I’m asking here because I honestly don’t know where else to ask, can anyone please help me out, or point me in the right direction? I’m looking for the kind that promote creativity and individuality. And just so you know, what ever you type may change the entire course of my life, and I will probably be eternally grateful to you!

I went here. Got much better grades than had I stayed at the school I was at, and also secured my first “proper job” (which is now my career) off the back of it.

Alternatively, most of my more successful mates went here

HTH

Stonyhurst College in Lancashire. One of the best. Not cheap though.

Lancaster Royal Grammar School in Lancashire. Cheaper and far better than Stonyhurst in every way. 😉 (in all seriousness Stonyhurst is seriously impressive as a building and grounds but very very expensive, LRGS is similar academically but far cheaper as a boarder)

😳

Just noticed I used the same link for both places on my post!

I actually went here

Take note of the followings:

1. Do Not Believe in the rating – some schools only allow students who can get good grades to sit for exam so their exam results are biased or “fake”.

2. Trial it for one or two days or few days whatever you are comfortable with and if they say no. Tell them to jump off the White Cliff of Dover en-mass.

3. Do NOT pay upfront (deposit etc) if they request (run!) – they will NOT refund you once you are there even for one day then decide it’s not for you. Get a lawyer ready …

4. Some only employ part-time teachers at hourly rate find out the information regarding this because they will hide them. You will suffer if the teachers suddenly leave.

5. Ask them in the event you want to withdrawal mid-term what will be the consequences … some would demand you to pay the entire fees because you have “taken” a space and they wasted one space.

6. Check the exam board. They are different exam boards that can be easy or hard depending on the subjects or the career you intend to have. Some Unis will only accept certain exam boards.

7. Check the food supply. i.e. how often can you eat and what.

8. Check if there are somebody in charged in the evening like Warden etc.

9. Check out their daily routine. Some require students to wash dishes … ya, right their explanation is to teach them life skills … I see it as a way to save money. We don’t pay £20k to wash plates as I can do that at Uni.

10. Speak to the teachers. They tend to think that they are god sent so watch out.

11. Check out the bed room to see the facilities etc. My nephew was assigned to a room so dirty they thought we lived on trees.

12. Trial out the subjects you want to enroll. Make sure they are the exact teachers that will teach the subjects. Sometimes they will show you their best teachers but when you are there you get the crap ones.

13. Use your common sense and don’t believe a word they say when they say how good they are.

14. Check out the qualifications of the teachers. You don’t need a PhD but at least someone who can teach and know the subject well or specialise in the subject(s)

15. Check out how many subjects a teacher teaches. More than one unrelated subjects means they are not specialist so can be rubbish. Imagine someone teaching chemistry then also teaches Business subject or drama … ya, full of shite they are.

16. Watch out for bullies … yes, they do have them so watch out. I was surprised to hear that during one of the tour given to my nephew.

17. Check out their discipline – tale tell sign of cigarettes (6th formers can get away with this habit …)

18. Find out how often can you go home i.e. during the holiday or term time and how often.

19. Find out how flexible it is to switch subject(s).

20. Check out if boys and girls can visit each other. Some yes some no.

21. Check out the curfew time. I mean one of the school did not even allow my nephew to go to toilet during the night. My nephew has slight medical condition but was ignored.

22. Finally, if you don’t feel comfortable just search for another school. Use common sense and gut feeling.

Finally, you pay £20k per year then you should at least know the possibilities of getting good grades and not the shite about trying to build characters. You can build you characters later whether you like it or not at Uni etc.

😮

Edit: I don’t know about Art subjects so cannot recommend any …

 Some Unis will only accept certain exam boards.

Really? Could you give examples.
Theres a state boarding school in norfolk. Gets very good results I think. Lots of military kids go afaik.

Here it is http://www.wymondhamcollege.org/

anagallis_arvensis – Member

Some Unis will only accept certain exam boards.

Really? Could you give examples.

I mean they want slightly different grades from different exam boards because of the syllabus or the easiness or difficulty of the papers the students sit …

Arrghh … need to rephrase.

Edit: Check the last paragraph … e.g.

I visit a lot of boarding schools for work, United World College seems a pretty likeable set up from what I’ve seen!

Oops they’re IB of course but it’s arguably a better qualification although not quite as open to wrote learning and cramming so it’s not as popular in the UK.

Certainly check out the demographic of the cohort I’ve visited many schools that have a very strong ethnic bias, whether this is right for you is something you’ll need to decide on.

I mean they want slightly different grades from different exam boards because of the syllabus or the easiness or difficulty of the papers the students sit …

Do you have examples? The exam boards have to meet ofqual standards so I would be surprised. Certainly some subjects are easier than others but within a subject I havent seen what you describe.

Eton?

Wycombe Abbey?

anagallis_arvensis – Member
Do you have examples? The exam boards have to meet ofqual standards so I would be surprised. Certainly some subjects are easier than others but within a subject I havent seen what you describe.

Ya, that’s what they tell you …

Is OCR the only exam board? If not why only OCR being mentioned?

Something like this at the bottom paragraphs

Dont know but I dont think that says what you want it to say.

Raouligan – Member

I visit a lot of boarding schools for work, United World College seems a pretty likeable set up from what I’ve seen!

What you can do is this.

Ask them (one of the boarding school in the North of country) if it is ethical for the parents to forfeit all the entire terms fees in the event the student only attended the school for one day/one night. (we found out the real picture after a day/night at the school)

We are willing to pay penalty for the inconvenience caused but to penalise us for the entire term/year fees (I cannot remember the actual amount now but they demand more) … think it’s more than £20k …

This is not only unethical but seriously greedy. Even in the 3rd world or developing country people don’t do that.

We encountered two of these kind of greedy money grabbing schools. Yes, it’s in the UK and I was shocked. Both boarding schools by the way.

Their excuse … we have taken up others’ places. What a load of shite!

I feel sorry for some of the overseas students whose parents think they got a good deal to have their children study here but the reality is completely different. Make one wrong move and they are stuck … we spoke to few of the overseas students. Their parents’ life hard earn life saving gone!

I’d argue that destination on graduation is probably a better test of Independent Schools, than actual grades, if you’ve got an entrance exam and an intensive learning environment then A’s and A*’s probably say less than the destination of the students!

Raouligan – Member

I’d argue that destination on graduation is probably a better test of Independent Schools, than actual grades, if you’ve got an entrance exam and an intensive learning environment then A’s and A*’s probably say less than the destination of the students!

Yes, but you need to get in first (I am referring to Uni as destination). To get in you need the grades from schools (6th form whatever). Yes, if there is such thing as entrance exam at Uni that would be good. Most don’t. Oh ya, my nephew and niece scored very well at the entrance exams at the boarding school btw.

Gordonstoun ethos is /supposed/ to be about the individual. May not be cheap, or convenient, however.

Also watch out if they say they help build “characters” or “life skills” because this is one way of saying they are not that focus on getting good grades. 😯

It’s not what you know; it’s who you know!
Who needs anything so tedious as good grades?

suburbanreuben – Member

It’s not what you know; it’s who you know!
Who needs anything so tedious as good grades?

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw9oX-kZ_9k[/video]

And just so you know, what ever you type may change the entire course of my life, and I will probably be eternally grateful to you!

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists.

I’m looking for the kind that promote creativity and individuality.

This is my gaff (recent ISI inspection report ) . Creativity and independence are very much ‘our thing’. You’d need to check it out for yourself and in no way could I wholeheartedly recommend it to you as I don’t know you and what makes you tick, but it’s an institution I’m proud to be part of, which is not a bad stating point for recommending it to someone else. Eye wateringly expensive though!

To extend the advice; it is vital you check out these places personally. I’m firmly of the opinion that a student’s ability to academically flourish will be as much down to how happy, settled and ‘at home’ they feel as anything else. Boarding schools magnify this simply because there is very little escape! Also, the atmosphere within boarding schools could not vary more if they tried! Anyone who confidently gives advice that boarding life is great or awful based on just their own experience (or no experience, just preconceptions) is naive in the extreme in my opinion. Our place was based on attempting to provide an alternative to the traditional independent boarding school, which gives you some idea of the starting position and feel of the place.

Oh, and if you can get past the name of the magazine that hosts this – have a look at this guide. It’s only a relatively small collection (of mostly the most expensive) schools but at least they actually visit the schools and use their own words and opinions. Most of the other guides are just a receptacle for the school’s PR team to drop their own message into which tells you very little.

Have you considered any non-UK boarding schools?

Take the top 50 independent schools on a*/a grade at a level, identify the boarding schools, then see if you can in eg Eton quite difficult…..what’s so difficult?

IMHO they are all good at this level. But they can only get out what’s in there, and to a certain extent the child’s motivation is important.

The a level course is 2 years or 6 terms, very short and intensive, I would forget about the chid taking up sailing or advanced greek studies…A levels are a big step up from GCSE.

Monmouth School. An excellent school and the mountain biking is right on our door step. I work in the 6th form boarding house too. What ever you do though, visit and ask the boys as many questions as you can for a warts and all view of the place. As a teacher I am very happy here. The boys are great, very sporty and excellent grades. Once my boys are old enough they’ll be coming here, except they’ll have their old man teaching them. That may be too cruel!

Matt Lewis

I went to a school called Christs Hospital.

It’s a means tested school and only about 8% of people pay full school fees, though due to the recession I believe this is being upped to about 20%

When I went 30% of pupils came from poor backgrounds and were did not pay anything.

It was all based on ability.

Saying that, they were the richest school in England and still provided all the opportunities you expect at a first class boarding school.

It has, its own Sport Centre open to the public, professional theatre, CCF, Scouts, Marching Band that plays at Lords, Twickenham, in America etc

They even gave me £20 a term pocket money.

Loved my time there.

Telegraph Link

http://www.christs-hospital.org.uk/

[url=https://flic.kr/p/oj84ym]GAerial-croppedS[/url] by ianpindir, on Flickr

I mean they want slightly different grades from different exam boards because of the syllabus or the easiness or difficulty of the papers the students sit …

Found any evidence of this yet?

Blundells near Tiverton?

http://www.blundells.org

A friend went there when I went to the local FE college. He turned out alright… although so did I.

Abbotsholme is near us, a lot of locals send their kids there in the 6th form. It’s apparently a very mellow place & concentrates on the pastoral side & develops potential (In unpromising material!). It’s very arty as well.

See here

I mean they want slightly different grades from different exam boards because of the syllabus or the easiness or difficulty of the papers the students sit …
Found any evidence of this yet?

While I doubt there are any uni’s which specify exam boards there definitely is a difference. Like at my school we had to do Salter’s chemistry which had a reputation of being the hardest. When I went home to revise with one of my friends who was doing edexcel chemistry I found her syllabus a lot easier. I know it’s just an anecdote but there definitely is a difference.

There’s a difference but no evidence some are easier. It was suggested uni’s differentiate too but I’ve never seen it.

anagallis_arvensis – Member

There’s a difference but no evidence some are easier. It was suggested uni’s differentiate too but I’ve never seen it

You keep digging for evidence that some univs would or schools would not publicly announce coz they would get into trouble. I have posted the link above for you to consider yet you decide you need something that is so clear that they prefer this exam board over the other. I used to have a link stating clearly what UK univ would prefer for particular course but I cannot find it now. I spent so much time searching for the information for my nephew and niece in the end I gave up because some schools offer certain exam boards where some Univ don’t particularly prefer. Yes, they might accept them but the offer would definitely be more difficult.

Speak to the teachers or the school to find out why they have chosen only certain exam board(s) for the students who intend to study certain degree at Univ.

🙄

edit: Try here … same topic.