City Boys vs Tiffin advice please!

[tiffinboys]

To be fair (not fare), I hope Tiffin tests were not just free mocks for indies' tests.

How is the commute to these two schools? Was Tiffin top of your preferences for the State schools?

[Peridot]

To be fair (not fare), I hope Tiffin tests were not just free mocks for indies' tests.

How is the commute to these two schools? Was Tiffin top of your preferences for the State schools?

Indeed tiffinboys. It costs an already cash-strapped school a fortune to administer the tests for huge numbers of applicants. Tiffin, like all state selectives, is not allowed to charge for the tests.

[Bazelle]

Very biased piece of advice here but I genuinely think that if you can afford the fees City would be a better school, very strong pastoral care, music is outstanding, they interview the boys for a whole day (at least they did 2 years ago) with group activities supervised so there are able to spot the ones that would be a pain to teach and disrupt the whole classroom. And IMHO I think the social/ethnic mix is probably the best one can hope for, lots of bursaries in addition to scholarships.

[tiffinboys]

Good advise if money is not an issue. Academically, both schools have outstanding results. Music is outstanding at Tiffin too. Like wise, sports, the field and Rowing opportunities are great. However, Tiffin has financial limitations and some building facilities are not as posh as City's, if that is the deal maker.

[loobylou]

I hope you are getting closer to making a decision. This is a genuinely hard question and I hope you understand why people are saying what they are. My dd is currently in year 9 but when we were applying there were 3 selective/semi-selective schools that she would have definitely got a place at and 3 comprehensives where she also would have got a place. There was one school we loved and could see her fitting in easily. There were two schools we thought she could be happy but couldn't see her there as easily as School A. There was a school where we felt the policies would not fit with her personality at all. There were two schools where we felt she would actively be unhappy. Honestly - all of those schools will have parents (many of them. Maybe some on this forum) who will rave about those schools and say that they are the perfect school for their child. I would say the same about School A. If I had depended on someone else's assessment of those schools we might have made a mistake. I am sure dd would have coped - but it's hard to expect someone else to be able to advise you. The right school is about more than results and commute. I get that for some children school is just school (my ds is more like that. He would have been fine at most of the schools on offer) but for many the right fit is very important.
I hope you and your ds are happy with your choice though. Good luck!