Top IB Schools worldwide

British independent schools feature heavily in the top positions of global IB Diploma league tables, particularly dominated by the so-called superselective London day schools, along with a small number of high performing boarding schools, but there are a few exceptions, notably from Asia and the Middle East. It is a shame that the majority of Continue reading…

The Truth about Oxbridge Admissions

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge have received ample criticism about their admissions policies in recent years. In particular, journalists and campaigners alike point out that about 40% of Oxbridge places are offered to private school applicants, despite the fact that private schools only educate 7% of pupils in the country. This statistic is repeated Continue reading…

Grammar schools given £50m to expand

Existing grammar schools have been invited to apply for extra funding from a £50m allocation design to enable grammar schools to grow. This is under the condition that they can show how they are helping disadvantaged students. There are currently 163 grammar schools in England, out of some 3,000 state secondaries, and a further 67 Continue reading…

Harris Academy

More and more Harris Academies are opening up in and around London, so if you are based here and are looking into state secondaries schools, chances are that you have heard of Harris Academies. But what are they like? Who runs them and why? Are they as good as they sound? Harris Academies are run Continue reading…

National Offer Day 2018

1 March 2018 was National Offer Day - the day families were notified about the outcome of their state secondary school allocations. One in three families in London will not be able to send their children to their preferred secondary school next year, as rising numbers of school-age pupils put pressure on places across London Continue reading…

King’s College Maths School – UK’s new number 1

There’s a new number 1 in the A-Level league tables, and it is not an expensive private school or a grammar school. It is the King’s College Maths School in Lambeth, London. A highly selective Sixth Form college founded by Highgate School’s former Head of Maths Dan Abramson, it was set up to emulate specialist Continue reading…

DLD College London

DLD College London is an independent fee-paying sixth form college situated in the heart of London overlooking Westminster and the Thames River. There are 440 students at the college, some of whom are preparing for A Levels, some studying for their GCSEs, and some studying for BTECs and International Foundation Programmes. The college admits day Continue reading…

Sixth Form Colleges in London

While your child may be happily settled in her current secondary school (or not!), it is always good to be aware of the options that exist for children to switch to another Sixth Form. The main consideration here could be subject choice. Many comprehensive schools, particularly smaller ones, only offer a limited number of subjects Continue reading…

Tiffin Girls School

Tiffin Girls’ School, located in Kingston-upon-Thames, is one of the very few grammar schools within reach of Londoners, and as such, it is one of the hardest grammar schools in the country to get into. There are 900 girls at the school between the ages of 11 - 18. Since 2002, the school has a Continue reading…

Henrietta Barnett School

The Henrietta Barnett School is London’s most sought after and most oversubscribed grammar school. Admissions is fiercely competitive. More than 2,000 girls sit the first round entrance test in verbal and non-verbal reasoning in September. Only the top 300 are called back for a second round test in Maths and English. Only 93 Year 7 places Continue reading…

The international baccalaureate (IB) is becoming increasingly popular in Britain and around the world, and more and more independent and also state secondary schools are offering this option to their students. What are the benefits of the IB, and should you choose it over the British system? One advantage of the IB system is that Continue reading…

If you live in London and have heard of Grammar Schools, which are highly selective state secondary schools, you may wonder where in London you can find them. The truth is that, unfortunately, most of them were abolished a long time ago, and there are only a select few councils in and around London remaining Continue reading…