Academic Life

Public examinations are important. Achieving good grades increases a boy’s options in life, most immediately with regard to university entrance, so we do all we can to help Harrovians perform to their potential. Year on year, they continue to secure excellent results.

In 2014, in light of major examination reforms that saw national deflation in the A*/A and B grade brackets, the number of A* grades at A-Level at Harrow continued on its upward trajectory, with a rate of nearly 26%. 56% of the examinations taken in English Literature were of A* standard, while six Modern Foreign Language subjects saw 100% attainment of A*/A grades. This includes French, which bucked the national trend of deflation year on year. At (I)GCSE, 85.2% of all examinations taken were awarded A* or A grades. The A* rate of the last two years has been record-breaking, at 56% in 2014. 37 boys achieved 10 A* grades, joining the ranks of Honorary Academic Scholars. Two Harrovians secured 13 A* grades and one, 15. There was a strong performance in the core subjects of Mathematics (92% A*/A) and English (84% A*/A). Three Modern Foreign Language subjects saw 100% attainment of A*/A grades.

But public examinations are not the whole story. Those achievements provide just one dimension of academic life. Scholarship, unlike examination syllabuses, is limitless. This is a school where learning for its own sake motivates us all, Beaks and boys. We balance the rigour of carefully crafted examination preparation with the development of research skills and the ability to debate, communicate confidently, solve problems and think both critically and creatively. We do this because we believe these skills have inherent, lifelong value. It is no coincidence, also, that universities are always on the lookout for candidates who know how to learn and who wish to be further stretched and challenged.

Our coherent and broad curriculum ensures that all boys perform well in their (I)GCSEs and A-level public examinations, thereby increasing their academic and career opportunities. Our challenging super-curriculum offers a range of scholarly activities that complement and bolster the traditional syllabus. This includes our unique Electives programme, a range of broad-based, university-style classes that go outside and beyond A-level study, and our roster of societies and lectures that take advantage of our full-boarding schedule and close proximity to London.

The academic curriculum for the first year, which we call the Shell, is a foundation course in which boys have a choice of languages. In the Remove and Fifth Form, boys study ten subjects to (I)GCSE, including the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Sciences and a Modern Foreign Language. All boys are expected to take at least four subjects to AS-level and three or four to A-level, specialising in subjects that will prepare them for their desired university course. Alongside the Electives programme, we offer Sixth Formers Critical Thinking and an Extended Project Qualification.

We attract some of the very best teachers in the profession, all of whom love their subject and pass this on to the boys. Relatively small division sizes enable Beaks to focus on individuals to greater effect; in the Lower School a boy might expect to find himself in a group of about 15; in the Upper School, A-level divisions rarely exceed ten and are often much smaller.

We test all boys on arrival at Harrow to assess their abilities and learning needs. We have a team of professionals in the Learning Support Department, including EAL specialists, and we ensure that we meet the learning needs of each individual boy. In addition to his House Master and academic Beaks, each boy also has a Tutor that helps to guide him. Parents meetings are held for each year group every year, and we write reports at half term and the end of each term.

The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University or simply Oxford) is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. While having no known date of foundation, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096,[1] making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the world's second-oldest surviving university.[1][7] It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.[1] After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled northeast to Cambridge, where they established what became the University of Cambridge.[8] The two "ancient universities" are frequently jointly referred to as "Oxbridge".

The University is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges and a full range of academic departments which are organised into four Divisions.[9] All the colleges are self-governing institutions as part of the University, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities.[10] Being a city university, it does not have a main campus; instead, all the buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the metropolitan centre.

Most undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organised around weekly tutorials at the self-governing colleges and halls, supported by classes, lectures and laboratory work provided by university faculties and departments. Oxford is the home of several notable scholarships, including the Clarendon Scholarship which was launched in 2001[11] and the Rhodes Scholarship which has brought graduate students to read at the university for more than a century.[12] Oxford operates the largest university press in the world[13] and the largest academic library system in the United Kingdom.[14]

Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 27 Nobel laureates (58 total affiliations), 26 British Prime Ministers (most recently David Cameron) and many foreign heads of state.[15]

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16