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Secondary education

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West Buckland School vs Malvern St James

1 reply

bbright3n · 01/07/2022 14:02

Hi everyone! I am a 17 years old girl and I come from Hong Kong. I have been suffering from depression and have taken a gap year. I wish to apply for an independent school in UK because I believe that HK's educational system did not suits me.
I am now thinking of which school I shall choose: West Buckland School and Malvern St James.
For me, Malvern St James is a school that I could do more subjects that I like and prefer. But my agent told me that it may be hard to immerse myself in groups of girls. I did have interviews with the school before, and I feel like they are really caring. West Buckland is a coed school, which I could fits myself in better in the future coz there are both men and women in the society(is it a bit weird to say that?🤔)And their fees are relatively lower(but it seems that I have to pay for every extra curricular activity).My agent also told me that their pastoral care are much better compared with MSJ. Besides, there are 400 students at MSJ while there are 600 in WBS, and both of them have nearly 100 international students. May I know if they do have a lot of Chinese studying there? I don't mean to have any discrimination on them but I wish to force myself speaking English all the time, while too many Chinese means I may give up speaking English and speaks Chinese and Cantonese , which I believe would be less meaningful to my UK studying journey:(
May I know anything from you all, such as your own view, any facts not mentioned on their web page, any rumors, etc. It means a lot if you won't mind sharing your ideas with me! Thank you sooooooo much!😘😘

OP posts:
Malbecfan · 02/07/2022 22:18

I don't know anything about MSJ but I know a little about West Buckland. The grounds and location of WBS are beautiful but I have no idea how a 17 year old would get there without parental help because it is very rurally located. There are a number of international students at WBS as you state. Given your mental health, could you manage in a school which is a long way from anywhere without any public transport options?

I have daughters a little older than you. They wanted a co-educational school and I agreed. Whilst some girls' schools can be good, my girls loved having male and female (and non-binary) friends and they are still in regular contact despite leaving 3 & 5 years ago. To me, that's a really important decision: do you want girls only?

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