City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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TulipGreen
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:16 pm

City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by TulipGreen »

Hi. We decided to choose above CLSB from this September 2018 for our DS.
I need to be relieved from 11+ things and I should feel happy, I've been still thinking about if our desicion is right.

My son got substantial scholarships from other schools. One is in the same league, others are in lower rankings but they still have good reputation.
City is without any financial benefits. We applied the bursary but was told not entitled. Some people says City offers very good value even for paying full, but it's still expensive for us.

My DH likes it, especially my son loves it. But I've started wondering if it's worth paying for that money, while he can go to other schools with nearly half the amount? Although the ranking of these schools are lower in league table, but still some students go to Oxbridge and a good % goes RG universities. He is bright, so I guess he can go to these schools and still he can thrive there?

I heard City stopped the major monetary scholarships and rather increased the fund for bursary. That means, it makes the family like us, a kind of edge of "may afford but tough" family tough. The DS of financial conscious families will not even apply at the first place.
I guess some families would choose other schools(even lower ranking) even if their DS got the place at City. I fear that it may lose some capable children and affect the school performance later. One of the reasons, I like my son to attend at City is I thought he will thrive in competitive environment. So what we chose is, we pay full money but he is surrounded with less capable children than City used to be? I feel our decision is not clever?

I may be just being depressed by some reasons, but somehow I don't feel comfortable.
Please someone tell me good things about CLSB more..... strengths, benefits, why does this school has such a good reputation?
Any good news about future, new headmaster...school management?
Cityparent
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2017 1:12 pm

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by Cityparent »

Typically the bursary children are the strongest there from what I see. You need not worry that it is getting less 'competitive'. Worry instead about whether you can afford it.
TulipGreen
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:16 pm

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by TulipGreen »

Cityparent
Thank you for your post.

You mean, bursary children looks more doing better generally? That's interesting....

I asked the school why our financial case was not entitled to get more general ideas on this matter as we have DS2, but there has no answer til now from school. (Normally they responded well to our other questions but I found they are not helpful for this matter.) They increased the range of income band by stopping larger scholarships, but the bursary criteria looks very unclear and no helpful information from school. Anyway, it was so instant to get an email from them, "you should go to a full paying place." before taking pre-test.
kenyancowgirl
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Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by kenyancowgirl »

Bursaries are means tested AND usually given to the very top performing students, as there is a limited pot for bursaries. It is likelt that either the school thinks you are capable of paying the fees (they may consider that some of your expenses you have currently are not critical and could be funnelled to school fees) and/or your son did not do well enough in teh entrance exam to be considered for a bursary.

You need to consider - can you afford fees and extras for the next 5-7 years? How will your son cope if he is not the "top" child in the school? Have you considered that he may choose a career where the "best" university degree is NOT Oxbridge or a Russell Group institution? There are many.....!! If this is the case, does it matter if he goes to a, as you put it, lower league school? I suspect not....although I do not like the way you are speaking about the other schools as inferior.... They are all schools - they will all have positives and negatives - they will have good teachers and bad teachers - they will have good cohorts and bad cohorts - small perceived advantages in a league table (which are always flawed) can be massively outweighed by a school where your child is happy, pastorally cared for, you as a family are happy and comfortable (not feeling like the poor relation all the time, possibly), and you can easily get to, so that your child can partake fully in school life, including sport, concerts, events etc that take place after school.
Rhinoo
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2017 10:23 am

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by Rhinoo »

kenyancowgirl wrote:Bursaries are means tested AND usually given to the very top performing students, as there is a limited pot for bursaries. It is likelt that either the school thinks you are capable of paying the fees (they may consider that some of your expenses you have currently are not critical and could be funnelled to school fees) and/or your son did not do well enough in teh entrance exam to be considered for a bursary.
City's bursary qualifications are means tested BEFORE not after the exams, so bursary students are not necessarily higher scorers, they just sit the same exam for a different stream of places (ie they're competing for the 8 or whatever bursary places rather than the 50 or so full fee places). In practice, this is probably going to be more competitive so the bursary pupils will have to be pretty hot, but it doesn't mean those getting regular offers are not. Anyone getting into City is going to be bright and bar a few even bottom set (in subjects they set) are going to be coming out with A*/As.

This year they've stopped the 25% academic scholarships presumably to funnel more money into the bursary fund, but there's still a nominal £250 scholarship that could give you a clue as to whether your son was one of the very top performers in the entrance exam.
Daogroupie
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Location: Herts

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by Daogroupie »

It means that the 8 bursary students are the 8 who outperformed the others who applied in the exams and the interview. The 50 full fee paying students are the 50 who outperformed the others who applied in the exams and the interview.

There are lots of really smart boys in both categories who simply did not apply. DG
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by kenyancowgirl »

Rhinoo: The process may be different, but the result is the same! You and I are agreeing that bursaries are given to the top performing students (who have applied for a bursary). (I made no comment on other students abilities!)

Academic scholarships in many independent schools are now nominal in value (in some they are in name only, with no financial reward) with most schools wanting to offer assistance via the bursary scheme to improve and widen participation.

crossed with DG
Rhinoo
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2017 10:23 am

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by Rhinoo »

kenyancowgirl wrote:Rhinoo: The process may be different, but the result is the same! You and I are agreeing that bursaries are given to the top performing students (who have applied for a bursary). (I made no comment on other students abilities!)

Academic scholarships in many independent schools are now nominal in value (in some they are in name only, with no financial reward) with most schools wanting to offer assistance via the bursary scheme to improve and widen participation.

crossed with DG
Yep. I was responding to the post "your son may not have done well enough in the examination to be considered for a bursary", which wouldn't have been the case as bursary qualification decisions are taken before not after the exam.
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by mike1880 »

Small point: school fees generally go up faster than inflation. Unless you're confident your earnings will do the same, consider whether you'll still be able to find the money without the bursary in 7 years, by which time they may be closer to £25k than 16.
TulipGreen
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:16 pm

Re: City of London School Boys-tell me what you know

Post by TulipGreen »

DG, Rhinoo, kenyancowgirl, mike1880, many thanks for your insightful comments! There are things I need to be aware of and get prepared.

I think we are ok although it's tight...but somehow, I'm getting paranoid. Future is unknown.
Some schools have hardship schemes, like, due to a sudden redundancy, or illness, when the family faces difficulties they will support temporarily.... City doesnt have those things? I can't find the information on web.
Have you heard anything about it at City? They looks very helpful and generous for the families who can't afford at the entry but not the children who attend the school already? They will kick children out?
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