Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Friends have chosen Tonbridge School for their son, assuring me that it is an old and excellent school. (I was surprised to learn it’s one year younger than Housey with the same founder.) Together we looked up one of the (many) internet sites which rate UK schools. These sites use different criteria for their rating. Sure enough Tonbridge was no 6 on the first list we consulted and CH was not mentioned. (The friends chose that list of 20.) So later, in the privacy of my home, I looked up CH on 10 other such sites (which listed between 10 and 100 different schools). CH was mentioned on only 3 of the 10 sites, with ratings as follows.

No. 17 (Top IB schools – large cohort [whatever that is])
No. 23 (Top co-ed boarding schools)
No. 68 (Best independent schools)

In spite of comments about CH’s merits, from the late Dr WH Fyfe and many others, these are not very impressive results.

How much is that a reflection of admitting children on need, rather than raw competition?

It seems to be far more raw competition than real need nowadays than it was when I was there!

Oliver wrote: ↑Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:01 pm I looked up CH on 10 other such sites (which listed between 10 and 100 different schools). CH was mentioned on only 3 of the 10 sites, with ratings as follows.

No. 17 (Top IB schools – large cohort [whatever that is])
No. 23 (Top co-ed boarding schools)
No. 68 (Best independent schools)

In spite of comments about CH’s merits, from the late Dr WH Fyfe and many others, these are not very impressive results.

Depends very much on the factors which they use. It used to be Oxbridge scolarships - always won by Manchester Grammar School but with CH in the top five places. Of course if they take into account the Polo league table or tiddlywinks successes anything can happen. They might even take into account how many square feet around a pupil's bed!
Probably a good one would be inverse to how many pupils and ex pupils are imprisoned between the ages of 15 and 25 as a percentage of the school roll.

I would have thought that the success in moving children up the social strata (if that is the correct way to describe our society), would be more important than exam success etc.

jhopgood wrote: ↑Fri Dec 29, 2017 12:28 pm I would have thought that the success in moving children up the social strata (if that is the correct way to describe our society), would be more important than exam success etc.

I think you’ve hit on an unwritten objective of every public school in the country.

League tables just seem to fill out colour supplements these days, anyway. One of the more interesting manifestations of success seems to be simple awareness and ‘brand’ which in the last few years CH seems to have squandered by moving from being singular to being average in a large herd.

However, awareness may take a leap in 2018, if not brand...

However, exam success is indeed one measure of getting the kids on and up. Particularly if they have been rescued from a stratum of society where ambition is 'not for the likes of us'.

And meanwhile be very wary of the league tables without understanding how the figures reflect shrewd choice of exam boards and then IBAC and other non-A level exams.

World University League Tables are very well respected but these UK School League Tables much less so. The School League Tables ought to have a substantial "added value" component in the equation and CH would then do well especially if the FFP can be reduced to <10% by 2027 by "cutting the bluecoats according to the cloth" via economies in many areas.

Unfortunately these league tables never seem to measure how many decent, responsible, socially concerned people may emerge from particular schools. But I imagine that sort of measurement would horrify today's Tory party and particularly the likes of Michael "Gradgrind" Gove.

rockfreak wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:44 pm Unfortunately these league tables never seem to measure how many decent, responsible, socially concerned people may emerge from particular schools. But I imagine that sort of measurement would horrify today's Tory party and particularly the likes of Michael "Gradgrind" Gove.

How do you propose to measure such attributes as decency and social concern? Also, is an employer supposed to value this in equal measure to academic attainment?

It would be a conceit to think that simply because the school has charitable roots that it produces a socially more concerned cohort than schools with a more transactional model of education.

I’d stick with academic attainment of meaningful topics, some element of confidence, and - in all honesty - an open mindedness to develop such things as ‘social concern’ in the future.