City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

[Guest55]

Have you turned down other schools? Is it to late to change your mind? Personally I would not want this pressure on my family.

[kenyancowgirl]

You cannot rely on hardship schemes. You need to be as certain as you can be that you can afford the fees and additional costs. Whilst hardship schemes would usually kick in temporarily, in the circumstances outlined, there is no obligation for them to cover anything other than that immediate term - at which point you may be required to leave. If it was a GCSE year then schools might be more inclined to see the year out.

I'm not saying this is what City would do, but having had some experience of various independent schools, this type of procedure is not unheard of. They are not being harsh, but they are businesses first and foremost. It is unlikely to be something they advertise on the web either, as of course that sort of scheme only comes into play in extreme hardship!

[anotherdad]

TulipGreen, if the costs of this school are already tight, I suggest you look elsewhere. You talk about Oxbridge/RG universities so I assume you're looking to make a seven year financial commitment? If affordability is marginal now, it will only get tougher, unless your family circumstances change in the next few years and your living costs come down or your income goes up. It seems an awful lot of pressure to put on your son and your family as a whole. You're staking every bit of spare money on one school and hoping that he gets the best out of it. Whilst it's admirable to invest in your son's education, it is probably more sensible to commit to a lower-cost independent school or a state school and invest something much more valuable than cash: time. A supposedly "lesser" school, backed with good parental engagement and support will provide a more rewarding experience for you and your son.

[ToadMum]

Do you have a state school allocated, or did you decide either not to apply within the state system or to turn down the state offer?

[Bazelle]

Did not read the whole thread, sorry, in a rush. My son has a substantial scholarship from City and his best friend has a 100% bursary, and I would not hesitate to say that his friend is more clever, more rounded (grade 8 music already), more articulate and that he totally deserved that bursary.
CLS has been great at so many levels for us, academic, pastoral, good friendships and being surrounded by incredibly clever, kind and sensitive boys is pushing him trying his best. But money talks, and I would add duration of commute.

[Hopefulgardener]

City is a lovely school and the all the boys we chatted to seemed bright and confident. We also liked the Headmaster who seems very bright himself and caring towards the boys and staff. Compared to many schools in London it indeed offers a good value, due location, quality of teaching, resources and results. I would not worry much about the league table as it changes all the time.

The question is, and only you can answer it, do you as a family love it enough to commit a big chunk of income for the next seven years? I know the e-mail regarding new scholarships only came in Nov/Dec las year and probably when you registered, you had an idea of the generous 25% award. However, City is known as a very competitive school, so a scholarship should be seeing as the icing on the cake. Just 'getting in' is already a great achievement.

There are many boys from my son's class who took substantial scholarships from schools that are not in the top of the league table at moment. For me it is a good sign that those schools are working towards raising their standards and the scholarships work as an investment for them. As result, they are also promising to stream the bright boys so they will be challenged the extra mile. Would we take one of those places instead? Yes, if we loved the school and it had a convenient location.

Finally, you must also consider all the extras, including meals, trips, GCSEs and A-level fees, music tuition and tutoring, in case they need extra support.

[Rhinoo]

City is a lovely school and the all the boys we chatted to seemed bright and confident. We also liked the Headmaster who seems very bright himself and caring towards the boys and staff. Compared to many schools in London it indeed offers a good value, due location, quality of teaching, resources and results. I would not worry much about the league table as it changes all the time.

The question is, and only you can answer it, do you as a family love it enough to commit a big chunk of income for the next seven years? I know the e-mail regarding new scholarships only came in Nov/Dec las year and probably when you registered, you had an idea of the generous 25% award. However, City is known as a very competitive school, so a scholarship should be seeing as the icing on the cake. Just 'getting in' is already a great achievement.

There are many boys from my son's class who took substantial scholarships from schools that are not in the top of the league table at moment. For me it is a good sign that those schools are working towards raising their standards and the scholarships work as an investment for them. As result, they are also promising to stream the bright boys so they will be challenged the extra mile. Would we take one of those places instead? Yes, if we loved the school and it had a convenient location.

Finally, you must also consider all the extras, including meals, trips, GCSEs and A-level fees, music tuition and tutoring, in case they need extra support.

We're nowhere near that stage and not particularly worrying about money, but out of interest seeing as you mentioned it how much do eg. 10 GCSE and 4 A level exams cost to sit at an independent school?

[Hopefulgardener]

I was looking for some past scholarships papers from Radley School and came across this info in their website: ' 'A' Level and GCSE examination fees are charged on the invoice just prior to the exam taking place. Charges are generally in the range £100 to £160 per 'A' level taken and approximately £35 per GCSE and £50 per IGCSE, with the exception that IGCSE double award Science is £80.' We are far from this stage too, but I understand these fees are paid to the examination boards.

[ToadMum]

Finally, you must also consider all the extras, including meals, trips, GCSEs and A-level fees, music tuition and tutoring, in case they need extra support.

The brightest boys, the wonderful teaching staff, the same public exams as the next door neighbours' offspring at the local comprehensive will be taking and for the most part, doing just fine in - and one needs to factor in buying extra help, in case they 'need extra support' .

[grgygirl]

Of the boys I know at City, one is very clever (and would have received multiple scholarships if he'd applied elsewhere) and the other two are normal top table clever (but weren't offered scholarships to other schools and both did not pass for the super selective grammar school in our area. The very clever boy receives outside of school tutoring in two languages and maths! Personally, if you have a grammar school place then look very closely at what extra value City will add and whether that is worth paying £20K a year for.

At my sons school there are many boys who turned down prestigious schools and scholarships (including us!) for several reasons.