UCS Sixth Form Prospectus

THE SIXTH FORM

BOYS & GIRLS, AGE 16–18

“A distinctive education focused on the individual”

HEADMASTER’S WELCOME

UCS was founded to promote the Benthamite principles of liberal scholarship and education. Intellectual curiosity, breadth of study and independence of mind combine to achieve academic excellence.

In our co-educational Sixth Form, we welcome both girls and boys to our broad and intellectually stimulating curriculum, where undergraduate study skills are developed. UCS is a place of self-discovery and self-expression; a school that places equal value on learning with others as on learning from others.

UCS is renowned for its informality, friendliness and strength of relationships.

In Sixth Form, small Tutor Groups and excellent pastoral provision help the 50 or so newcomers settle into their new surroundings very quickly, and they rapidly make important contributions to the Sport, Drama, Arts, Music, Cultural and Academic life of the school.

Following bespoke and comprehensive advice and guidance from specialists throughout their time here, all pupils go on to highly successful Higher Education institutions and careers. We encourage you to visit UCS to speak to our pupils about their experiences and our unique ethos, and to see our impressive facilities.

Mark Beard

UCS FOUNDATION

We welcome boys at 4+, 7+ and 11+, and girls and boys at 16+ to UCS. At whatever stage you join us, you will quickly feel a full and valued member of the UCS Community.

UCS PRE-PREP

Part of the UCS Foundation since 2002, the Pre-Prep on the Finchley Road site provides a happy, supportive and stimulating environment for boys aged 4–7.

UCS JUNIOR BRANCH

In the heart of Hampstead village on the Holly Hill site and for boys aged 7–11, the Junior Branch o ers pupils the opportunity to develop academic and personal disciplines, self-conﬁdence, thoughtfulness and public spirit.

UCS SENIOR SCHOOL

The largest single element of the UCS Foundation is the Senior School on the Frognal site, which provides education for boys aged 11–18 and girls aged 16–18. Approximately half of the pupils who sit GCSE and A level exams here will have come up from the Junior Branch. The Senior School delivers education with an emphasis on supporting individuals to develop knowledge, experience and understanding, a strong sense of values, personal integrity and compassion.

UCS SIXTH FORM

As part of our Senior School on the Frognal site, the co-educational Sixth Form o ers an education which is intellectually stimulating as well as personally satisfying, where pupils progress to university with the conﬁdence and motivation of independent learners. The enormous majority of our GCSE pupils choose to stay on into the Sixth Form, where they are joined by pupils from other schools to study over two years for A level. This includes around 60 girls per year group in the Sixth Form.

“WE LOVE THE SOUL OF THIS SCHOOL” TATLER

SCHOOLS GUIDE

RANGE

THE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE

SUBJECTS

BREADTH OF STUDY

Flexibility of choice informs our academic programme in the Sixth Form. Over 20 subjects are on o er, which includes those not commonly found in all schools, such as Psychology, History of Art and Mandarin. We require all pupils to take four in the ﬁrst year of their Sixth Form and they then have the choice going into the second year of continuing all four or dropping to three. In facilitating such choice we aim to support pupils’ ownership of their studies by allowing them to decide for themselves how their needs are best met and how they can realise their academic ambitions. This is underpinned by highly personalised advice from Form Tutors, Deme Wardens (i.e. Housemasters) and the Sixth Form team led by our Head of Sixth Form.

Pupils have the opportunity to take on an EPQ (Extended Project Qualiﬁcation) which is an extended piece of writing based on independent research. It is a popular option and our results have been exceptional. In addition, we run an Academic Enrichment Programme on

Friday afternoons. Each pupil selects a course for a term, usually in line with their university aspirations. These are led by UCS teachers and replicate university-style seminars with the goal of extending our pupils beyond the strictures of exam speciﬁcations.

Pupils’ independent study is enhanced by our vast collection of online resources, expertly curated by the school’s librarians in the AKO Centre. They can access journals, books, podcasts and more from around the globe by using their UCS login credentials. The AKO Centre sta run sessions to help pupils sift through and use these awesome resources, putting them in an excellent position to continue this way of studying at university.

Along with all Senior School pupils, Sixth Formers are able to book themselves into 1:1 StudySmart sessions where they can get specialist support, which is always evidence-backed, on a range of areas including revision techniques, procrastination, essay writing, proofreading and more.

UCS HAMPSTEAD | THE SIXTH FORM

“THE VAST

OF

THEY PURSUE IS TESTAMENT TO THE INDIVIDUALITY FOSTERED HERE”

“THE QUESTION IS WHAT AREN’T THE STRENGTHS? THE SCHOOL IS EXEMPLARY AT PREPARING [STUDENTS] FOR THE REAL WORLD WITH DEDICATED TEACHERS WHO TAKE THE TIME TO GET TO KNOW THEIR PUPILS”

FROM PARENT IN THE SPECTATOR SCHOOLS SUPPLEMENT

UCS HAMPSTEAD | THE SIXTH FORM

“ACADEMIC WORK IS SERIOUS BUT OFFERS INFINITE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THOUGHT, EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY” THE GOOD SCHOOLS GUIDE

INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY

Our aim is to produce pupils who leave UCS with the confidence and motivation to succeed in either Higher Education or any of their chosen fields. Teaching and learning at UCS is thus designed to promote independent thinking while providing a firm basis of knowledge and understanding, together with an emphasis on developing a strong core of values, personal integrity and a sense of one’s place in the world.

Pupils do not become independent learners without well organised and

thoughtful care and support. This is given by a large team of highlyqualiﬁed specialist Subject Teachers, working with committed Pastoral Sta . The teacher-pupil ratio in the Sixth Form is generous and teaching groups are relatively small. We communicate regularly with parents through reporting systems which are thorough, concise, focused and formative. All of this is necessary to deliver the personal support that ambitious, able and motivated pupils require.

INDEPENDENCE OF MIND

UCS is renowned for the quality of its pastoral care which helps to develop well rounded, curious and conﬁdent students.

Good pastoral care is founded upon close, honest and demanding relationships between teachers and pupils. In the Sixth Form, boys and girls are allocated to smaller Tutor

Groups, looked after by experienced Form Tutors who work extremely closely with each pupil’s Deme Warden. These Sixth Form Tutor Groups are single-sex within coeducational Demes (or Houses). It is through these relationships that we are able to build the closeness, the thoroughness and the mutual respect that characterise pastoral care at UCS.

UCS HAMPSTEAD | THE SIXTH FORM

“THE SCHOOL ENCOURAGES INDEPENDENT THINKING, STIMULATING YOUNG MINDS, COMPASSION FOR OTHERS AND THE WIDER COMMUNITY. WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE SCHOOL” PARENT OF SIXTH FORM PUPIL

CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

In the Sixth Form students have the opportunity to engage in a wide array of co-curricular activities. Alongside the well-established clubs and societies, our Sixth Form pupils are encouraged to initiate and lead new, and often unique, activities. This is all part of our aim to inspire the development of well balanced, creative and independent young people.

Students regularly invite and host distinguished speakers, academics and professionals to contribute to an extensive programme of lunchtime and after-school lectures. These motivate pupils to consider a great variety of topics, ﬁelds and perspectives. Drama pupils in the ﬁrst year of the Sixth Form annually direct a production, and many Sixth Formers participate in our Music concert programmes.

From the beginning of their Sixth Form years, students are given the chance to mentor younger pupils – either in a speciﬁc subject or on a Form or individual basis. Then, in the ﬁnal week of Year 12, students organise and host a day of activities for another of our partner schools, Kentish Town Primary School.

Every student takes part in our partnership and community projects which enables them to volunteer in local organisations every Friday. Sixth Form pupils also have the opportunity to undertake voluntary work overseas during their holidays courtesy of UCS’s well-established links with Hands of Hope in Romania and El Shaddai Charitable Trust in India.

UCS HAMPSTEAD | THE SIXTH FORM

“I LOVE FRIDAY AFTERNOONS. THE VOLUNTEERING PROGRAMME IS FANTASTIC AND THE ENRICHMENT LESSONS HAVE BEEN INVALUABLE IN HELPING ME TO CHOOSE AND PREPARE FOR MY UNIVERSITY COURSE” SIXTH FORM STUDENT

UCS FACILITIES

The UCS Foundation o ers outstanding facilities for academic learning alongside co-curricular endeavour in sport, drama, music, art and more. The state-of-the art Sixth Form Centre, opened in July 2021, has also enhanced the learning and social environment on o er to UCS Sixth Formers. The space is designed to encourage collaboration, exploration and independent study.

The Senior School site combines historic and contemporary multipurpose buildings including the iconic Great Hall, an independent Art & DT block, spacious lecture theatres, purpose-built Science labs and a

Science theatre, Music rooms, and the Lund Theatre which seats up to 200 people with excellent acoustics and production facilities. Our outstanding sports facilities include a 25-metre swimming pool, fitness suite, dance and exercise studio, tennis courts and fives courts at the Sir Roger Bannister Sports Centre located on the Senior School site; while 27 acres of playing surface and a supplementary allweather surface are found close by. There, the magnificent New Pavilion provides exceptional facilities for changing and hosting sports fixtures with other schools.