Hurstpierpoint or JAGS for 6th form

[Stranger3]

Hello - i would love some advice just in case some of you have some knowledge of experience of both schools. So different. DD initially wanted a co ed school (currently is in all girls in london) and loves Hurst. Neve boarded but very happy with the idea. BUT she wants to do medicine and JAGS had such impressive numbers going off to do both Medicine and Oxbridge (double digits, and very high as a % of students etc) last year. They seem to have great programmes in place for both, and generally seem to be great at really helping the girls succeed with the next step. Hurst is also great academically but, i get the sense, not quite as strong as JAGs. I realise it is very hard to advise here but any insights hugely appreciated. We basically have until the end of next week to decide.

Academically VERY different schools!

i guess the headline differences in A/A* do not seem enormous (74.5% hurst vs 77 jags) but I know this difference translates into a big gap in the league tables. Also we were told that mixed schools generally do have lower headline results. We are always told a bright child will do well anywhere and I don’t blame her for wanting to go mixed after 12 years in a girls day school but then given how incredibly hard Medicine is it does seem JAGS would give her a better chance.

Agree with @KingscoteStaff , if your dd really wants to do medicine you need as much academic support that she can get, amazing UCAT and 3 or 4 top alevels. Spend some time on the higher education medicine threads to see the hoops you have to jump through. Excellent teaching and a knowledgable 6th form team re medicine should be her priority. Have you asked Hurst if you can speak to their 6th form medicine applications advisor?

I would say avoid JAGS (personal experience).
That said, it is academic and for that reason could be a good choice for an academic student.

thank you so much for the responses. DH and DD went for a tour of Hurst and did ask about Medicine but were a bit underwhelmed - but I doubt that was the dedicated person who deals with the applicants. I will ask them, thank you.
@Batshit, would you be able to elaborate at all on JAGS? I have another daughter who has been offered at occasional place for year 9 there - so i would love to get your perspective. In terms of academics, both girls ALSO have an offer from Wimbledon high School but both seem to prefer JAGs (and DD1 seems to think it is between JAGs and hurst now).
So I would really appreciate any insight on JAGs- including (and especially) reasons to avoid! I do appreciate that JAGs looks a better choice from the perspective of her Medicine application - but perhaps if Wimbledon is as good from that perspective but there are less reasons to avoid it, we should think again…

THANK YOU

Yes chase up the medicine applications teacher/careers person at hurst because JAGS and WHS will both have 1 with specialised sessions in year 12. Your dd is still young and medicine is such a tricky path often involving a gap year to reapply/ gain work experience so maybe ask her how important that career path is and where she thinks she would be happiest and get good grades as the uni application process for all subjects is driven by predicted A levels.

https://www.bhasvic.ac.uk/media/pdf/bhasvic-oe-medvet-2020-4172.pdf

Amazing college ... my colleagues children were at Hurst and moved here as better chance of studying medicine at Uni

And free!

Not sure about Hurst as don’t know its Medical support for university applications.
Heard from from families with older kids that JAGs over WHS, better support for those looking at medical fields. WHS looks good but lots of parental support with parents or other family members in medical field so if your family don’t have some medical field inside knowledge not sure how much help.

This is so helpful, thank you so much. @redrobin75, you are spot in. She is very keen on medicine but also I suppose not 100% sure - mostly because she knows it is a tough path, both to get in (which i think she is ok and very prepared to put in the work) but also after graduation. So I don’t want her to go somewhere she is less excited about because of Medicine - but equally it is the only career she keeps coming back to and neither do i want her to have regrets that she didn’t go to to the school that maximised her chances. As you say, she is still very young - a bit young for her age, too…
@halfthesun - wow thank you for this link. Sounds amazing. I suspect we are too late but i will look into this.
@HawaiiWake yes that is very much the impression i get with WHS vs JAGs too. It seems a bigger dedicated thing in JAGs and we have no one in the family in Medicine who can help.
I do seem to occasionally see someone. - like @BatshitIsTheOnlyExplanation - saying to avoid JAGs and i would love to know what issues that may be. I wonder if those are the issues common to all the London girls’ day schools, or something more specific or serious.

I think JAGS or WHS would be fine if your daughter is set on medicine.
I wouldn't worry about not having medics in the family- all my medic friends have actively discouraged their children from medicine ( although they have applied anyway) and they were told to make no mention of any family medics etc on their application. Top grades, work experience etc most important. Both with have parents who may be help with the work experience.
Which is easiest to get to? ( although sounds like your DD has discounted WHS anyway).

i think she is relatively LESS excited about the idea of going to another girls’ day school compared to a mixed boarding school… so WHS and JAGs are sort of close in her mind (and rightly so i guess). She really wants to do well but the novelty and apparent fun of Hurst are also very appealing. To start with, among the London two, WHS was first choice and she wasn’t too keen on jAGS - but then she did a more detailed visit to JAGs and seemed sold on the impressive Medicine and oxbridge strategies they have, and the amount of support with applications in general…. So if she has discounted WHS it is partly to somehow narrow the choice down, and mostly Medicine related again…though as you say may be the difference is not all that life changing at all and WHS also send similar numbers, apart from last year where JAGs was quite considerably higher on both Oxbridge and medicine.

we are in SW11 so Wimbledon is an easy train ride (considerably easier to get to by public transport) but JAGS has a school bus that goes literally from our doorstep!

It seems to me that the academic gap between WHS/JAGs vs hurst is really quite considerable and perhaps more so than i appreciated. But yes it is still a decision between the 3 of them!!

thank you @easycomeasygo - it does worry me how adamant all the doctors are about their children NOT going there and i entirely understand why. Helpful to know that no family connections are not a direct impediment at least

Is it just for 6th form? I know nothing about Hurst so can't comment on that but I would say relying on a school bus for 6th form is quite restrictive. I assume JAGS has a similar policy to WHS in terms of 6th form freedom and having to be at school etc.

Yes just for 6th form for the elder daughter And yes i agree and it did occur to me that she may use it to get to school in the morning but then might likely need to get back by herself and it WOULD be a pain. Again it is something she would be willing to put up with but definitely a consideration.
And DD2 who is also considering JAGs for year 9 and is just waiting to hear from WHS on the occasional place results there. But it’s more accuse dilemma for the elder one.

*accute

We have friends at WHS and have found the support for DDs interesting in Medicine and/or related fields outstanding. They have no medics in their family.
Our DD is about to start in Y7 at WHS and their A-level programme and career guidance was one of the reasons we opted for it versus other offers.

thats great to hear @QuiteAJourney. Thank you. It is a hard choice between JAGs and WHS even if we discount Hurst.

OP- I've sent you a PM

Thank you x

@Stranger3

JAGS has a long term endemic problem with eating disorders and self harm among students, both of which the school tends to turn a blind eye to, rather than addressing. In some year groups bullying is a major issue.

If your daughters are arty/sporty/confident, they will probably be fine though.

Have to agree with the post above. Have a daughter in the 6th form…lots of eating disorders/anxiety/toxic atmosphere all ignored by the school

I am so sad to hear this but so grateful for this info.

WHS has similar issues to the ones described at JAGS, including a very high incidence of eating disorders. To be fair to both schools, there has been a rise in mental health issues among teenagers in the past few years and the type of high achieving girls who attend the schools are likely more prone to eating disorders, rather than the schools necessarily being responsible for the girls becoming ill. But I would absolutely not choose WHS over JAGS in order to avoid a cohort with mental health issues.

Would you consider KCS? Just up the road from WHS and very good support for medicine applications. DD has just finished there and is now first year Medicine at Oxford.

I was really impressed by the level of support received from the school.