One of the top independent day and boarding schools in Brighton, Roedean School enjoys a rich history of educational excellence spanning over 100 years. The Brighton private school supports and nurtures girls aged 11-18 as they learn and grow in all aspects of their education.
Roedean takes special care to help girls through important times of transition, such as when Year 11 students enter Year 12 for their Sixth Form studies. The School makes this process as smooth as possible to ensure continuity between Year 11 and 12, even as girls narrow down their areas of study in preparation for thriving careers.
Here’s how Roedean helps shape future leaders through its Sixth Form experience, which encourages both academic excellence and personal growth.
Roedean School’s Legacy of Excellence
Roedean School has a longstanding commitment to academic excellence and character development. Penelope, Dorothy, and Millicent Lawrence founded the day and boarding school in Brighton in 1885. The sisters’ founding vision was to provide “a thorough physical, intellectual, and moral” education that:
● Provides a strong academic foundation.
● Fosters independence of character and thought.
● Cultivates a strong sense of personal and moral values.
● Builds skills and confidence for university and careers.
● Develops an appreciation of the arts, culture, and sport.
● Encourages active, healthy living.
Since the Lawrence sisters founded Roedean, several prominent individuals have graduated from the School. Notable alumni of the Brighton private school include:
● Caro Newling, a theatrical producer who has worked on West End and Broadway productions like Cabaret.
● Honeysuckle and Perdita Weeks, successful actresses who have appeared in TV shows like The Tudors and Penny Dreadful.
● Enid Marx, an influential artist who designed seating fabric and posters for the London Underground.
The Transition to Year 12: What Happens at Roedean School
Roedean School ensures the transition from Year 11 to Year 12 is a supportive, smooth, and enjoyable experience for students.
Roedean Sixth Form offers a bespoke curriculum, allowing each student to prepare for her desired career path. There are also many opportunities for personal growth, such as Roedean’s leadership, extra-curricular, and academic enrichment opportunities.
At Sixth Form level, girls enjoy greater academic and personal freedom within a happy, caring environment. This approach ensures students have the space and support to develop as young adults.
In particular, the Brighton private school focuses on holistic development, helping girls balance academic pursuits with socialising and co-curricular activities. This holistic focus sees Roedean Sixth Formers grow into intellectually curious, socially aware, passionate, creative, resilient, and confident young women.
Fostering Leadership Skills at Roedean School
Roedean students have plenty of opportunities to gain valuable leadership experience during Sixth Form. In Year 12, students can become house prefects or peer listeners and sit on the Roedean Mission Committee or the School Council.
Girls can also direct house plays or house music competitions, run activities in younger tutorial groups, deliver lectures, and lead in Chapel or assemblies. Many Roedean Sixth Form students also run societies for the community at the Brighton private school.
These opportunities allow students to take greater responsibility for life at the day and boarding school in Brighton and thus develop teamwork and leadership skills.
Supporting Prefects and Head Girls
At the end of Year 12, Roedean offers girls the highest available student leadership positions. The School appoints its prefect team and head girls through a process involving a student election.
Roedean supports prefects and head girls with external leadership training, which covers good leadership fundamentals. The training also teaches teamwork, communication, presentation, and project management skills.
Each year, Roedean pairs Sixth Form students with girls who are about to join Year 12. Through these partnerships, Sixth Form students offer incoming Sixth Formers guidance, support, and friendship.
Over the years, numerous young women have benefited from Roedean’s leadership programmes. One such Sixth Form student, Sylva, joined the Brighton private school in Year 7. Diving into her academic studies, she also took part in many other activities, like playing netball for the School.
In 2023, Sylva achieved the A Level grades necessary to study medicine at the University of Leeds. She felt “happy, surprised, elated, shocked, lucky,” and “so grateful” to achieve such excellent results.
Roedean’s Director of Sixth Form
Experienced faculty members play a crucial role in mentoring these future leaders. Carmel Carragher, the Director of Sixth Form, has worked with Year 12-13 students for more than 20 years. She believes each Sixth Form student can find success with the right encouragement and guidance.
“Allowing our Sixth Form students to make informed choices and to feel valued as young adults sets the scene for them to thrive in their A Level studies,” Carragher says. Supporting students as individuals ensures Sixth Form girls “enjoy their learning journey and personal development in the final phase of the school life.”
Academic Excellence at Roedean School
The pursuit of academic excellence is a priority at Roedean Sixth Form. The Brighton private school believes a rigorous academic experience can provide students with a strong foundation for their future and further prepare girls for leadership roles.
Sixth Form Subjects and Pathways
Roedean offers 23 A Level subjects for students to choose from when building their learning pathways. Each pathway is bespoke and complements each student’s A Level choices. The pathways are:
● Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Subjects in this pathway include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics.
● Business, Economics, and Enterprise. Subjects in this pathway include Business and Economics.
● Society. Subjects in this pathway include History, English, and Modern Foreign Languages.
● Creative and Performing Arts. Subjects in this pathway include Art, Music, and Photography.
The Sixth Form learning environment encourages students to aim high and take academic risks within a positive, collaborative setting. Class sizes are small (often 15 students at most), so the day and boarding school in Brighton guarantees individual support for every girl.
Academic Enrichment at the Brighton Private School
Alongside their A Level studies, Roedean Sixth Formers can undertake several other offerings to spark their academic curiosity. These offerings include the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), the Academic Mentoring Project, and the Top University Programme.
All Year 12 students get the opportunity to undertake an EPQ in addition to their A Level subjects. The course allows students to explore a self-chosen area of interest in a self-study project. It’s worth up to 28 UCAS points and can strengthen students’ university applications. Many universities look favourably at students who take their academic interests further than the subjects they typically learn about in the classroom.
The Academic Mentoring Project involves thorough research into a topic of the student’s choice. In addition, an external specialist helps students develop their presentation skills.
Meanwhile, students who attend the Top University Programme:
● Enrich their academic learning.
● Hone their critical thinking skills.
● Gain advice on the best university interview techniques.
● Access national competitions and challenges.
● Compile a portfolio of extended research and reading, one-to-one Oxbridge session notes, and more.
Each year, Roedean Sixth Form students attain impressive academic results. Amongst the girls to achieve top A Level results in 2023 are Harmony, Ellen, and Keira.
Harmony joined Roedean Sixth Form as a Springboard Scholar from London. Her strong grades in Economics, Psychology, and Spanish have enabled her to access a Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship in Technology at the London offices of investment banking company UBS. Harmony will work five days a week in London and spend 20% of her time on academic study, which will result in an Exeter University degree.
Ellen achieved two A* grades and two A grades in French, History, Politics, and Philosophy and Ethics. She also received an A for her EPQ. These results enabled Ellen to attend St Anne’s College, Oxford, to read Hebrew Studies. Ellen joined Roedean on the One-Year GCSE course, a fast-track programme for students joining in Year 11.
A student of the boarding school in Brighton for seven years, Keira achieved three A* grades in Art, Politics, and Spanish. She is now studying Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Birmingham.
Personal Growth at a Top Day and Boarding School in Brighton
Roedean School places a special emphasis on character development and personal growth during the transition from Year 11 to Year 12. Sixth Form students spend their days at the Brighton private school studying, socialising with friends, and getting active. Girls also embrace numerous leadership, charity work, and volunteering opportunities.
Roedean offers over 150 co-curricular activities, including Med-Soc, Amnesty International, and the LGBTQ+ Society. The School encourages Sixth Formers to take part in varied activities to pursue their passions and develop into well-rounded individuals.
One of the leading boarding schools in Brighton, Roedean also offers full, weekly, and flexi-boarding options for Sixth Form students. All Sixth Form boarders have their own study bedroom and can work in the sixth form centre or house snugs. Being a Sixth Form boarder helps girls maintain a balanced academic and social life.
Roedean’s Focus on Holistic Growth Nurtures Future Industry Leaders
Each Sixth Former can realise her vision of who she wants to be thanks to the many diverse opportunities for character development at Roedean. Emphasising the Sixth Form’s holistic personal growth approach, many Roedean alumni have become influential leaders in their respective fields.
For instance, Beatrix Ong is a luxury fashion designer based in London. Ong received an MBE in 2011 in recognition of her services to British fashion.
Marisa Abela is another notable Roedean alumni, and she’s making waves in the acting world. Since performing in Roedean productions, Abela will now play Amy Winehouse in the upcoming Back to Black biopic film about the singer’s life. She also appeared in the 2023 Barbie film starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
Top Results for Roedean Sixth Form’s 2023 Cohort
Roedean’s Year 13 cohort achieved remarkable A Level results in 2023. 28.2% of all grades were A* and 55.5% were A*-A. 10% of the cohort achieved straight A* grades, with 29 top grades between them. Nearly one-third of Year 13 students achieved all A* and A grades.
These students have now left the day and boarding school in Brighton to study at top universities like University College London, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Oxford.
The class of 2023 undoubtedly did well academically. However, the Sixth Formers also threw themselves into many other areas of school life, making a difference in the Roedean community and beyond.
For example, Gabby, who achieved A*-A grades in History, Politics, Spanish, and her EPQ, loved taking part in drama at Roedean. Meanwhile, Sarah, one of Roedean’s head girls in 2023, sang in the choir and was a vital part of the School’s Amnesty International work.
Sabina, who achieved two A* grades and an A in Maths, Physics, and Chemistry, joined Roedean’s Project 125 Moldova group after completing her exams and returning to her home country. She helped teach English to Ukrainian refugees and underprivileged Moldovan children for a week.
Sabina now volunteers with the same non-governmental organisation Roedean worked with for this project. At the same time, she is reading Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems in Austria.
From academic studies to co-curricular endeavours and personal enrichment, Roedean Sixth Form equips students with skills and values that extend into their future lives and careers.
Learn more about Roedean Sixth Form.
Roedean School is a dynamic independent day and boarding school in Brighton that has doubled its student numbers since 2013. Attracting girls from all over the world, Roedean puts its students first and fosters an inclusive, nurturing community where they can achieve their potential. The Brighton private school incorporates 6 lessons and 2 activity slots into each weekday, so girls can make the most of the 130 co-curricular activities on offer.
