Let $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ be an analytic self-map of the unit disc. If $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ is analytic in a neighbourhood of the closed unit disc, we give a precise formula for the essential norm of the composition operator $C_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}}$ on the weighted Dirichlet spaces ${\mathcal{D}}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}}$ for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}>0$. We also show that, for a univalent analytic self-map $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ of $\mathbb{D}$, if $\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}$ has an angular derivative at some point of $\unicode[STIX]{x2202}\mathbb{D}$, then the essential norm of $C_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D711}}$ on the Dirichlet space is equal to one.

Let 𝔻 be the open unit disc, let v:𝔻→(0,∞) be a typical weight, and let Hv∞ be the corresponding weighted Banach space consisting of analytic functions f on 𝔻 such that . We call Hv∞ a typical-growth space. For ϕ a holomorphic self-map of 𝔻, let Cφ denote the composition operator induced by ϕ. We say that Cφ is a bellwether for boundedness of composition operators on typical-growth spaces if for each typical weight v, Cφ acts boundedly on Hv∞ only if all composition operators act boundedly on Hv∞. We show that a sufficient condition for Cφ to be a bellwether for boundedness is that ϕ have an angular derivative of modulus less than 1 at a point on ∂𝔻. We raise the question of whether this angular-derivative condition is also necessary for Cφ to be a bellwether for boundedness.