Senior School

In UK, there are over 700 independent senior schools offering education for students between the age group of 11 to 18. The boy’s senior schools take students only from age 13. Subject to availability, senior schools take students anywhere between ages 11 and 16. Most students however enter senior school at the age of 11 or 13 and for this they are required to pass the entrance exam.

If the student has satisfactory performance in the previous school, he or she can also join the senior school at the age of 16. There are various British schools offering senior education and it is indeed a challenging task choosing the best among them for your child. Most schools employ qualified teachers to offer the best tutoring.

In UK, you can find senior schools that are exclusively boy’s school, girl’s school or co-educational. You can choose one according to your preference. There are a number of senior schools ranging from the popular public schools with as many as 2000 student population to the High schools with 1000 pupils and the models senior schools with less than 400 students. 

As you choose a smaller school due to various reasons like proximity, ensure that the school offers a good A-level subject selection. It takes a lot of patience and effort to judge a senior school. Apart from academic success, there are various factors that should govern your selection of senior school for your child. To make your job easier you can visit representative stalls from a variety of British schools including the private schools, boarding schools and other best schools in UK. You can compare and analyze the top schools in your locality. For instance, if you live in London, you can find out which are the schools employing the best London tutors. 

Find the best schools in UK irrespective of whether you are hunting for prep schools, senior schools, specialist schools, pre-prep schools, nurseries, day schools, boarding schools or international schools.

Gain vital insights into British education and the process of how to choose schools for your child. At this school show, you can also make private appointments with the senior teachers or heads of schools to learn more about scholarships. Enjoy a great day by visiting school shows like the independent school show and enjoy learning about various schools in a perfect environment.

At this two day exhibition, you can meet London Tutors and consultants offering educational guidance and tuition. You can also meet boarding school associations representing member schools. You can find stalls of agencies offering high quality tutoring in London that help add that extra dimension to your children’s education.

One of the qualifications offered by British education and Tutoring institutions, Cayman Islands, Cameroon, Wales and Northern Ireland is the A-level or advanced level.

Put your child in the best senior school by taking advantage of this two day exhibitions that bring all the best British schools to a single platform. As compared to earlier days when parents had to visit school after school to identify the best one, school shows such as the independent school show, details of which can be found at www.schoolsshows.co.uk offer the ideal setting where schools market themselves to students.

General Certificate of Secondary Education in a British School

GCSE or the General Certificate of Secondary Education in a British School and in Wales, Gibraltar and Northern Ireland is awarded to students between age group 14 and 16, as an academic qualification in a particular subject. Students usually opt to take more than one GCSE and they can apply for it at any point of time externally or through an institution.

GCSE’s international version is IGCSE and this examination can be taken by students from all over the world and includes options related to language and coursework. Students in secondary education in British schools take the GCSE examination to be combined with other qualifications such as Diploma in Digital Applications and Business and Technology Education Council.

Students who opt for the GCE A-Level or for the International Baccalaureate have to necessarily do the GCSE level in UK. In the year 1980, the Conservative Party in fact, introduced the GCSE exams as a compulsory requirement for school leavers. This was in place of GCE ordinary exams and the CSE or Certificate of Secondary Education.

Many different subjects are a part of the GCSE courses offered at the secondary British schools. Students are given the option of choosing subjects. Education in subjects chosen by students start in Year 10 at the age of 15 and examinations are given in Year 11 at the age of 16.

Almost all students studying in British schools take the GCSE examination in science, mathematics and English. Apart from this students are also required to take one technology and design subject, one foreign language, one ICT and one religious education course.

After completion of the course in two year’s time, students receive a grade for each subject. National Qualifications Framework governs the GCSE where level one qualification is awarded for grades D to G and level two qualification for grades A* to C. X grade is awarded to students who have not completed their courses.
CGSE examinations are offered in two tiers for subjects namely the higher tier and the foundation tier. In the foundation tier, students can obtain grades from C to G and in the higher tier, they can obtain grades from A* to D.

Students of British schools who aspire to take A-levels in the Sixth Form or at Further Education colleges must necessarily get at least five A* to C grades including in subjects like Math and English. GCSE offers the choice of completing more than one coursework assignment in certain subjects. 10 to 60% of the final grade is contributed to by the coursework.

GCSE is offered by five examination boards including the AQA or Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, Edexcel, OCR or Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations, CCEA or Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment and WJEC or Welsh Joint Education Committee.
All these boards are self sufficient though governed by the common Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Results of the GCSE examinations are published at the end of August, just a week after they publish the A-level results. Students are usually required to collect their results from their schools though certain boards publish results online now.


One of the qualifications offered by British education institutions, Cayman Islands, Cameroon, Wales and Northern Ireland is the A-level or advanced level.

A-Levels British school

One of the qualifications offered by British educational institutions, Cayman Islands, Cameroon, Wales and Northern Ireland is the A-level or advanced level. A-level courses are offered in a British school spread over two years. These courses are recognized all over the world as a standard qualification. Students who have completed A level courses are considered suitable and highly eligible for courses in UK universities.

A level course in a British school consists of six modules. After completion of the first year, schools carry out assessment of three modules qualifying students to the AS level or the Advanced Subsidiary Level. Rest of the three modules are assessed after completion of the second year after which the students are considered to be A2 qualified.

Students must complete both the AS and A2 levels in a particular subject to be considered to have completed the A-level. A written examination assesses the modules. Exam papers are internally assessed through coursework and marked by national organizations.

British schools offer a number of A-level exams for students. Students usually study four subjects at the AS level followed by the A2 level. In order to enter universities, a student must have minimum A-levels.

Passing grades for A-level followed by British schools are A*, A, B, C, D and E. Students who pass with 90% marks in their overall A-level subjects are awarded the A* grade. In UK, A-level examinations are monitored by examination boards. Certain boards also allow international students to work for and qualify in A-levels.

In the United Kingdom, A-levels are an integral part of the tertiary Further Education. As an option, secondary British school students at Sixth Form institutions are also allowed to study A-levels.

Even before the A-level results are published, students apply to UK universities for admission. Universities then take their predicted levels into consideration to offer seats. As predictions can be unreliable, the institutions offer a conditional seat to students.

Certain universities convert the A-level grades to numerical scores. According to the UCAS system, 140 points are awarded for an A* grade at the A-level, 120 for A, 100 for B, 80 for C, 60 for D and 40 for E.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is the watchdog of these exams. A new system of scoring is introduced by them under which the same importance is given to both vocational and general A-levels.

A brilliant career is possible with the right choice of degree and university. A reputed business school offering A-level subjects such as Mathematics and Business Studies enables students to pursue successful career in finance or business or a combination of both.

A-level British school offers the best learning environment in terms of professional contacts, facilities and teaching. Business schools in the city of London, the finance and business hub of UK provide a completely different perspective of education that ensures professional employment. They offer undergraduates a very high level of academic support and students are offered an opportunity to work part time to fund their tuition fee.

One of the qualifications offered by British education institutions, Cayman Islands, Cameroon, Wales and Northern Ireland is the A-level or advanced level.

Independent School

In the United Kingdom, independent schools are those that are not financed by the national or local government’s taxation system. Private sources fund these schools in the form of long term charitable endowments and gifts and tuition fees. These schools are therefore free from the need to accept “maintained status” imposed on other schools that accept financing from the state.

In Wales and England, certain boy’s boarding schools are popularly referred to as “public schools”. A British school that comes under the independent school category is normally a member of the Conference of Headmistresses and Headmasters.

In UK, today, you can find more than 2500 independent schools where at least 615,000 students from across the country study. Independent schools large in size offer partial or full boarding facilities for students in UK.

Older and larger independent schools enjoy a charitable status that offers them a £100m tax relief. This is mainly due to the fact that these schools save the maintained sector at least £2bn in costs and also spend £300m fee assistance for public benefit.

In an Independent British school that is a member of the ISC’s affiliated organizations, inspection is conducted by the Independent School Inspectorate. This inspectorate comes under the framework of agreement between the Office for Standards in Education, Government’s Department for Children, Schools and Families and the ISC. National inspectorates inspect schools not affiliated to ISC in England.

Pupils can be selected by the independent schools in a free manner. Usually students are selected based on academic and financial criteria. Certain British schools give credit for those who are proficient in music, sport and other talents.

Certain British schools that come under independent schools are confined to a particular religion. All their students must compulsorily attend services irrespective of what religion they belong to.

Independent schools charge exorbitant fees for day school as well as boarding students. Fees for boarding students average £23,000 per annum and £11,000 for day students. This is apart from the frequent, unpredictable costs for extra-curricular activities, equipment and uniform.

Being academically selective, the independent British schools use the Common Entrance Examination for students aged between 11 and 13. To attract the more able pupils, schools offer scholarships and aim to enhance their average results. Those who perform poorly are asked to leave and the independent schools replace them with students who perform well.

British schools that come under independent schools offer individualized teaching. Their quality of teaching is much better as compared to the maintained schools. Here the student teacher ratio is 9:1. These schools also offer longer hours of teaching that may even include Saturday mornings. Independent schools also emphasize on extra-curricular activities and organized sports and focus on overall development of students.

Emphasis is also laid on traditional subjects like classics, modern languages and math. In boarding schools students are provided with pastoral care and these schools teach them their own distinctive ethos such as accents, manners and social aspirations.

The quality of education being very high, the independent school students have greater chances of attaining an A* grade at the GCSE.