Senior Schools

"I can truly say that my last 3 years at school have opened up a world of opportunities for me in more ways than one. We have been encouraged to develop independence, confidence and initiative." - Year 10 pupil, James Allen's Girls' School

Most of the pupils in independent education are in senior school, with ISC members currently educating over 350,000 senior school students in almost eight hundred schools.

ISC schools offer approaches to education, subjects, facilities and sports unparalleled in the state sector – our students can study History of Art, Government, Russian and Japanese, and try their hands at Astronomy, Ceramics or Equestrianism. They could be on their school judo or sailing team, and take trips all over the world. Whatever your child’s particular strengths, passions and interests, there is almost certainly a school which can offer the chance to try all of them.

Standards in the independent sector are high. There are very few senior schools which don’t require prospective students to sit an entrance exam (either the 11+ or, commonly, the schools own admission test), often accompanied by an interview with the Head or senior staff. If a child coming to the school from a different prep school, they will expect a report on his or her progress and attainment form the previous school.

The transition from prep to senior school is a major step in itself. Pupils are generally given more rights and responsibilities than they had at prep school or junior school, and younger children may have to get used to older children with prefect responsibilities. There are also typically far more students in senior schools than prep schools, which will of course take a little getting used to.

Exams taken at senior school have a much greater influence on the course of your life than they ever did before. At 16 pupils will take their GCSEs (or increasingly commonly their IGCSEs), before going on to take either A-levels, the International Baccalaureate or the Pre-U in the sixth form. Universities look at grades both predicted and achieved in deciding whether or not to offer places, and for the more popular or academically demanding courses, are increasingly looking at earlier qualifications too. Thankfully, academic standards in the independent sector are the highest in the country.

Pastoral care and an ordered environment are also important in the sector, with many schools adhering to their own particular ethos.

Senior school should be an incredibly enjoyable time for pupils of all ages (and in all schools – state and independent), where children make friends for the rest of their lives, discover the sorts of things they really enjoy doing, and gain the skills, qualifications and they need to take them where they want to go, be that on to Higher Education or otherwise.

To search for senior schools matching your requirements try our school search.

School age ranges
Pre-Prep School (age 3-7)
Prep School (Junior School) (age 7-11 or 7-13)
Senior School (age 11-16 or 13-16)
Sxth Form (age 16-18)
School structure (state vs independent schools)

Blogs
Pre-preparatory, prep, junior,senior and sixth-form, what do they all mean?