What's private/public school like?

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How good is your private school? It's excellent.
Does anybody board? No.
Are there loads of Asians? We've got the odd Asian.
Do you have beautiful grounds? It is rather nice.
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? No.
Do you wear a suit in sixth form? Yes. Business-wear
Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? Yes.
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? Yes.
Who's the richest person at your school? I don't know.
Are your teachers really good? Yes.
Do you ever wish you went to a state school? I'm not too sure.
Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? No.
Are you posh? No! :smile:

Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? I don't. But many here do.
Do you row? I used to. We have a proper rowing team though.

Reply 21

Chessy177

How good is your private school? pretty good, all girls selective, usually comes about 5th in most league tables.
Does anybody board? No
Are there loads of Asians? no not really
Do you have beautiful grounds? not beautiful
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? Not thick but the school definitely is pressuring you to get A's/A*s
Do you where a suit in sixth form? nope
Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? yes..
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? yes usually about a quarter of the year
Who's the richest person at your school? I have no idea, but there are a few very rich people, however there are also many who arent.
Are your teachers really good? yeah i guess some are pretty good, but definitely not all. some are terrible.
Do you ever wish you went to a state school? yes sometimes, i wish i went to a school where there was less academic pressure, not saying that state schools are all less academic.. i would like to go to any school that was less a* focused.
Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? not quite sure what that is.
Are you posh? no i dont think so
Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? nope
Do you row? i have before, but no i dont

Reply 22

WeAreThePeople

Adam_Smithers

How good is your private school? I've always longed to go! Does anybody board? Are there loads of Asians? Do you have beautiful grounds? Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? Do you where a suit in sixth form? Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? Who's the richest person at your school? Are your teachers really good? Do you ever wish you went to a state school? Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? Are you posh? Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? Do you row?

Thanks. :smile:

well, pretty good yeah lol, i didnt really think there wud be alot difference from state schools? whats that like?
i go to epsom college, yeah we have to wear suits in 6th form, no your not consdiered stupid if you get b's!! but the range in my school for gcses is pretty high, my schools expensive, but im not rich, like at all, hah, but there are alot!! (which annoyes me sometimes) .. my friends dad was a pilot n earned 1/2 mill a year !! n there are quite afew famous people who go to my school too.
if you look my school up, youll probs find we have very nice grounds (not trying to boast..) my old skl wasnt like that. not all provate schools are necessarily big. and no, im not posh :L
there arent alot of asians tbh, and yeah my school does boarding, pwekkly boarding and just normal days < me.

i always had the ompression they are usually the same as public schools, just a little differnt ( but then again my school is very different from most other private schools) :smile:

Reply 23

CreativeBetch

Adam_Smithers

I board, yh..loads of asians, chinese aswel, yh..the school is really beautiful, thick..nt rili...there are not so smart people everywhere, yes i wear a suit..i like that prt..mine's form- fitting..hot,, :biggrin:

, not really if u dnt have the grades, yes 5 last year, i have no idea, teachers are attentive which i guess is good, haven't rili thought about it, huh?..have no idea what tht is, i am not posh..i'm nt even british..nigerian, no..i have no musical capabilities whatsoever :p:

, rowing..d of e..yes

Reply 24

Adam_Smithers

OhNO!

Yes. Wear.

Haha. Yeah, I know the difference between "where" and "wear". Whoops :blush:

When you say "private school", you really mean "public school". Private schools are, on the whole, pretty ordinary.

Probably. Still interesting to read! Thanks a lot for your reply, and thanks everyone else. I wish I added more/better questions now :p:

Reply 25

electriic_ink

Private school's like a grammar school that steals your money.

Reply 26

DJkG.1

Adam_Smithers

How good is your private school?

Not very good at all. We have a few excellent teachers and some trace of old tradition left, but nothing compared to the real, traditional and big private schools which you're probably thinking of.

Does anybody board?

Nope. Ours is day only.

Are there loads of Asians?

Yes lol. I am one, and there are loads more making up over 50%. This is in an otherwise 99% white area too.

Do you have beautiful grounds?

Quite beautiful, but on a medium (not small, not large) scale.

Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level?

Nope, you're considered average by our standards.

Do you where a suit in sixth form?

Yes - dress code is strictly enforced too.

Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge?

Not at all, in fact many people are discouraged.

Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year?

Nope. Each year has around 50 people and on average, there is 1 Oxbridge entry per year. A local comprehensive school thrashes us in this way.

Who's the richest person at your school?

A lad whose parents own half of a village down south - literally owning everything in that village. It goes without saying they are multi-millionaires, but he is refreshingly down to earth and not stuck up in the slightest.

Are your teachers really good?

No. We have about 3 amazing teachers in my opinion anyway - none of whom teach me. The rest are pretty crap or average at best. They can afford to spend a bit more time on us due to the smaller class sizes though.

Do you ever wish you went to a state school?

Not really. I sometimes wish I was at another private school I know, however.

Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you?

Yeah, kinda. I'm all for social equality but I resent the anti-private school sentiment when genuinely intelligent and hard working people are left out.

Are you posh?

Nope. Not many people round my school are.

Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8?

No, but I really wish I did.

Do you row?

Yes, for the school team but we're crap. :biggrin:

Thanks.

No problem at all.

Reply 27

montana_star

How good is your private school? Very good
Does anybody board? Yes, it's a boarding school
Are there loads of Asians? Yeah, but more english people
Do you have beautiful grounds? Yes! they're amazing!
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? Nope!
Do you where a suit in sixth form? Yes
Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? Yes
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? Yes..last year we got 33!
Who's the richest person at your school? Probably Rowan Atkinson's kids...
Are your teachers really good? A lot of them are amazing..although some are crap.
Do you ever wish you went to a state school? Not really...
Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? What's that??
Are you posh? Someone once said I had a posh voice...
Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? I'm doing grade 8 singing at Easter

Reply 28

Nfixlol

WhereIsMyMind

How good is your private school? Really, really good
Does anybody board? nope
Are there loads of Asians? yeah, quite a few, myself included
Do you have beautiful grounds? our playing field is amazing, but it's 10 minutes by coach/minivan/car
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? nope
Do you wear a suit in sixth form? yes :cool:

Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? if you got 4 or more A*s at gcse then yes
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? yes
Who's the richest person at your school? no one you're likely to know, but her house is :coma:

so big, 3 private tennis courts, a golf caddy to get around her garden ( :awesome:

) etc
Are your teachers really good? yes :yep:

Do you ever wish you went to a state school? sometimes, but not really, i don't think i would've been as academically motivated
Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? not really, no
Are you posh? nope
Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? nope, but i know a lot of people that do
Do you row? nope

Cheers for the template WhereIsMyMind :thumbsup:

Reply 29

Lil Piranha

Adam_Smithers

How good is your private school?

I dunno, pretty decent, I've got nothing to complain about :dontknow:

Adam_Smithers

Does anybody board?

About 60% of pupils.

Adam_Smithers

Are there loads of Asians?

Not really. Were about 5 in my year.

Adam_Smithers

Do you have beautiful grounds?

They're OK.

Adam_Smithers

Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level?

No.

Adam_Smithers

Do you where a suit in sixth form?

A) It's "wear" and B) Yes we did.

Adam_Smithers

Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge?

No.

Adam_Smithers

Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year?

Not always, but most years had about 10.

Adam_Smithers

Who's the richest person at your school?

Not a clue. Contrary to seemingly popular belief, we don't wander round going "Ra ra my Daddy earns *so much* How much does yours earn?"

Adam_Smithers

Are your teachers really good?

I thought they were :smile:

Adam_Smithers

Do you ever wish you went to a state school?

No.

Adam_Smithers

Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you?

Yes, because I believe if you are clever you will excel wherever, whatever education you are receiving. I don't think being state educated is a disadvantage.

Adam_Smithers

Are you posh?

I don't think so, but I've been labelled "the posh one" on my uni course because of my accent.

Adam_Smithers

Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8?

No.

Adam_Smithers

Do you row?

Only on the machines on the very few occasions I ever make myself go to the gym. Otherwise, no.

Adam_Smithers

Thanks.

You're welcome :smile:

Reply 30

ourlastmemory

How good is your private school? Pretty niiice :smile:

Does anybody board? We have the facilities yeah but it's not really a boarding school
Are there loads of Asians? We got a big influx in sixth form :yep:

Do you have beautiful grounds? They're alright, seen better but they're not ugly
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? Nahh, plenty do
Do you where a suit in sixth form? Kinda, the uniform is suit-like and different to what the lower years wear, we got more freedom with it.
Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? Hell no
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? Yeah, generally
Who's the richest person at your school? We have the princess of nepal or somewhere here
Are your teachers really good? Generally pretty ace, there are some poor exceptions though and loads of everyone's faves are leaving :frown:

Do you ever wish you went to a state school? Yeah I did for quite a while
Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? Whatty?
Are you posh? Probably a bit :colondollar:

Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? Yeah :ninja:

Do you row? What, a boat? no haha, don't have the guns.

Reply 31

Alexandra1234567

How good is your private school? Very good, all one on one lessons and seminars to bolster them :smile:

Does anybody board? Almost everyone there does, but I choose to board with family that live nearby.
Are there loads of Asians? A fair few from East Asia, I'm new so I'm not sure exactly which parts they are from. Most speak in their mother tongue to each other.
Do you have beautiful grounds? Not grounds per se, but buildings and courtyards we have are gorgeous :coma:

.
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? Not at all! Most of my fellow students think I'm crazy for resitting when I have ABB.
Do you where a suit in sixth form? No uniform or dress code :smile:

.
Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? Not in the slightest.
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? Yes, I think so.
Who's the richest person at your school? No idea :s-smilie:

.
Are your teachers really good? All of the four I have are brilliant :biggrin:

.
Do you ever wish you went to a state school? I did before this one, and it was good but there were certain things that I'm getting academically here that I didn't whilst at state school.
Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? Shut up!
Are you posh? Not compared to some of the people at my place.
Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? No way!
Do you row? Haha I row a little rowing boat on the River Weir every summer, but that's just family tradition.

Reply 32

sango

Revolution is my Name

I imagine it's just look a normal school, but with the chav ***** removed and replaced with posh *****

Believe me. There are so many chavs in my school I feel like I'm in a Liverpool Council Estate half the time. And my school is a private school with a stuck up headmaster and over-pretentious features such as peacocks and wallabies. I mean WTF! What a way to blow our school fees. And about 1/100 of the pupils are posh and they're normally given a good hiding in the changing rooms :awesome:

Reply 33

blipflip

Oh god I know how this is going to sound

How good is your private school? Very good, consistently top of the country at GCSE and A-Level.
Does anybody board? Nope
Are there loads of Asians? Quite a few, but oxford's like that anyway.
Do you have beautiful grounds? Yes, but they're basically a muddy field for most of the year because of all the rugby.
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? To some extent, yes.
Do you where a suit in sixth form? Yes and no, some do but uniform rules are kind of relaxed and I get away with black jeans and a long coat.
Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? Hell yeah - 2/3 of the year are applying
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? Generally around 25 every year from a year of 90.
Who's the richest person at your school? Don't like to say, but I can guess.
Are your teachers really good? Overall yes, and one or two are incredible.
Do you ever wish you went to a state school? I did before, and I had the **** ripped out of me for several years. No thank you.
Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? In the sense of being biased towards state school students with poorer grades? I kinda see where they're coming from, but yeah it does annoy me - I work damn hard for those grades & I don't like to see them devalued.
Are you posh? I suspect I might be.
Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? Nope, completely tone-deaf.
Do you row? I can barely lift my own arms.

As for what the people are like, they are generally really nice. I've made more and better friends at this school than the state school I was at before. The biggest difference is the lack of culture of anti-intellectualism - everyone works hard and everybody cares about their subjects, and if you pretend that you don't then people assume that you're no good.

If anyone reading has not ripped the keyboard from their computer and smashed their screen in fury at anything unintentionally arrogant I have said, you may be completely disinterested to know that I'm at MCS oxford.

Reply 34

barefootfiona

I went to an All Girls' Grammar School... which is not private. Sorry. But it might interest you anyway, since my school seems to fill most of these categories. My brother's school is a state/boarding single-sex, selective school too, so I'll put that in there also.

How good is your school? Erm, yes. Including all public and state schools in the country, we're 7th best for GCSE and 11th best for A Levels.
Does anybody board? Not at mine, but at my brother's, yes.
Are there loads of Asians? Not especially. I'd say about one third is from Asia; that's not just Eastern Asia, though. But if you mean in the sense of flown-over-to-go-to-a-British-school, no. I know a handful of 'asians' who were born in Asia, but they've all lived in the UK for ages. They didn't move here just to go to this school.
Do you have beautiful grounds? Not for long; they keep eating our green spaces for more buildings! But my brother's school is gorgeous. It looks like a little castle, and has a huge cricket playing field.
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? Well... there's a hell of a lot of pressure, but it's more like pressure that we put on ourselves, not that others put on us directly. But it's a huge problem at this school. There's this enormous shame attached to Bs. I even know girls who are upset they've 'only' been predicted A*A*A at A Level rather than three A*s!
Do you wear a suit in sixth form? Well, we don't - it's a girls' school - but my brother's school has a very strict suit uniform dress code, with colour-coded ties for House and yeargroup.
Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? Not pushed, but encouraged if we want to. Of a yeargroup of around 120, we get around 50 applying, I'd say.
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? Yes.
Who's the richest person at your school? I don't know... we're very mixed. Like, VERY mixed. I think it's a good mixture though - we all work equally hard; it has little to do with money.
Are your teachers really good? Like everywhere else, some are great and some are dreadful. The thing is, once a teacher gets in here they never want to leave because we're all so well behaved. So if a crap teacher gets in... chances are we're stuck with them until their retirement.
Do you ever wish you went to a state school? I do go to a state school! :smile:

Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? Well, we're sort of between categories, because on the one hand we're selective, but on the other we're a state school. Cambridge tends to accept more applicants from my school because there we're classed as 'state', whereas Oxford isn't so lenient, and concentrates on the 'selective' part.
Are you posh? Not at all. No. But I do know quite a few rahs.
Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? Nope. I'm one of those start-but-not-finishers, so I've got Grade 5 in Piano, Grade 5 in Bass and Grade 1 in Flute, as well as having gone to choir for years and playing the guitar. So though I'm musical, no Grade 8s for me, and now no lessons at all. But I know several people with Grade 8s in several instruments. The thing is, music lessons are really expensive...
Do you row? No. I don't really like strenuous exercise. I do love horse riding when I get the chance, which is a posh sport I suppose, but can't really afford lessons. :frown:

WhereIsMyMind

Oh my goodness, you're applying to English and Medicine? Your Personal Statement must have been hell to write! And I thought I had it bad... XD

I loved Aberdeen's Archaeology course, but in the end I decided my PS would've been to frustrating to write if I addded Arch in there as well as SS and German.

Good luck, btw! :smile:

Lil Piranha

Yes, because I believe if you are clever you will excel wherever, whatever education you are receiving. I don't think being state educated is a disadvantage.

I don't want to start a massive hoohah or anything, but I disagree completely. My mum's a teacher and has taught both in a comp and a boarding school, and she was frustrated to tears by the fact that she had clever pupils in her comp who were distracted from their work by other pupils, and who didn't receive appropriate guidance and support from the staff, whereas in the selective boys' school (Which was also a state school by the way) the boys plai nwant to learn. The fact is, private and grammar schools are better because the pupils are better behaved, and because (in the case of private schools, at least, a lot more money and time is put in to help the students to excel.

I don't, on the topic, actually like the positive discrimination thing though... I think you should still get in solely on academic merit. I think that more support should be given earlier; say at GCSE level, to make pupils believe they can push themselves to reach higher goals than they may have believed they were capable of. It's silly to say 'oh we'll take you because you come from a normal, non-selective state school' rather than saying 'let's improve your education and inspire you to push yourself'.

Again, I'm not being aggressive... just putting my thoughts out there :smile:

Reply 35

Adam_Smithers

barefootfiona

Thanks for that. I can't deny i envy a lot of you guys. The whole "anti-intellectualism" is very very prominent at my college. I mean, people still get teased and laughed at for contributing too much in English lessons. Most people aren't very academic, which is fine, I suppose; but not ideal. C grades are probably considered average although it's very mixed - a lot of people getting E's/U's and a significant number achieving A's. Our teaching is generally very good. A few of my teachers make it obvious they'd rather be somewhere else, but all are competent.

I have loads more questions :biggrin:

Do you feel a lot of pressure to succeed - from both the school and your parents? Is this hard to deal with, is it unpleasant? Is your library always really really loud :mad:

?! Do you have a part-time job? Do you have a second home? How many people choose not to go to university? Have you experienced much snobbery?

Reply 36

barefootfiona

Adam_Smithers

Do you feel a lot of pressure to succeed - from both the school and your parents? Is this hard to deal with, is it unpleasant? Is your library always really really loud :mad:

?! Do you have a part-time job? Do you have a second home? How many people choose not to go to university? Have you experienced much snobbery?

Do you feel a lot of pressure to succeed - from both the school and your parents? No, neither. My parents are very supportive, as is my school.
Is your library always really really loud :mad:

?! Nope. When the Year 7s get to loud, we tell them to be quiet! Our computers are in the library, but it's also aprivate study area so the librarian makes sure we're all quite quiet. We're allowed to have conversations in quiet voices though. My library's tiny and quite rubbish, to be honest. It only has two of the Harry Potter books! What kind of a school library has that?!
Do you have a part-time job? Umm... no. Though I know a lot of girls do. We're only reallu allowed to work a maximum of 8 hours a week, but nobody sticks to that rule.
Do you have a second home? Hah! I wish!
How many people choose not to go to university? I don't know anybody who's not applying, thoguh I suppose there are about one or two every year.
Have you experienced much snobbery? Could you elaborate? There are rahs, obviously, and some spoilt daddy's girls, but mainly everyone's friendly.

Reply 37

WhereIsMyMind

barefootfiona

Yeah! It was challenging, yet enjoyable! :smile:

Plus, Aberdeen is absolutely amazing! :woo:

Thanks! and Good Luck to you too! :wink:

Reply 38

Felix994

How good is your private school? Top 5 in the country
Does anybody board? A handful in every year
Are there loads of Asians? heh...quite a lot. Most of them aren't that hard working though
Do you have beautiful grounds? No. Horrible buildings but nice fields.
Are you considered thick if you're getting B's at A Level? Your expected to get mostly A's. But loasds of people get a b or two.
Do you where a suit in sixth form? Yeah, of your own choice.
Do you get pushed into applying into Oxbridge? Nah. Many people who could get into Oxbridge are applying for lesser known unis because they like the look of a course there. And about 30 this year - out of 180 - are going to the States.
Do you get more than 3 students into Oxbridge a year? Yes. Try 20.
Who's the richest person at your school? In my year its this kid who's gets £100 a week. Having said that theres a bursary system and we have a few of kids who are on benefits and a couple live in council estates up in Kentish Town and Camden. It's a diverse group.
Are your teachers really good? Some are terrible some are amazing.
Do you ever wish you went to a state school? I used to sometimes when I was younger, whenever I got tons of homework, I'm mates with loads of state school kids and I always got about twice as much homework as them. But I've got loasds of m8s at my school and definatly wouldn't want to leave.
Does "affirmative action" by universities irritate you? A little, seeing as if your bright most private schools will pay for your education. But that's life. It makes school more of a challenge I guess. If you want to get into Oxbridge you can't just cruise through private school.
Are you posh? hahaha noo.
Do you play a musical instrument to grade 8? hahahahahahaha....no!
Do you row? Nah...just footy when it comes to sport.

Reply 39

Adam_Smithers

barefootfiona

Could you elaborate? There are rahs, obviously, and some spoilt daddy's girls, but mainly everyone's friendly.

Similar to TSR I suppose: university snobbery, the constant use of the word "chav" for every working class person. Also, snide remarks about state schools, holding a sense of importance and superiority to those at state schools. I suppose that covers it.

Also, are a lot of people very naive and sort of act like little kids? Like they have no idea about the real world?

Anyway, a lot of these questions are to challenge the preconceptions I have of people at private schools. So I suppose it does have a purpose. I'm interested because I encountered some real nasty people from our local public school and I wondered how I'd get on at uni where I'd be mixing with "them" on a regular basis :p: