QEB v Wilson's - which is the leading/best school

[StrugglingPa]

Hi everyone,

I find myself in a bit of a good dilemma! My DS has scored well in both the 11+ exams for QE and SET/Wilson. While QE was my natural choice, I've recently discovered more about Wilson, and now I’m quite confused about which would be the best fit for him.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what I see as the pros:
QE:

• Has a strong academic reputation and has been consistently at the top for years.
• Offers some opportunities in sports and music, though it seems to be more academically focused.

Wilson:

• They have a rigorous selection process, possibly ensuring a higher standard of entry.
• Appears to offer more in terms of sports and music, which might be a good fit for my DS too.

Speaking of my DS, he’s academically aligned, does well in music and computing, and is an avid reader.

I’m feeling a bit biased towards Wilson, but I’m also hearing good things about QE's international expansion, which could be beneficial for their brand. Plus, I’m open to relocating for either school, so that’s not a deciding factor.

I’d love to hear your thoughts! If you have any experiences with either school or general advice, please share. I need to make a decision in a week, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much!

Well, I think the first thing would be - what is the commute like to both schools?

Don't think Wilson has a higher standard of entry; QE is more competitive to get in.

Try to familiarize yourself with any cull policies between these two schools for the sixth form. Personally, I would choose Wilson for a more rounded education, but that's just a personal preference.

The commute is horrendous for both and in either instance will relocate

DS is good in music and some non-sport extra curricular but is quite academic, this confuses matters for me.

When you say, QE is more competitive to get in, why do you think that? I am a late bloomer in 11+ so haven't been in the prep crowd, I thought Wilson having multiple rounds makes it more competitive, but my assumption is just based on multiple rounds in Wilson v one round in QE

Where would you rather live? The differences are likely to be marginal academically. Wilson’s is very very shiny I’m told, can’t comment on QE.

I will need to rent, what are the areas I could rent around QE? I don't want to drive one-way to the school for more than 20 minutes in peak traffic. Will need a 3 bed which isn't very expensive

Honestly, most children will take public transport. So look at where your son can get to by tube/train/bus.

Is public transport safe? If I give a basic phone, air tag, will a kid be safe. I have only heard about muggings and kids being in danger. QE does offer coaches but these are oversubscribed and you only get a confirmation after national offer day, it's too late by then

Honestly, they have identical budgets per head, teach an identical syllabus, have identical demographic of kids [both well on the way to being exclusively attended by mostly Indian kids who've been tutored since the cradle], the differences between the two are not worth giving a second thought. UK schools, especially state schools, are nothing like universities, where the very best places teach slightly better courses, have stronger academics in their teaching departments, and so on - they're broadly all the same, certainly two 'similar' schools like two super-selective grammars, are identical.

QE is in Barnet, no? That’s pretty safe. The vast majority of secondary school aged children in this country get public transport to school, apart from maybe some very rural areas.

And getting public transport is a brilliant way of building independence. Mine took public transport - a 45 minute journey door to door, from day 1, accompanied the first couple of days. They made “train friends” they dealt with the occasional delay/cancellation/diversion, and they were completely comfortable doing the journey within about a month.

QE I’m told does not teach computer science at GCSE or A level, or offer much/any football. These may be deciding factors if it were my son, but it’s not!

They are both amazing schools so I would personally now focus on where I would rather live.

I don't know Wilson's but QE boys is not very diverse, if your son isn't of a SE Asian/ Indian background they may struggle.

Of course public transport is safe! Plenty of kids commute around London. However you may prefer a shorter journey.

This☝️

What a ridiculous thing to say @Foxesandsquirrels . The children who go to QE are incredibly bright. You would want your son to be around people like that.
Racist much?

I know a boy with a very "challenging" , to put it diplomatically, behaviour who is at QE. Of course his parents are Indian. And tbh I was asking my son to stay away from that kid.

They are surely quite bright and used to hard work but not necessarily all incredibly bright. Only some are. Not brighter than many other kids. What the are incredibly is ...tutored...from the early age.

The fact is that most of the selective grammar are full of South Asian kids. An intelligent person can easily observe it and definitely such observation does not equal racism. Simply, parents of Indian kids value selective and grammar education.

How is that racist? I never said they're not bright, it's full of very clever kids yes. But if there's very few kids that look like you it can be hard. It's no fun being the only Asian kid in a school full of white kids either. Works both ways. Some kids don't struggle with this, some do. Its important to know what you're getting yourself into.

I do hear you you TheGoldenGate and Foxesandsquirrels, opposite but I guess these views are prevalent. The thing that confuses me is who are going to be the future corporate leaders and work force, where are these people going to be hired from. Forget the entrepreneur and the self made ones.

If people will need to be academically qualified then the sheer number of students from grammar will have an advantage...followed by private and then by state schools

Yeah this is something that isn't a deal breaker but is quite odd, why would a school in AI env not offer computer science! Maths and Physics are as important for AI and form the basic of computer science but still not offering it is weird

Eternally confused, just three days to go :-) Thanks for the inputs puffyisgood and everyone else

I have spent all of my life working in very large corporations. I work in 70 k large corporation now. Before in one of the world top 10 in terms of no of employees. The assumption that the top management went mostly to grammar school is wrong.
Actually, most often they are not even British because the corporations are international. My e.g. ex boss from P...had only GCSE. He started from lowest position, worked hard his way up to the head of Sales ( I'm not in Sales)

Also, as AI says grammar graduate tend to study traditional STEM subjects, Social sciences and business is only on the 5th place

It is kind of worrying that the parents assume that getting into grammar school is a ticket to success. My friend and another acquaintance of mine are above 50, both are grammar graduate and both are job seeking at the very moment. One of them has even PhD at Chemistry.

Competitive private schools have an advantage over grammar for corporate leadership, not the other way round.

Why is it worrying?