St. Paul’s Girls School
Martin Phelps
5 Brampton Manor Academy
Pupils at Brampton Manor Academy in Newham, East London (one of the poorest boroughs in the country) are known to travel up to two hours each way to attend classes, so good is the college’s reputation for academic success. The 400-person sixth-form college credits its high results to its focus ‘on what really matters – the quality of teaching and learning’ as well as its ‘talented graduate teachers’. Although the school day officially starts at 8:15am, pupils are encouraged to start their academic days by studying in the library from 6am. This year, 54 of its hard-working cohort were offered Oxbridge places.
6 Hwa Chong Institution
Further down the list from Raffles Junior College is another independent Singapore school. Hwa Chong Institution comes in at a similar cost as its counterpart, with fees of £2,097.23 per year. The school traces its roots back to 1919 when the then-Chinese High School was founded to cater to the needs of primary school leavers of the Chinese community in the region. The school’s aims to produce ‘scholars and world champions’ seems to be being realised with 53 of its pupils heading to Oxbridge next year. 15 have been offered places at Oxford and 38 are being offered places at Cambridge.
7 Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College
Not to be confused with Brighton College, the independent boarding school in the centre of the city, Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College is the non-selective state school boasting 52 Oxbridge offers this year. The college has around 3,200 pupils and a reputation for ‘high calibre teachers’, with its exam results placing it in the top one per cent of schools and colleges nationwide. Alongside their obligatory curriculum, students are expected to spend an extra 13 hours a week on independent study.
8 The Perse School
The Perse School in Cambridge is an independent day school for children aged three to 18. Founded in 1615, the institution is Cambridge’s oldest surviving secondary school, only recently becoming co-educational in 2012. Its stated vision is to ‘promote academic excellence through a challenging curriculum, outstanding teaching, intellectual curiosity and scholarship’. The 26 pupils who received offers from Cambridge this year won’t have far to travel to their new halls, whilst the 22 heading to Oxford will have a whole new city to explore.
9 Eton College
This boy’s boarding school needs little introduction, with 20 of the nation’s Prime Ministers having walked its halls. This year, the famous institution achieved a total of 47 Oxbridge offers (down from 99 in 2014), with 31 pupils off to Oxford. The all-boys school was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI to provide free education for 70 poor boys, ironically fees now come in at £45,000 per year.
10 St Paul’s Girls’ School
The only all-girls school to reach the Oxbridge hit list is this west London institution. The highly-selective school for girls in Hammersmith has a reliable track record of sending dozens of pupils to top universities. With a no-nonsense attitude to learning its students are encouraged to ‘dig deeper, to explore ideas and to develop their own particular interests’ – individual research, discussion and debate are reportedly at the heart of its teaching. This year 46 girls were offered places at Oxford and Cambridge. St Paul’s takes the success rate top spot with 46.9 per cent. Girls really are the best.
