6th form boarding oakham

[m123m]

DD thinking of moving school for 6th form
quite academic + sporty
have heard good things about Oakham but wanted to hear about anyone else’s experiences (good, bad and ugly)
Currently at Millfield y10 but not too keen on it

[leftandaright]

Moving girls into a school with already established female friendship groups is tough. Oakham is not a school with a huge number of boarders . Most of them are day or flexi. Full boarders in that area tend to go to Uppingham and Oundle near by - neither of which allow any kind of flexi to weekly options. I don’t think either of these have a large intake at sixth form either. You’d need to check on all potential schools for actual numbers.

oakham is an averagely sporty but others more so.

I would be looking for a school with a large intake of girls at sixth form. Help her ease in.
if she is academic and sporty then she will get a free pass into pretty much any school. Unless she already has friends at Oakham then it would not be a natural choice I don’t think.
There are better boarding schools, more academic schools and sportier schools out there. Not that Oakham doesn’t do all these things, it does - just doesn’t excel at any of these three criteria.

but most importantly find a school which has a good intake at sixth form which will enable your dd to integrate more easily.

[Sharpkat]

I went to Oakham (many moons ago) and still have a lot of contact with them. They produce well-rounded, confident individuals. People have the opportunity to shine. I think it is a great place.

[easternenergizer]

Not sure Oakham best bet.

Boarding structure can be lonely for full boarders as flexi mixed in and when the flexi go home at weekends can be lonely. They eat as a school not as boarding houses.

I wouldn’t say they were good at sport at a team level. But maybe they help individuals with their sporting paths. Facilities certainly not anywhere near Millfield’s level at all. I know they don’t have an athletics track, so if your daughter focuses on this sport it certainly wouldn’t be good.

Also it isn’t academic really. But it does do
IB which could be of interest - not sure how successfully.

Maybe other schools more suited out there to be honest but I would definitely go and see if you like the vibe at least. Maybe she has friends there or potentially could make friends with the people more there so I don’t want to put you off.

[easternenergizer]

And as sharpkat says - they had a lovely time. So if she’s happy maybe she will thrive and do well.

[Dancingdreamer]

Rugby has the advantage of the girls 6th form house and has good sports for girls. Some like that others think it separates new girls from the main school. Wellington also has a reasonable 6th from intake for girls and have good sports. If you are looking for full boarding and are not keen on a separate 6th form house, I would look also at Marlborough. They have a reasonably large intake of new 6th form girls.

[Lovelearnandhavefun]

Oakham is well worth a look. It’s a large school but is very friendly and down to earth - half of their pupils are boarders. There are over 300 full boarders and all pupils attend Saturday school with a full range of sports fixtures on Saturday afternoon - there isn’t much time to be be bored or lonely. An intake of about 60 into the Sixth Form.

You can see the sports results on the school website if you search. Oakham has always had a strong reputation for sport and it’s well earned. The Oakham 1st VII Netball team beat Uppingham 47-28 this season. Stowe were beaten 57-35. Victories over Stamford and Rugby too.