more selective schools may have more places to offer.

@Mummy194
Wow! thank you so much for all these information

@SusanBAnthony999

Can you be clearer about what you mean by “academically decent”. Are you understating her achievements or is she middle of the road in her peer group?

Sixth form entry is very competitive in the most popular schools. They are looking for students who will boost their Oxbridge success rates and/ or make a major contribution to another aspect of school life. eg Westminster for girls would be looking for top 2% in a selective school, plus all top grades at GCSE plus an outstanding talent in another area. It will be similar (slightly lower academically maybe) for some of the other schools you have listed - Brighton, Wellington, Oundle, Charterhouse etc So unless your DD is “academically outstanding” it might be more realistic to to aim for slightly less selective schools.

There are more full boarders at Sixth Form level but many schools particularly those near London empty out on a Saturday night. I suspect City of London Freemans and Epsom will be in this category.

Is your daughter set on co-ed? Maybe look at Bradfield, Malvern, St Edwards Oxford.

You might be more successful with single sex girls schools especially if your daughter is looking to specialise in STEM. Sherborne girls is great - mainly full boarders and the relationship with the boys school means it has the best of both worlds.

It will be interesting to see how Covid impacts on overseas boarder numbers in the next few years. If the number of applications drops some of the more selective schools may have more places to offer.

Hello sorry for the late reply. I guess I was understating DD's achievements because some of her GCSE that she took this year came back recently and she got 3 9s and an 8. All of her other predicted grades were above 7 (except business but she isn't interested in taking that in a level). However, she is only book smart and is quite mediocre in everything else.

Yeah DD is kinda set on co-ed. Thank you so much for the recommendations.

I doubt that the international boarders level will drop in the upcoming years because of some political events in Asia right now and I assume a lot of parents wanted to send their kids away.