“We started Brampton nine years ago with our eldest daughter Stephanie, who after one year of sixth form at her school felt a change at this stage would be beneficial. We had heard encouraging things about Brampton College and made an appointment to see it. We immediately felt that there was something very different about Brampton – with both the structure and the learning. So Stephanie enrolled for a year’s course and ended up doing very well, achieving her first choice place at Birmingham.
Our eldest son, Saul, did not do well in his AS exams at school and his predicted grades were a big disappointment. Brampton was our first port of call. It was advised that he start his A levels again and retake his Maths GCSE, which is what he did. He settled in quickly and was given the tools he specifically needed to focus and learn. This tailored approach was especially important as he’d recently been diagnosed with mild dyslexia and dyspraxia. With these tools, the small classes, the extra support and accessibility of the teachers, he ended up getting the most amazing grades – A*A*A – which was beyond all our expectations. He was also very happy at Brampton, which is important.
It was a no-brainer when child number three, Natasha, reached her A levels to send her to Brampton. She also felt that at this juncture that she would benefit from what Brampton has to offer. She had two years here and nothing but positive things to say. We never had a moment’s doubt that she could achieve her potential there given the tools that the college provides and the motivation that she had.
Daniel, our fourth child, is the big story though. He was the black sheep when it came to education and not naturally academic. He was at a large school and he seemed to get away with whatever he wanted. They lost him there and the teachers really didn’t have a clue about what he was up to and, more importantly, what he was capable of. His GCSEs were taken through Covid-19 and his grades were given via teacher assessments, but we knew even before his results, we were going to start him at Brampton. We knew that he wouldn’t reach his potential in sixth form at his previous school.
There was some deliberation on whether he should actually start Brampton with a year of retakes before embarking on his A Levels. We both thought it would be a quantum leap of faith to go straight into A levels and we ultimately settled on the possibility it could take him 3 years to complete. Daniel was adamant he wanted to go for it and that we should have faith in him doing so. Even at the first meeting with the teachers, not long after he started at the college, we couldn’t believe they were talking about the same student! His grades still needed a lot of improvement and, unlike with our other children, we doubted he would be an A grade – let alone an A*- student.
Daniel has certainly shown this faith was well placed, but undoubtedly this could not have been achieved without the encouragement, nurturing and care that he received from Brampton and particularly all his dedicated teachers. Daniel, more than any of my children, should be your crowning glory. He could barely write or properly structure an essay when he came to you, and to end up with the kind of results that he has is quite an amazing achievement.
We speak to a lot of people who ask our advice about whether to send their children to Brampton and we always say, ‘don’t even think about it, just do it!’ We can’t believe the journey is now over, but we honestly can’t speak highly enough about our experience at Brampton. Thank you and your magnificent team once again for helping all our children flourish and reach such high academic levels.”
Mr and Mrs Elek, parents
