Secondary schools York Archbishop holgate or Fulford school

[Volhhg]

We are new to the area and wondered if anyone could shed any light on these two schools. Fulford school is slightly nearer and is in our catchment area however some children in our child's cohort will go to Archbishop holgate. Is there anyone with any experience within the last 5 years that has anything to share?

Hello

Fulford is secular. That’s one big difference.
Archies is more mixed in terms of intake (serves a more diverse catchment with respect to socioeconomic background) and has more modern facilities. And has a higher value added score (if that’s what you’re into). Fulford is very middle class and academic but a bit more traditional in terms of culture. My dc go to Fulford but I have plenty of friends who have dc at archies. Both are good schools I think .

Archie’s have just retained their outstanding Ofsted - no mean feat in the current climate and under the new inspection criteria. Fulford does well but the kids they have are starting from a higher point. Not much to choose really, distance will probably be the deciding factor and out of your hands.

As a former recruitment manager I can totally recommend Fulford. Every year I used to recruit Christmas temps for John Lewis. We used to do group assessments and the kids from Fulford were really confident, interacted excellently and were just a delight. Archbihops were always shy and rather akward. It was really noticeable year after year.

Curious as to the decision you finally made......facing the same situation for 2023.

We decided on Fulford, mainly after hearing various reports about behaviour problems at the other school

@Volhhg if you're still around would love to hear how you've found Fulford?