Harrow School or Fettes?

[Jpickin]

My son is looking to start Year 9 and wondering which school to go for? Harrow of Fettes? Anyone has any experience.

Both schools are in the city, both near the airport etc so focus for me is now more on the school itself, well rounded, and opportunities it offers after secondary school education

"so at least kids that put in the effort with proper teaching support should end up in good universities,"

To be honest, this applies to any school-not sure it needs to be on your list of priorities.

In terms of "brand visibility", everyone, not just in the UK but internationally, will have heard of Harrow. Fairly or not fairly, the same doesn't apply to Fettes.

@ChristinaAlber That is such out of date rubbish about Harrow. There might be the odd underachiever but very many go to great unis and have careers doing what they wanted. I’ve met some very academic boys from there. It has no such reputation for bits being “dim”. In this day and age you would not get in! I think Harrow does have a bigger name but it lives up to it.

ChristinaAlber - what do you mean by a 'nice but dim' brand (probably unfairly)?

@ChristinaAlber ironically, DH went to school in Edinburgh and says that in Scotland that is the exact reputation that Fettes has! Rich, but stupid, is how he put it. The very academic kids in Scotland are certainly not going there.

Tim, nice but dim is a comedy character who represents a lot of English public school boys, extremely good manners and pleasant but not very bright.

If you google the phrase you’ll find lots of examples.

To those getting upset by this description, I said “probably unfairly”, I know that lots of clever boys go to Harrow but in my opinion, it is often seen as the school you go to if you’re not clever enough to get into Eton. which many people also think (wrongly) is full of thick posh boys. I am sure it is still a very good school and as I say I have some lovely friends we went there who are not at all dim, though not academic either. And I am totally prepared to believe that Fettes has the same reputation north of the border.

OP, I agree with others that you should really be visiting these schools in deciding which one you like the feel of best – taking advice from strangers (possibly with hidden agendas) is not a great idea for such a big choice

@ChristinaAlber You do not know any Harrow boys though, do you? Many of DDs friends that went there had followed family members. None seemed less bright to me! The dads were all very high achieving in their fields. The boys who won scholarships were phenomenal. The vast majority never looked at Eton. Simply doesn’t happen for the majority. These people seem very happy with their choice and the outcomes for their boys. I’ve been impressed by Harrow boys being encouraged to be musical, do drama and art. To explore what makes them tick. To some extent this is the mark of a great school. Celebrating all areas of achievement. People who only think of academics miss the point of Harrow. (And probably Fettes). Academics are a big part of the picture but provision for and encouragement of additional interests, inspirational teachers and speakers plus great pastoral care are all important too.

I am sure Harrow is a fabulous school as are many of these public schools, most offer a lot of fabulous extra-curricular stuff. Fettes offers it all too. I have no animus against it whatsoever. Seems like a strange issue to get so worked up about, if OP likes it then great but she should go and look rather than consulting strangers on t'internet.

Harrow latest GCSE 8-9% is about 75%, such academic ranks about 50+ in UK, compared to Fettes 53% probably ranks outside 100.

You might want to check ratio of day/boarding, including full boarding, at Fettes to see how many international pupils remain over weekends and what activities are planned for them. Depending where you are currently, Edinburgh may feel a more manageable size city than London and has nice cultural feel.

If your ds is about to start year 9 this year, he may have missed the boat or 'boatie' even for Harrow, pardon the pun. Entrance tests for Harrow start in yr6 (ISEB) with the main test and interview in the first term of year 7.

@Askil , the OP has the place and guardians lined up at both schools, she is deciding with her ds which to accept.

I think of Lawrence Fox and Crispin Odey when I see Harrow.

Tony Blair for Fettes..

I think of Churchill, Nehru, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Curtis, Lord Byron and James Blunt 😁
Fox isn’t representative in my experience. He’s a bit of an ass (as Curtis would put it).

@tennissquare I can't see anywhere they said offers were already in place and the questions they are asking sound like the questions of someone at the very early stages of deciding between two schools. If they have offers already then that's great.

In any case, the Harrow that many seem to remember (nice but dim) has long gone. Harrow is very academic with a strong focus on extra curricular. It used to ask for a minimum of 65% at common entrance which was more in line with Eton's 70%. Many other boarding schools asked only for 55% min. That's if you pass the hurdle of the very difficult interview at age 10! where you're expected to know things like names and faces of various heads of state, opinions on tax, Brexit etc etc the final test isn't too strenuos but age appropriate and many don't get in. It being a full boarding school it does not empty out at weekends at all so it's a thriving lively environment 7 days a week. I don't know if Fettes is full boarding. Harrow has exeats every 3 weeks where the whole school empties out i.e go home.

Are you looking for this September?

Wow! They ask questions like that at the Harrow interview - Heads of states in other countries to a 10/11 year old? O my goodness!

Any one has ideas of type of questions to expect at the Harrow interview - i have idea of general questions to expect but more interested in examples of questions that has to do with current affairs and politics?
Kindly advise - post

@Jpickin does your ds have any offers of a place yet or not? How old is he? You may find limiting to those two schools restrictive if in early stages. Most selective schools will ask about current affairs, including discussing a current news story or issue which may have caught their attention. Also favourite book, music, interests etc. Obviously choice may differ for each child but they will look for articulation, curiosity, enthusiasm, general knowledge etc. If applying for a specific scholarship there may be particular requirements and assessments.

He has an offer for a third school for year 7 but we decided to keep him with us for 2 more years to start in Year 9 so we deferred. In the interim we are also on the Harrow admission process. We have already visited Harrow with DS but yet to visit Fettes with DS. Although I had previously visited Fettes with my DD so seen both schools.

His sister is in boarding school so we have visited a few coed schools with her when she was going through this process but this is the only single sex school we have visited. The criteria for choosing a school for my DD was slightly different at the time because she was going in at a more senior year etc.

So now focus is on DS

Looked at other schools but most fall short on diversity levels which is usually pretty low or too far from friends and family OR too far from the airport.

No. in 2 years

@motherstongue that list is possibly worse then Lawrence Fox and Crispin Odey.

@LaDeeDa123 😂

Fetter is the Scottish Eton, so probably a better option.

@motherstongue 😂

What does he like to do for fun - theatres and culture, choose Harrow/London, skiiing and outdoors, choose Fettes/Edinburgh. He'll only make the most of opportunities he enjoys.