<p>What are the best prep schools in England??? </p>
<p>Stowe? Eton? etc. etc.</p>
<p>For Eton, you need to be registered right after you are born or something like that.</p>
<p>That was actually taken out, so that rule is no longer intact.</p>
<p>I don’t know how easy or difficult it is to get into these schools but here is a list [Best</a> Schools : League Tables](<a href=“http://www.best-schools.co.uk/best-schools.aspx]Best”>http://www.best-schools.co.uk/best-schools.aspx)
You can select schools by boys/girls only, co-ed, boarding only, etc. In case this website ever goes down, I’m listing out the top 15 co-ed A-Level performing schools (note: this list will be different form the IB performing schools)</p>
<p>A + B % Name Day / Board Boy / Girl Day £ Board £
1 100.00 Cardiff Sixth Form College Both Co ed 12,000 18,600
2 94.29 Brighton College Both Co-ed 17,958 30,978
3 93.17 Wellington College - Berkshire Both Co-ed 21,570 28,785
4 92.80 Concord College - Shrewsbury Both Co-ed 11,500 24,900
5 92.32 Caterham School Both Co-ed 13,896 25,926
6 92.25 King’s School - Canterbury Both Co-ed 21,555 29,175
7 90.60 Chelsea Independent College Both Co-ed 14,340 NA
8 89.96 Uppingham School - Rutland Both Co-ed 19,890 28,401
9 89.01 Oundle School - Peterborough Both Co-ed 16,935 25,980
10 88.68 City of London Freemen’s School - Ashtead Both Co-ed 14,382 22,887
11 88.19 Dauntsey’s School - Devizes Both Co-ed 15,060 28,500
12 87.96 Hurtwood House - Dorking Both Co-ed NA 32,100
13 85.65 Bromsgrove School Both Co-ed 12,450 27,345
14 85.53 Canford School - Wimborne Both Co-ed 21,000 26,970
15 85.38 Kingswood School - Bath Both Co-ed 11,220 24,183</p>
<p>(There is also Westminster School which has 98.00% A-B scores but isn’t included in this list because it’s all boys until sixth form - aka junior and senior year)</p>
<p>Wellington College recently started to use Harkness tables. </p>
<p>Eton - Great school. But it’s sink or swim.</p>
<p>Harrow - Same as Eton.</p>
<p>Westminster - In the heart of the city - Stellar academics nonetheless. </p>
<p>St. Pauls - One of the best single-sexes there is. </p>
<p>Most prep schools here are single-sex. If you look into the original 9 public schools (there called public but their independent.) most are single sex. Most are bastions for the sons of the elite. Heck, the schools are designed to mentally beat the crap out of you. It’s crazy hard to get in, and even harder to sustain an A grade. However, university acceptances are amazing. These schools do send a small portion of their grads to the Ivies, but most continue onto the Russell Group univ. as well as Oxbridge. If you plan on continuing your education here in the UK at university level, by all means apply, but, just as the HADES, more of the students go to colleges locally. </p>
<p>The acceptance rates are lower too. And if you have FA in mind, dispel that thought. The thing about American boarding schools is that diversity is extremely important, as is helping those who can’t afford the costs of these schools. British boarding schools on the other hand have more fee-paying students then those on FA. If you can’t afford it, you can try for a scholarship, but those are extremely tough to get. </p>
<p>Prep schools are for 8-13 year olds here. After that it’s secondary school, as opposed to prep schools in America which includes high-school. The environment is not nurturing, but more sink or swim (think Exeter. But 100x harder, and Exeter is pretty nurturing). Boarding school over here is very much a transitional phase. For some it’s not such a great experience, for others it’s the best. </p>
<p>But you probably didn’t want a whole analysis of British boarding schools. Just my two cent. :)</p>
<p>I agree with PreppyDude, my dad went to BS in england and he told me it was rough at times, but he says that it was probably some of the best years of his life. Also, boarding schools in the UK are for the elite, and there aren’t really many scholarships so that is a huge difference. Another good boarding school to look into is Charterhouse. Obviously Eton is the best by far. Some say that you can distinguish an Old Etonian by the way they walk, that’s how Eton changes you, it’s more of a path to adulthood than a school.</p>
<p>I second swissbrit, Charterhouse is great. To the OP, if your going to look into Eton or Harrow, I heard that when you visit for the interviews and such, they analyze the way you walk, talk and eat. They bring in professionals and stuff. It’s to see if your a good fit for the school, and if you’d fit into the stratosphere. </p>
<p>Just what I’ve heard. :)</p>
<p>My cousin goes to Harrow. I believe it is one of the best in the nation, and I think Churchill went there not sure</p>
<p>Yes, Churchill did go to Harrow. The Royal Family mostly sends princes to Eton. Charles, William and I think Harry all went to Gordonstoun (where the Duke went) in Scotland. They also went to a boarding school in Australia, as well as Eton.</p>
<p>I was looking at some English prep schools last year 'cause they’re closer to home. I found a school I really liked and was thinking about applying there but then I read somewhere on their website that “we recommend applying at least 5 years before the student is expected to enroll”. Then I saw that you could actually submit applications for students that aren’t even born yet!</p>
<p>So there probably are some schools that aren’t like that but all I found seemed to expect that your parents had applied for you when you were still a baby.</p>
<p>This is a pretty old thread, but I’d juts like to add my views on these schools.
Eton and Harrow are not in the same league academically as the likes of Westminster and St Pauls’, even though they are the richest and most prestigious. Also St Pauls Girls gets around 20% to Oxbridge and 10% to Ivies every year, which is pretty cool.
A lot of schools allow you to be registered from birth, but it really isn’t necessary. Obviously it depends on the school, but I think most you need to apply maximum 2 years in advance, and only a year for 6th form (11th) entry.
In my opinion, Westminster is the best UK school. Just look at the 45% of students to Oxbridge.</p>
<p>I’m applying for 6th form at the moment, and the schools that were on my original list were: Westminster, Wellington, St Pauls Girls, City Of London Girls, Haberdasher Aske’s in Elstree and North London Collegiate School. I’m a girl so schools such as Eton were out.
To cut down the number I’m applying to and taking location (some I couldn’t commute to and don’t board) I’m now applying to: Westminster, Wellington, NLCS and Haberdashers if I don’t get into the others, as it has a much later application deadline.</p>