Town vs Gown: The Perse School and Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge

THE PERSE SCHOOL

This top-notch public school is a Cambridge institution that is having to adapt to changing times. Once a boys-only bastion that took boarders, it is now an all-day school, with a small contingent of girls in the sixth form. From 2010, girls will be admitted throughout the steadily expanding school. Traditionally an academic powerhouse, it also offers a challenging all-round education. There is a prep and pre-prep for those keen to go the whole Perse hog, but also generous bursaries for parents daunted by the fees. The head says Perse sees itself as "more like a direct-grant grammar school than a posh public school in ethos".

Motto: Qui facit per alium facit per se - "He who does things for others does them for himself". Note the learned pun. The "per se" is a reference to the school's 17th-century founder, Stephen Perse.

Number of pupils: 675, all day pupils, including 85 girls.

Age range: 11-18, including 240 in the sixth form.

Academic emphasis: Once known for its intellectual loftiness - epitomised by the celebrated Old Persean FR Leavis, doyen of literary critics - the school has moved skilfully with the times, with engineering and IT now taught with the same care once lavished on Latin and Greek.

Extra-curricular: They take sport seriously here, once too seriously - there was an infamous 21-man brawl during a football match against a rival school in the 1990s, after a refereeing error. But good facilities, both for sports and arts, are backed up by enthusiastic teaching and a laudably generous allocation of time to non-academic matters. There's also an ambitious programme of "expeditionary" trips overseas.

League table standing: An A* or two behind the Perse School for Girls this year, but invariably one of the top schools in Cambridgeshire.

Head: Edward Elliott only took over at The Perse this term, but he has got his eye in after a stint as deputy head. A geographer by training. Scarily young, but very well regarded, he wants Perse "to demonstrate its commitment to offering an all-round education, not just be an exam factory".

Fees: £3,900 per term.

Uniform: Sober black jackets and preppie ties.

What they think of the Hills Road Sixth Form College: They can hardly ignore it - it is on the same road - but they don't have the same reservations about it as they do for their main public-school rival in Cambridge, the Leys School.

Notable alumni: FR Leavis, Sir Peter Hall, cartoonist Mel Calman, sports broadcaster Mark Saggers, and David Gilmour (pictured left) of Pink Floyd, who hated the place.

Perfect for: Bright, hard-working boys who relish a largely male environment.

Not so good for: Academic lightweights or pupils with a tendency to drift.

The Perse School: 01223 403 800; www.perse.co.uk

HILLS ROAD SIXTH FORM COLLEGE

Formerly the Cambridgeshire High School for Boys, founded in 1903, the Hills Road Sixth Form College acquired its present status in 1974, since when it has gone from strength to strength. Big, boisterous and generally abuzz with learning, it feels more like a university than a school; but there is a structure of pastoral care that reflects the fact that some of these enviably confident-looking pupils are just 16. Last year's Ofsted report judged the college outstanding in every category - a first for such an institution. A true centre of excellence, offering stiff competition to Cambridge's formidable clutch of independent schools.

Motto: Virtute et Fide - "By courage and fidelity".

Number of pupils: 1,780, roughly equally numbers of boys and girls.

Age range: 16-19, all in the sixth form.

Academic emphasis: The great thing about a large, ambitious sixth form college is the range of A-level subjects. Bored with the three Rs? Then try film studies, photography, dance, psychology or, gulp, accounting. It's a good mix of the traditional and cutting-edge. The IT provision is particularly impressive.

Extra-curricular: Students are required to spend at least one time-slot a week doing something non-academic. They are spoilt for choice: outstanding sports facilities are complemented by impressively busy theatre and music facilities to suit every taste, and there are bags of after-hours clubs, trips, etc.

League table standing: It's one of the strongest sixth form colleges in the country. More than 80 per cent with As or Bs at A-level.

Head: Linda Sinclair, who took over this term, has said she is committed not just to maintaining academic standards, but to making Hills Road a stimulating and enjoyable place to study.

Admission policy: It's oversubscribed, but able to accommodate pupils from a reasonably wide radius, provided they have decent GCSEs in their chosen subjects.

Uniform: Jeans, jeans and jeans. The ambience is gloriously informal.

What they think of pupils from The Perse: They're inclined to make sarcastic references to public-school toffs when they find themselves standing at the same bus stop.

Notable alumni: Syd Barrett and Roger Waters (left) of Pink Floyd. The latter wrote the famous lyrics "We don't need no education" - a reflection of the miserable time he spent here, in the days when it was still Cambridgeshire High.

Perfect for: Focused, energetic pupils, with intellectual curiosity and an appetite for hard work.

Not so good for: Children likely to be intimidated by the bustling, campus-like environment.

Hills Road Sixth Form College: 01223 247251; www.hillsroad.ac.uk

VERDICT

A classic case of where savvy parents might consider a two-stage strategy: The Perse up to sixth form, to build confidence and provide a sound all-round education, then the bigger, more boisterous, blissfully fee-less Hills Road as a stepping-stone to university.