The best public schools of 2016 according to Tatler

Unsurprisingly Eton, Harrow and Latymer all topped Tatler’s notorious list of the best schools – but there were still some surprises. 

The best place to in the country is King’s Wimbledon, where “music, drama and sport are all stupendously strong”.

You heard it from Tatler – “Kings is the hot school at the moment”.

Out West, competition to get into Latymer is also fiercer than ever as they’re “fishing in a brighter gene pool,” apparently.

Tatler write their guide from scratch every year, and insist you can’t “buy, bully or schmooze” your way in.

They sent spies around all around the country, interviewing headteachers and even mums.

Abingdon in Oxford got the most A*s at A-level and also stacked up an impressive 23 offers to Cambridge and Oxford unis.

Tatler notes: “We love that on a trip to Italy the classicists so impressed fellow tourists that some boys became impromptu tour guides.”

On the steeper side, £12,050 a term Harrow was also championed for bringing in new sixth-form electives in “super physics”, the riveting “history of string instruments” and even the introduction of Olympic wrestling.

Meanwhile Tatler assured readers Eton’s headmaster is an “all round good chap” and even plans to set up “weekly supper parties” at his own home.

What’s more, when the angelic Eton choir toured India last year they “went as the guests of the Maharaja of Jodhpur”, which probably beats your sweaty gap year.

Away from the southern stronghold of public schools, Fettes in Edinburgh got one of the most shining reviews.

Apparently “to be a Fettesian is for life and not just for A-levels”, for students who went to the same school which is rumoured to have inspired Hogwarts.

And believe it or not they have a thumbprint recognition system to prevent “corridor creeping” in the mixed boys and girls boarding house – presumably they can also keep out invisibility cloaks.

Meanwhile Uppingham got a mention for having “sublime” music, Malvern College for being “downright sporty” and the King’s School Chester for having the best rowers.

Back down in London, Dulwich’s new creative initiative is a strange mismatch of teaching students about “flash mobs, pop-up exhibitions and performances”.

North London Collegiate is the top IB school in the country, and they also have a staggering 20 different student papers.

Just outside the capital, Wellington College got a mention for their strange but pioneering “wellbeing and mindfulness lessons”, while the girls from St Catherine’s Bramley were called “gutsy” for slaying all competition on the sports field.