Academic Information

UK boarding schools achieve good academic standards

About 80% of pupils at independent schools (including special schools) gain five or more GCSE passes at grades A*-C (compared with a national average of 43%). Eighty per cent of independent school A-level candidates gain three or more passes, compared with a national average of 61%. Nine out of ten post-A-level leavers from independent schools go on to higher education. At the primary level, most prep schools taking part in national curriculum testing report attainment levels well above the national average.

It is sometimes claimed that this academic success is due to selective admissions policies. Some independent schools do admit only children of the highest academic ability; many, however, admit a much wider range of ability.

Extra English for overseas pupils

Children from overseas may need extra tuition in English during the first term or academic year and most schools have well-run EFL (English as a Foreign Language) departments to cope with this.

If a child has limited English s/he will be given intensive lessons (up to 15 hours per week) at an extra charge. Where possible s/he will join the English pupils for lessons where a high level of English is not essential e.g. maths, some sciences, art, sport. As the level of English improves the child will be more fully integrated into the normal school curriculum.

Where a child has a good command of English but needs specialized vocabulary or structures to deal with a particular subject, English lessons will be provided to deal with the specific need. These lessons will be at extra cost or free of charge depending on the number of lessons required.

All charges for extra English tuition will appear on the child's end of term bill.

Extra subjects

A child may choose to take extra tuition in a subject in which s/he is particularly weak or has a special interest e.g. additional foreign languages, computer studies.

Schools also encourage children to develop artistic, musical and sports skills and offer tuition in a wide range of musical instruments e.g. piano, guitar, violin, flute as well as dance and coaching in sports such as tennis, squash, swimming, horse-riding and judo.

International Baccalaureate

The IB is an international qualification taught at 2853 schools in 138 countries under the auspices of The International Baccalaureate Organisation.  In 2010 there are more than 789,000 IB students around the world.

There are three programmes covering the following year ranges:

  1. Primary Years Programme (PYP) ages 3-12
  2. Middle Years Programme (MYP) ages 11-16
  3. Diploma Programme (DP) ages 16-18

The DP lasts 2 years and is a broad and balanced curriculum, in which all DP students study languages, a social science, an experimental science, mathematics and an arts subject. There is an element of choice, but essentially the IB is a broad based qualification which demonstrates the all round academic ability of its graduates. Students aiming for a very specific degree and career (e.g. medicine) may be better advised to concentrate on specific A levels designed to qualify them for that degree course’s entry into a specific university. However, the great advantage of the IB is that it is an international qualification recognised in many countries and indeed IB schools frequently liaise with other international schools.   IB student numbers have increased by between 10% and 20% each year for the past ten years.

The six IB subject groups are:

  • Language A1 (the study of literature in the student's first language)
  • Second language (there are three levels of second language study available)
  • Individuals and societies (including business, economics, geography, history, IT, philosophy, psychology, social and cultural anthropology)
  • Experimental sciences (including biology, chemistry, physics and design technology)
  • Mathematics and computer science
  • The arts (including film, music, theatre, visual arts) - students may opt to include an additional subject from Groups 1 to 5 instead of one from the arts group

Full information can be found on the International Baccalaureate Organisation website.