Wymondham College vs Royal Alexandra and Albert vs Holyport

[tachetastic]

We are looking at state boarding provision for our 13 year old DD and wonder if anyone has recent experience of boarding and KS3-4 education at Wymondham College, Royal Alexandra and Albert School (RAAS) and/or Holyport College. DD is pretty confident and extremely sporty, so I think she will enjoy the boarding experience.

Wymondham seems the strongest and most consistent academically, but the mixed boarding houses do not inspire me, and I worry that an individual will get lost among 600+ full time boarders. RAAS seems to have the strongest facilities but on average is the weakest academically (and Ofsted recently downgraded its academic provision to Requires Improvement). That said, I guess academics come down to the individual and whether they are willing to put the work in. Holyport looks like a different animal and a bit of an experiment, albeit a very successful one so far. It does seem to be reliant on local big hitter Eton as well as the local authority to provide facilities for sports and activities.

Does anybody have recent direct experience of any of these that they would be able to share?

Sorry I can't help with those three but I've had DC at two different state boarding schools in the north of England so here are some reflections that may or ay not be relevant. Overall we were delighted with our experience from years 7-13. Ours were weekly boarders (Sunday night / Mon morning - Friday) and that was a success in both cases. We wouldn't have wanted them to be fully boarding. No Saturday school and less going on compared with 'pubic' schools.

So my tip would be to consider the distance between your home and the school is important as are public transport links. Also its lovely to be able to pop to the school for concerts, matches etc.

Admittedly at neither of the two schools mine went were boarders in the majority so it might be different at the schools you are looking at.

I’m about to apply for a boarding place at WC for my DD going into Year 7 in 2023. We live locally but not within a mile of the school (where you need to be for a day place). We were really impressed with the whole school, and whilst the dorms are a bit dated they felt very cosy with a friendly and supportive atmosphere.

I know a few people who have children that are boarders and they cannot say enough good things about it. It’s really well organised and the children do well with the structured day, and you don’t need to nag them to do homework as there’s the special prep room and time for it with help on hand if needed.

Another friend has day places for her DC and they are all flourishing academically, despite not being in top sets when then started. They seem to really get the best out of each child and due to the variety of after school activities on offer, they find their thing. I really hope DD gets in 😬

Thanks a lot for those comments. In the end we went with Wymondham and DD will start in Year 9 next week. In the end, the fact that it has the lowest fees, best exam results, best sporting facilities (of its own), is OFSTED Outstanding and we could not find anyone with a bad word to say, meant it was hard to come to any other conclusion. The new Principal was also really impressive in our interview, and DD loved the fact that of all the schools we looked at it was the only one led by a women, which inspired her.

I understand that places at the College are super hard to secure for Day pupils, but to be honest I think if you are able and prepared to pay for Boarding, then it is unlikely that your DD will not be accepted, unless something in her Boarding interview suggests that she really does not want to live away from home. PM me if you have any questions.

@tachetastic oooh that’s super exciting! I hope the settling in goes well. It’s good to hear that about the new principal too - I agree, a good role model for girls.

I think interviews will take place late Autumn for us and DD is very keen to board so hopefully that’ll come across.

Good luck this week!