Transforming student grades is down to close monitoring says London’s top Independent Sixth Form College
Students at Brampton College received fantastic A level results once again yesterday with the vast majority receiving a place at their preferred university choice. This includes a number of re-sit students. Brampton College is the number one Sixth Form College in London – for the 15th year running – and 4th in the country (The Department for Education, 2014). 70% of their students receive their first choice university with the vast majority progressing to Russell Group Universities.
Brampton attributes their examination success – particularly evident with their re-sit students – to its ongoing monitoring of students and a ‘one-to-one’ help that ensures that individual needs are attended to. Weekly or fortnightly tests are an integral feature of all courses, and critical for helping identify areas of weakness. Weekly tutorials in most subjects offer an opportunity for students to deal with any individual problems, to improve understanding and build confidence in dealing with examination questions.
Behind the scenes, Heads of Department closely supervise the progress of students using information such as the weekly test and homework marks, mock exams and modular exam results. In addition, Personal Tutors receive a detailed fortnightly record of their tutees’ performance, which they discuss with them in their regular meeting. The Principal and Vice Principals also meet every fortnight to discuss student performance.
Bernard Canetti comments “We are particularly concerned with monitoring the individual progress of all students in the College. Our unique programme allows us to intervene at an early stage if a student is making insufficient progress towards achieving their aims. Over the years we’ve seen hundreds of students transform their prospects and sense of confidence – particularly after a re-sit course or transferring to Brampton after their first year of A levels at another school. This year, for example, Matan Hamburger transferred to Brampton, retook his Mathematics and achieved A*A*A*A* – an outstanding outcome. Thomas Bauer came to us with grades of CCC and has achieved A*A*A and a place at Nottingham University to read Economics.”
Saul Elek, who achieved A*A*A says “I joined Brampton having not worked to my best and underachieved massively, even if I enjoyed my previous schooling a lot. Brampton was different. Brampton brought the best out of me and got me accustomed for the hard challenges of A levels when I joined. By getting on top of my work it meant I could be more organised and when exam period arrived, I was more prepared for exams than I had ever been. It’s different to other schools and they get excellent results. I don’t think I would have been able to get to where am I am now without Brampton pushing me.”
Meera Mawkin, a student at Brampton who obtained a place at Kings College London, comments “Brampton tests their students on a regular basis. This meant that at the end of the year, when I went on study leave, I was already 60% ready for my exams. I already had my revision notes, I was already familiar with the types of questions they would ask me and, I had already clarified any points I was struggling on with my teachers. The use of fortnightly records means that teachers are very good at recognising when a student is struggling with work load – they can act on any ‘slip in grades’ instantly.”
