Epsom college

[emanonsah]

Academic or not? I have been looking at the education boards a while and
Not seen any mention of this one. It's for a DD. She is in for a couple of the SW girls schools so I'd love to know where Epsom fits into the mix

It depends what you are looking for as there are so many dd options. The dd I know there are academic but many who apply and get an offer may choose a more academic girls school. What makes Epsom different is the excessive fees from Year 9, it's £10k a year more than many all girls schools like Surbiton High.

I think it's harder to get in to than Surbiton High but easier than LEH.

That's great info, thanks loads

our Headmaster would put this in group 3 (st Paul’s for example in first group, Putney high in second) and Epsom in group 3 with a Sutton high. Has your headmaster given any thoughts?

Similarly to @Bringonsummer19 , we were advised that, on the basis of how competitive entry is, Epsom is easier than KGS, WHS, PHS or Emanuel. Probably similar but a bit easier than Ibstock.
To note, academic standing / results and ease of entry are not linearly related. Other factors (e.g. facilities, location, extra-curricular) also play a role.

We are moving to the area so head (who is actually off on extended sick leave) only really comments on local schools. But this is super helpful, especially about the groups of schools

I've taught there.

It caters to the full breadth of academic achievement.

We chose it over KGS for DD and are very happy with the academic level so far. It won't be like LEH/KGS in the sense that most/all kids at these are quite academic, as there is still a range and there is a group of kids who probably care more about sports or extracurriculars than academics. I don't think it is different to PHS/Ibstock in that regard, you just have a wider range at these schools.

That said, along with all the co-eds like Emanuel, I think the reputation from the past may be that it is easier to get into but this has changed a lot, so the share of academic kids is rising from year to year. At least at our co-ed DD's prep, far more kids got Ibstock offers than Epsom offers last year, but this year Ibstock seems to be very popular as well. All the co-eds are becoming harder and harder.

We know a lot of girls at WHS and PHS and I don't think they are any different in terms of ability from the girls at Epsom we have met so far. The girls' schools just actively manage their GCSE statistics by letting girls do combined science or take only their native language for GCSE, so they look good in league tables but it doesn't mean they are more academic. They only do about 9 GCSEs on average to boost their league table position.