Great British Education 2024 - Sample Issue

2024 EDITION

THE BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES GUIDE

PASSPORT

to success YOUR GUIDE TO STUDYING IN THE UK

King’s College Cambridge looks out over the Cam River and punt boating

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PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK/PAJOR PAWEL

Heritage

Heritage

GLOBAL THINKING WITH ITS WORLD-RENOWNED CURRICULUM, LEADING SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES, AND AN OPEN AND INCLUSIVE SOCIETY, THERE IS MUCH TO RECOMMEND STUDYING IN THE UK Words: Martin Reader Head of Cranleigh School, Surrey greatbritisheducationmag.com

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Boarding

The school’s 20-acre campus offers plenty of space for day pupils and boarders alike to play and let off steam

BELHAVEN HILL PUPILS SURROUND

themselves with friends from dawn to dusk DURING THE FORTNIGHT SPENT AWAY FROM HOME

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Boarding

PREPARED FOR THE WORLD AHEAD

As it marks its centenary, OLLY LANGTON, Headmaster of Belhaven Hill School in East Lothian discusses its approach to creating a healthy lifestyle for students through boarding routines, tech-free evenings and plenty of fun activities

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t Belhaven Hill School, a small independent boarding and day school located on the beautiful East Lothian coastline 40 minutes east of Edinburgh, we believe in nurturing and protecting childhood. The school is currently celebrating both its 100th year and enjoying its highest-ever pupil roll of 144 boys and girls aged five to 13 years.

We recognise that every child is an individual and that each family’s circumstances are different, but key concepts remain central, and boarding is one of those. We believe that children are best prepared for the world ahead not only by what they learn, but also by how they learn.

Boarding life exposes children to collaboration and compromise and advocates a trial-and-error approach to progress: trust, time and space are required for children to be happy to explore all of the opportunities that exist.

Trust is built thanks to the positive relationship between all parents, children and staff at Belhaven, regardless of day or boarding status. This is a small school – teaching staff know each and every child, and any issues are discussed at a daily briefing.

Approximately 60 per cent of the prep school board, with the numbers increasing as the children get older: by form three (year six), 46 per cent of the year will be boarding; in form two, it may be between 68 per cent and in form one, between 80-100 per cent. When your child feels that the time is right, the houseparent running the girls’ or boys’ house becomes an additional, trusted member of the family.

Belhaven’s pupils surround themselves with friends from dawn to dusk for the fortnight spent away from home.

The boarding offering is a very simple one: we have no flexi or weekly options, because we deem them to be unsettling and not of benefit to the children, who thrive on stability and a consistent day-to-day routine. We believe wholeheartedly in the benefits of our fortnightly boarding model. In total, 11 nights in succession, from a Monday and the following Thursday takes you from one ‘weekend out’ to the next, enabling the ‘weekend in’ to be a fun-filled festival of opportunity. Crucially, it’s consistent, predictable and comforting for youngsters. All of the boarders are in when we’re ‘in’, and out when we’re ‘out’. More than half of Scotland’s prep-school age boarders are now enrolled at Belhaven Hill, so this is clearly the place to be!

Consistency is key for children’s happiness, and it informs our daily routine, as well as our model. greatbritisheducationmag.com

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From the Middle East to Singapore (and beyond), British international schools offer pupils a globallyrecognised education

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PHOTOGRAPHY: ISTOCK/MR NOVEL

International schools

International schools

BEYOND

borders

Respected the world over, the British curriculum is taught around the globe. Read on to learn about international schools instilling a culture of diversity

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ritish international schools – of which there are thousands dotted across the world – enrich the lives of students and parents from all over the world. Schools with a British curriculum instil British values in their students, while promoting a global mindset.

It’s a holistic curriculum with a commitment to educating the whole child, by nurturing important attributes like care, tolerance and respect for others. Schools encourage and inspire students to engage actively and purposefully with the world around them, while providing a learning environment that’s both secure and stimulating for pupils. This is done by recruiting qualified, well-trained staff whose background and experience is thoroughly vetted. Safeguarding and the wellbeing of pupils is at the heart of every British international school, with rigorous checks and balances in place.

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BY THEIR NATURE, SPECIALIST UNIVERSITIES are pre-eminent in their field, and have strong links with THE NICHE INDUSTRIES AND PROFESSIONS THEY PREPARE THEIR STUDENTS TO ENTER

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PHOTOGRAPHY: IAN CROCKART

As the home of the UK’s only Business School for the Creative Industries, UCA puts an emphasis on creative and commercial success

Specialist

FINDING YOUR NICHE

IF YOU’RE EYEING A CAREER IN A VOCATIONAL, RAREFIED FIELD, APPLYING FOR A SPECIALIST DEGREE COURSE AT A WORLD-RENOWNED UNIVERSITY IS A GREAT START, WRITES ELIZABETH IVENS

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ith an increasing number of international students choosing to study in the UK, many are looking at specialist institutions where they can focus on one subject or area of study.

Many of these are small and offer vocational programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level in areas including business, the arts, drama and medical sciences.

Their size and specialism mean that students can often become part of a close community with peers that share common aims, interests and ambitions.

By their nature, specialist universities are usually pre-eminent in their field, and have strong alumni and networking links with the niche industries and professions they prepare their students to enter.

They include performing and visual arts specialists, such as Falmouth University in Cornwall, the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the University of Creative

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STUDENTS WORK IN AUTHENTIC, CONTENT-RICH CONTEXTS, and they get a sense of the language being used to convey meaning RATHER THAN JUST BEING STUDIED AS AN ACADEMIC SUBJECT