Help me understand Brighton College

[4U2]

Please help me understand Brighton College, as it continues to remain an enigma in our books. Its ethos tends to be similar to that of Wellington, with a strong PR push and very good GCSE and A-levels and Oxbridge rates.

Normally there is a good correlation between a given school's performance at inter-school competitions and Oxbridge/Ivy/medical school acceptance rates, as one would expect that these universities would look beyond grades only. E.g. Winchester gathers around two dozen medals at science olympiads, and medics are around 9% of leavers, Merchant Taylors and Sevenoaks around a dozen medals in science olympiads, and medics are around 6-7% of leavers. A similar pattern holds in Model UN results, which tends to translate well into Oxbridge/Ivy acceptance rates in humanities.

I am not aware of BC getting any special recognition at these large inter-school competitions like Model UN and math or science olympiads, or at least they don't seem to advertise it (and I am sure that if they had they would🙂). The pupils we have seen at BC don't seem to come across any better than those at other the top schools, and seem to be more in league with Wellington than Eton. How it is possible then for BC to beat most of the top schools in terms of Oxbridge and medical school acceptance rates is a mystery to me.

It makes sense that if a school focuses strictly on the curriculum, then there will be stellar results in the GCSE and A-levels league tables. But surely Oxbridge/Ivy and medical schools will be looking for more in a candidate than just top A-levels?

no.

😂😂😂

Christ. Stop pushing your child. I got into Cambridge with zero, absolutely zero, parental input. State (grammar) school.

Think you will find that it is not the topic of the discussion. We're not even talking about DC's future at all but a school in general. You should really read the thread first😃.How's the party?

Any adult who uses the word “unfair” when comparing how many students one (very expensive) public school sends to Oxbridge compared with another (expensive) public school needs a reality check.

Any adult who misspells “privilege” needs a dictionary.

OP, you’re exhausting. Take some time away from your spreadsheets. Have a cocktail, perhaps.

Or a keyboard instead of a smartphone😎 No doubt the 'milk the state' grammar snob has arrived. Don't exhaust yourself... just kidding.

P.s. before we go into spell check more thanks to Cambridge, please note that I also mistyped college at least once (fatfinger) but alas MN doesn't have an edit function

@4U2
Either your children will be bright enough to do well in Olympiads and debating competitions regardless of the school they go to or they won’t. You, after all, are adamant that you cannot prepare for them 😂. What on earth do you think Winchester are doing other than entering most of their children into the Olympiads, if you can’t really do anything to prepare a child for one?! Seems to me you actually mean places like Winchester do indeed spend years grooming their kids for Olympiads and debating competitions, which is 100% preparing them for those kinds of tests (and, therefore, demonstrates you can effectively be taught to the test, even the Olympiad test…). Either that, or you just think kids at Winchester are all brighter than kids at Brighton College.

If you want your children to be entered for every Olympiad going and to enter numerous debating competitions, then send them to a school that tells you these things are important and that its students have tonnes of medals to prove it. Don’t conflate your desire for your children to have these experiences with university entrance procedures, though. On which note, are you also concerned that the Oxford and Cambridge admissions process is inadequate, because those universities are not as impressed by performance in Olympiads as they are by performance in their own aptitude tests? Do you genuinely worry that Brighton College students at Oxbridge will flounder and Oxford and Cambridge will make a note not to be impressed by candidates from there in future, because they are not as clever as they first appeared, and maybe they should have realised sooner, due to the absence of Olympiad medal holders
from that school? Or do you think, maybe, you are getting your knickers in a twist about the whole thing? Surely you should just pick whichever one of the centres of academic excellence you are considering which has an ethos most closely aligned to your own (namely, one that grooms children for Olympiad and debating competitions)? Why even consider Brighton College if it does not set much store by things you consider to be of vital importance?

What a bizarre thread!

Just had a nosy because I used to have family in Brighton (Hove actually) and wondered about their local school.

Now that I've dipped in, I'm baffled about the obsession with Science / Maths Olympiads, Model UN etc.

There are other ways to explore your subject and go beyond the curriculum.

I have two at Oxford, one Physics, and not an Olympiad or Model UN between them, even though both did Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths A Levels.

Their school supported the DC to do projects of their own devising. In DS's case it was one involving using an air balloon for some reason. School helped them apply for funding from a Research Council and devise a methodology. It was entirely interest-based and nothing cookie-cutter.

DS and a friend also set up a Physics Society where they took turns to research a topic of interest and present back to their peers and younger pupils.

Maybe the private Brighton College you are talking about does unique stuff and encourages independent thinking, rather than follow the herd?

Wait, are you saying your DC's got into Oxbridge WITHOUT Model UK or Science Olympiads awards? Really?! 😀

Well I’ve RTT and I don’t understand why a few pp are giving op a hard time. She’s simply trying to get some insight into BC by asking people here who might have some experience, due diligence for her child’s education!
I’m sorry I don’t have any thoughts for you, OP, the kids that I know who go there are at the prep school.

Actually, I don't think it's at all naive to ask the school. I'm not saying you will get a 100% warts and all picture, but you will still learn a lot. What a school says about itself is very important. When we were choosing the DC's school, we didn't know anyone there, so a lot of our decision-making was based on open days and conversations with the school (pupils and staff). Their answers to questions seemed thoughtful, considered and consistent, and the ethos/approach they presented very much chimed with what we wanted. If we hadn't liked what they said about themselves - or if we'd suspected a sales pitch - then that wouldn't have been the school for us. In the years since, the picture they presented has turned out to be very accurate.

So I still say - ask them. Ask them why their Olympiad and debating results seem out of sync with their wider results and Oxbridge entry. Ask them about how they see the challenge of maintaining a reputation in the long term vs being a rising star. The way they choose to answer those questions should tell you a lot about the school. And if they can't give you a convincing answer to those questions, or if they don't want to have the conversation, or if you feel like they're trotting an empty sales pitch, then you still have your answer.

Agree, as I said previously, contact the school and ask them.

Milk the state? I’m pretty sure, given you’ve said that you’ll have to make sacrifices to try to buy your children’s success that a lot of us here have paid far, far more into the state than you have.

You really are confirming all the stereotypes here.

Yes, I found that jibe particularly tasteless too.

One value I like in a school is openness and authenticity and the ability to hear constructive criticism. So I do think the idea of talking to the school with questions is a good one.

Separately I would note the holes in this thread and wonder why they are there?

The holes in the thread are because that person said some very controversial things.

They can deny it all they want. They definitely do it.

Of course they do.

Most of the top schools irrespective of where they are or which system they follow will have excellent teachers and facilities. I'm aware fully that this thread is splitting hairs here, but I find this still a lot more more revealing than brochures or a tour of the facilities during open days. If you have children of a similar age, then I am sure you'll understand.

It's all about a habit of mind.

One possible ethos is to be exam average focused, which means paying more attention to bringing up the rear than to advance the front. Not too dissimilar to vocational training, geared towards a wider more generic curriculum. Students in such a system will naturally excel in GCSEs and A-levels and admissions tests and interviews, as that's what they were specifically trained for. The mind in this case is a very specialised tool, which will excel in that given specialised task, but will most likely struggle with a different type challenge. More exam training, less education.

A different ethos is to teach subjects broadly and for the love of learning, question more, take a cross-disciplinary attitude and let talent flourish. This would be more akin to liberal arts education, where the habit of mind is more about linking and connecting things and discovery. Students in such systems will not be so exam obsessed, but would be able to apply their knowledge much wider thereby likely to fare better in olympiads and research projects (or if you don't like the word, then enter your favourite academic extra-curricular here). The disadvantage is that the lower sets in such case might end up with slightly lower GCSEs and A-levels. More education, less exam training.

Which one is BC?

When you're looking at really good schools, I'm not sure it's that polarised. DS's school is one of those you name on this thread as apparently getting better Olympiad results than BC. But it has no problem getting stellar exam results too. Basically, if you take a bunch of really bright kids and chuck them in a room with great teachers and great resources, then you can educate them in a liberal/enquiring way and they'll still get great exam results. I don't know anything about Brighton, but if you're looking at 'top' (hate that word) schools, then I'm not sure you need to choose between the two.

If you want to know about Brighton College, Google Marcus Smith. Nice, polite, talented, determined young man

As for describing BC as a "feeder school" for Oxbridge, times have changed for all indies as both universities are finally recognising that a privileged school education shouldn't automatically result in a place.

My own DD wasn't offered the opportunity to enter Olympiads during her A levels or the other extra curricular activities you're describing. Oxbridge fortunately understand that these opportunities aren't open to the majority of applicants, as they may need to go to work or have caring responsibilities.

Instead of focusing on issues like Oxbridge success and Olympiad medals, focus on where your DC will be happy and where they will fit in.