Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Pedigree in medics : Sevenoaks or WinColl ?

15 replies

Mum4Medics · 06/12/2021 01:37

Hello, first post so please be gentle Smile looking at senior schools and were wondering about the above senior school's pedigree when it comes to leavers for medicine. We're clear on KCS's and Brighton's and Sevenoak's medics pedigree (for the latter, 15 medics of 226 leavers so roughly 7%) but I haven't found this data for WinColl.

This is a bit surprising considering its science pedigree with medals and awards in international biology/chemistry science olympiads. With such a strong pedigree, there must be a reason why this particular data (leavers for medics) is not reported. It could be something innocent, but I was even wondering whether aspiring medics leave in 6th form due to Oxbridge quotas, and go to local state schools to finish....

Does anyone know more?

OP posts:
TeenMinusTests · 06/12/2021 07:39

I have no idea.

Just a couple of comments

  • 'Oxbridge quotas' - I don't think you can get round them (do they even exist, I thought it was about just trying to make sure there wasn't bias away from students with less advantage) by going to a prestigious private school up to GCSEs and then ducking out and going to e.g. Peter Symonds in Winchester for A levels. Admissions tutors aren't stupid.
  • Why does it matter? You surely aren't choosing a school because it sends DC 7 or 5 years later to one very specific university course? I mean, that would be crazy, wouldn't it? Surely you want a school that supports the interests of the DC however they develop?
FrancescaContini · 06/12/2021 07:42

Does your child already know, aged 10/11, that he/she would like to go into medicine? Or is this what you want?

Your post smacks of “child as project”.

spotcheck · 06/12/2021 07:45

I just .... Can't

Pythonesque · 06/12/2021 07:53

Parental backgrounds play a role. Medical parents nowadays are likely to be able to afford dayschool fees without assistance, but not boarding fees, depending on other family resources, so are underrepresented at boarding schools. We saw a survey of 5th form initial career aspirations and were surprised at the tiny numbers expressing an interest in medicine.

SwumMum · 06/12/2021 07:57

It's always struck me as a negative of a school has a leavers' list that lists loads of medic (law, accountancy, vet, dentist..)

It cannot be that these schools have a larger percentage of people who personally suited to these professions. It is just that these courses have prestige and signal "success" in a very narrow way and so are encouraged.

To me that's not necessarily a good school. A good school that would be one that worked hard to find what each child was passionate about and capable of. It should have a very mixed leavers' lost and that list should include subjects such as art and music, drama, humanities...

Personally, I'd be seriously encouraging my child to think of all options over and above medicine right now anyway!

DietrichandDiMaggio · 06/12/2021 07:59

Thank god for the sensible replies. I was really worried I would open the thread and find people responding as if it was perfectly normal to be looking for a school that would help send their 10/11 yo to med school.

LiterallyKnowsBest · 06/12/2021 09:23

At least half of all the medics I knew as an undergraduate (Oxbridge, different subject) eventually took up a different career …

swgeek · 06/12/2021 09:36

I would just check detailed A-Level results and see how many children take Biology / Chemistry / Physics A-Level. I toook the opposite approach of you, OP, once I visited a private school which boasted that 25% (!!!!) of their leavers go on to study medicine. I thought that was insane given the amount of choice school leavers have in terms of future careers and felt it represented a very narrow range of career aspirations (most likely shaped by parents). I wouldn't consider a school where the path is laid out so clearly. I would go for overall strength in STEM, if that is your interest but not look narrowly at career outcomes.

Chilldonaldchill · 06/12/2021 23:16

Maybe it's because they have a lot of people who want to have a decent work-life balance instead of doing medicine?
It's really no longer the case that medic parents beget medic children - of the 25 applicants from DC's school, only 1 has a medical parent. Of all my many medical colleagues, only one has children wanting to go into medicine.

And there really isn't such a thing as an Oxbridge quota. You are still more likely to get into Oxford or Cambridge from an independent than a state school and vastly more likely if you combine independents and state selectives.

Quidity · 07/12/2021 11:39

I can believe that a child age 11 or 12 might already know they MIGHT want to study medicine, but to pick a school on the basis of how many leavers get a place is madness! (sorry op). There are too many variables, even in terms of what individual med schools look for in an applicant.

This is a personal opinion (as a parent and a veteran NHS employee) that too many schools promote medicine to their brightest kids without having the faintest idea of what being a doctor entails. The drop out rate before potential doctors reach their F2 year is huge - approaching 50%. As swgeek suggests perhaps look at A level choices/results and broader destinations

Milomonster · 08/12/2021 08:36

This is totally and utterly bonkers for many reasons (I say this as an academic in medicine at a prestigious uni).

UselessASD · 08/12/2021 08:43

Sounds madness as a way to pick a school.

dreadingthetime · 08/12/2021 09:06

OP why do you think children with strong "science pedigree with medals and awards in international biology/chemistry science Olympiads" will only want to be doctors? True science aspirants should devout their life in research. World today is in serious need of scientists and researchers. It puts me off when ever a school brags about how many leavers took medical. Also believe me Oxbridge is really not the end all and be all. Not all students, even the best one always aspire to go to Oxbridge. What is important data wise is how many children got their first uni choice. 7 years of school life is lot more than which uni the student will go to. I would concentrate on everything else.
If your DC decides to take medicine in A level, all of the schools you mentioned has excellent support. So he will be fine. It is very wrong to think if a class of 100 children out of 150 wants to take a particular profession, automatically your child will steer towards that one. Just imagine in case he wants to be something different. School should be supportive of all channels.

luverlybubberly · 08/12/2021 23:16

I don't think it's as simple as the top scientists do medicine. Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics sort of combinations can lead to careers like Engineering or Computer Science that can be as respected, prestigious and lucrative as Medicine.
I went to a girls boarding school and Engineering was as common as medicine and there were many different engineering specialisms picked too. There were not many girls with medic parents ime- they were more likely to have children attending day school.

Original poster
Mum4Medics · 09/12/2021 06:42

Many thanks for the useful insights here

@Pythonesque Star
@SwumMum Star
@LiterallyKnowsBest Star
@Chilldonaldchill Star
@luverlybubberly Star
@swgeek Star Star

I am really grateful for sharing your views. Sorry to ignore the rest of the assumptive speculative self-proclaimed supreme judge Dredd wannabes Wink

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page