Bolingbroke academy wandsworth

[todayortomorrow]

Hi we're in balham, SW london and thinking about secondary options. Not much info around on Bolingbroke academy - are any parents on here? Would love to hear what your kids think of it and if you're happy. Our other state option is Chestnut Grove, or Graveney if ace the Wandsworth test. Thank you!

Bolingbroke has feeder primaries as main entrance criteria. If your DC does not go to one of the feeders (there are 6 (?), 3 of which are the Belleville schools) I'd be quite realistic of chances of getting a place.

Yeah, considering either moving them to a feeder school or moving v close. Spoke to the council about it today. Do you have any info on the school?

Bolingbroke Academy was set up about 10 years ago and is one of the Ark Academy schools. Our daughter is in year 8 having been to Honeywell primary - one of the feeders. We are very impressed with it - the ethos is caring (and the teachers are certainly attentive) but mixed with a pretty zero-tolerance approach to messing about. Some kids - and some parents - don't take kindly to repeated detentions for misbehaviour, forgetting stuff etc. So horses for courses. But it has double the GCSE 7-9 grade rate of the other state schools across Wandsworth, has a fantastic sixth form, and last year sent more kids to Oxbridge than Emanuel School across the common. We know of kids who got bored of their private schools after GCSE and thought they'd come to Bolingbroke who got turned down because the school has a higher A-Level entry threshold than the private school they were at before! We would certainly recommend it. And has the added advantage that your kids are much less likely to be mixing with the very entitled brats / bankers' kids that plague so many fee-paying schools these days, unfortunately.

What is Bolingbroke's GCSE 7-9 for 2023?
On the website it reports the 5-9 GCSEs English/Maths as 82%, but I can't see an across-the-board for 7-9.

Graveney was 47% 7-9 (I expect the selective cohort had a rather higher percentage, but they don't provide that sort of detail) with 80% getting 5-9 in maths and 82% for English, and 74% in both.

For comparison: Emanuel's 7-9 was 87% (with 41% 9s, and 96% 6-9). They don't list English/Maths separately.

Source for all the above is each school's website

(I haven't tried to find Sixth Form entrance requirements)

55% 7-9 at Ark Bollingbroke in 2023 according to their website.

Thanks for the replies. Bumping in case any other feedback

@exllamaistics
Bolinbroke : 4 kids to Oxbridge in 2023 Outstanding A Level and BTEC results! | Ark Bolingbroke

Emanuel : 9 kids to Oxbridge A level 2023 results - Emanuel

why are you saying that Bolingbroke sent more kids than Emanuel ?

@SquirmOfEels Apparently Bolingbroke 7-9 was 37% as per link
GCSE Excellence | Ark Bolingbroke

Emanuel had a great 2023 re Oxbridge but it looked to me like they only sent 2 in 2024 so that may be an outlier. And bolingbroke may have sent none in 2024.

@todayortomorrow thanks. I am not hooked on Oxbridge at all, but wondered what was that comparison was about really ? it's not the first time I hear people saying Bolingbroke has better results than Emanuel, but it falls away within one click, as squirmofeels flagged.

I am interested in Chesnut Grove, but not finding much info on here.
Might put a post on NappyValley.net !

Just curious to know if you have made a choice ?

Yes, agreed on Bolingbroke - it's non-selective though so I guess not surprising that Emanuel would have better results. Chestnut grove is our local state but not our preferred one, based on the tour and difference in A-level results vs Bolingbroke or Graveney. I do know a lot of parents who are pretty happy with it though.

Our son is in Y5 so we haven't made a decision yet - current plan is Wandsworth test tutoring and making a call by the summer on how likely he is to get Graveney. If not very likely, consider moving to a Bolingbroke feeder for Y6. It's not a great plan and may well change.

Hi, I just wanted to know how you got on with Graveney School or did you end up at Bolingbroke? I’m searching Bolingbroke now as I am not keen to move to the area close to Graveney and the commute is a killer from home. We don’t live far but we have the entire trinity road to travel which is a nightmare during off peak hours.