Dear Prosopon: My first response regards your comment that Dunottar has lower academic results:
 Yes it does, but only just. Look at the points per exam at GCSE and you will see that over the last 3 years, Dunottar was above RGS once and less than half a grade behind them in the other two years.
 RGS has higher figures in other counts because their students sit far more GCSEs (probably spreading themselves too thinly) so points per candidate are higher. Dunottar goes for quality not quantity. All universities want a minimum of 8/9 GCSEs and then they look at the grades. For some universities, 9 GCSEs at A/A is better than 9 GCSEs at A/A and then 4 GCSEs at grade B.
 Bear in mind that Dunottar doesn?t cream off students like RGS and so has a wider range of ability. Dunottar ranks 3rd in Reigate & Banstead for both GCSE and A? level results ? the top two in both categories being much more highly selective schools. Dunottar therefore has commendable exam results.
?All students going to their first choice of university is not necessarily a good sign as they could simply be setting their sights too low?.
 This is an interesting example of flawed argument called ?ad hominem? where instead of acknowledging the validity of the argument, the opponent attacks the person ? in this case, Dunottar. Rather a prejudiced opinion, don?t you think?
?Extra-curricular activities are good, making students sit a pointlesss General Studies exam is not?
 This is true. Few Universities count it and that is why it is not offered at Dunottar. My daughter is, however, doing the Extended Project Qualification as an extra. This is valued and respected by universities.
?None of this says anything about the value, if any, that the schools add to their pupils.?
 League tables for independent schools cannot show this because the government do not accept their KS2 or KS3 returns. Any good school should be able to show interested parents teacher assessments showing progress from Y7-11 (for example using MidYIS scores), which they are not allowed to publish under the terms of their contract.
?Dunottar is a small school - that has both advantages and disadvantages. RGS has a few students getting very low grades, their parents might have been well advised to remove them.?
 This is rubbish! I think that RGS might take offence at the implication that their fully qualified teachers cannot cope with a range of abilities.
 As a point of information, in a small school like Dunottar, one advantage is more leadership opportunities for the students and this looks good on university application forms.
?A small school will mean a limited range of subjects in the sixth form and teachers who are not specialists in that subject.?
 Rubbish! My daughter at Dunottar was offered 21 A? level subjects to choose from - hardly a limited selection!
 In addition, I would never send my daughter to Dunottar if the teachers at A? Level were unqualified. Ask to look at staff qualifications of both schools and bear in mind that fully qualified part-timers can be brought in to ensure expertise across the board.
?However sooner or later girls need to learn to study in a mixed environment, there are no single sex universities.?
 Oh, really? If you do your research, you will learn that there are single sex halls and colleges at universities. The key is the formative years (11-16 particularly) where almost all research (ref: GSA My daughter website) suggests that girls do best in single sex environments. This is particularly true in predominantly male dominated areas such as the sciences, maths, technology and engineering. A recent report by the Institute of Physics, for example, showed that of UK female Physics graduates, 90% had attended an all girls? school!
 As a point of information, my daughter has no problems mixing with boys outside school. The whole point of single sex education is to help students fulfil their potential so they can get to university in the first place. They can mix with the opposite sex as much as they like when they?re there!
?midnightmunchies ? GSCEs, doing them too early can create problems for students later on. If a school offers that choice make sure you know how they maintain motivation for those who wish to continue to A level.?
 Dunottar rarely offers early GCSEs except in individual circumstances. Instead, bright girls are stretched and challenged e.g. in Maths they may sit Stats GCSE as well. This is also true at A-level where Russell Group universities actively do not like early finish A-levels and want to see an ability to manage the workload in the A2 year.
?Your school has a serious image problem and it is not attracting the strongest students.?
 Wrong. There are bright students at Dunottar. The image problem is created by people like you and your opinions which are based on inadequate research, assumptions and prejudice. People come onto this website so that they can receive sound advice and I don?t think that you?re qualified to give it. You have already admitted that you do not know the two schools and I think that it?s time for you to bow out of this discussion.
Interesting that none of the ardent defendants of D has a long posting history on MN and seemingly only on this topic! Don't think there is any real need to jump on OP.