George going to Marlborough? Article linked.

[Greatballzoffire]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12872215/William-kate-snub-eton-george-marlborough-college-second-visit.html

Not absolutely clear that saving money is top of the agenda.

Ha ha! No, we were in the sports hall (watching someone at a children's fencing tournament of all things) and the floor was all scuffed and there were some basket balls in a corner that were grey with grime, and everything generally looked like it could do with a coat of paint. Far more run down than the facilities at my state comp. I was expecting it to be highly polished and pristine because it was an expensive fee-paying school.

Most of the parts of Marlborough I have been in have been smart but it's a vast school and probably like painting the Forth Bridge in terms of general maintenance of the areas. It cant all be pristine all the time. They almost certainly have a rolling programme for refurbishments. I know the boarding houses have been refurbed over the years and some are bound to look a bit tired at some point.

From my knowledge of other independent schools, maintenance is a huge issue. I've arrived at DD's prep school to find them sitting on window sills for daylight because the electricity has gone off again. They were told not to flush the loo unless necessary and rationed water at lunchtime and ate off paper plates for a week as water supply poor. I wondered why she was so thirsty when she got home.

Independent schools are just like any others in this respect.

As I mentioned, it was many years ago - it just stuck with me because it was so different from my expectation.

I've arrived at DD's prep school to find them sitting on window sills for daylight because the electricity has gone off again. They were told not to flush the loo unless necessary and rationed water at lunchtime and ate off paper plates for a week as water supply poor. I wondered why she was so thirsty when she got home.

Assuming you are paying no small amount for your DD's education, do you not feel a bit short-changed by this?

If it happened in a state school there would be, not unreasonably, parents and their children doing full sad-face in the local paper.

Touché! 😁

Or as my DC would say 'Burn' 😆

Absolutely! In fact, a state school would most definitely not get away with that!
It must break some sort of hygiene rules with the water and the toilets situation.

Decades ago I saw a documentary about will8am and Harry at Eton and it seems the students had to walk from one school building to another on their own/without teachers and some of these buildings were across the town. So there were groups of Eton students inc William shuffling down Windsor high street? I’m assuming there were undercover police tailing him but even so it seems a security risk and I’d have thought security threats would be higher these days than 25/30 years ago. So maybe it’s too risky.

Eton College is in Eton, which is next to Windsor but not actually in the town of Windsor. So they won’t be walking up Windsor High Street. They will
be walking around the campus, part of which involve walking up the road in Eton. Much smaller than Windsor high street

mikado1 maybe dig a little deeper. This particular Head would actually act on principle - arguably there’s vastly more to be gained for the institution to stick to the admissions criteria if a big name applicant doesn’t meet them than acceeding to any requests that they be waived. Maybe you need to move along with the rest of the world. Times change, politics change.

Obviously not saying that anyone has asked for anything to be waived. Hypothetically.

There have also been reports in the press that they have viewed Eton, so possibly they are going to decide at the last possible moment.

Eton has the advantage that the security team can live at Windsor Castle. Marlborough has the advantage of being co-ed so all the offspring could go there, and could therefore all be covered by the same team idc, even if the accommodation costs were higher.

And it's quite likely that they will choose the school that they best think will suit their DC (as well as fitting the academic entry requirements)

I know nothing about posh schools.
is a day or boarding school? What age do they start?

If George isn’t quite as bright as the other boys attending Eton, then letting him in anyway isn’t a kindness in the long run - being always the one with the lowest score in a test or always the one who’s having to say they don’t understand etc isn’t good for a child. Given Kate changed schools due to bullying and the school not handling it well, I would have thought they’d be more sensitive to the idea the “best school” is the one that’s the best fit for their child. (Particularly as it really doesn’t matter what grades he comes out with, or if he gets any qualifications at all.)

Why has everyone decided that he " isn't quite as bright" as the other boys or needs special consideration for entry?

Did Eton used to be flexible then as I’m not aware that Harry or William were particularly academically gifted?

William passed the Common Entrance.
Harry was allowed in because William was already there and to keep the brothers together.

Are you the headteacher? 😅

Anyone think these schools could be possible decoys & George will end up somewhere completely unexpected?
Many royal watchers were taken by surprise when they went to Lambrook, it wasn't on the radar at all. Even Thomases the school before Lambrook was a surprise. I'm thinking it may not be Marlborough but no doubt there will be huge surge of interest..

Maybe they'll send him to Gordonstoun like his grandpa.

@ANightingale I doubt it! But there is always such hype about where the royal kids are doing to go & they end up somewhere completely off the radar.
Even George's nursery.. It was heavily expected he would go to where William went, then when they moved lots of expensive private nurseries were named & he ended up going to a small local one..
When they moved back to London Wetherby etc were named...Thomsas Battersea took many by surprise.
The same with Lambrook. It was not mentioned in the running of possible schools. Even caught the Lambrook parents off guard & some had their concerns particularly surrounding security & how the school concerts might change...

The school didn't tell us or call to get DC or anything. It was just one of the things that happens I suppose in a rural school. DC seemed happy enough. The headmaster once prepared to have children staying when it suddenly snowed heavily - it had used to be a boarding school and they had a load of camp beds out. Everyone got picked up in the end. It was a nice environment all round. A lot goes on in private schools that I doubt would be allowed in state schools.

I think you didn't understand my post or else the post I quoted.. as yours as confused me. I wasn't considering or suggesting anything being waived. The quoted pj's comment, I understood, was a dig at private schooling itself.

was a dig at private schooling itself.

Public schools, really, and elitism, not private schools as a whole. Eton charges around £50k a year - significantly more than the average gross full time wage in the UK.

Prince Edwards Children didn’t board