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Sevenoaks School

School rating 5 / 5 by

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks Kent TN13 1HU United Kingdom
Boarding
4th to 12th
Day
4th to 12th
Gender
Coed

Academic

Sevenoaks School review by .

Sevenoaks School has a huge variety of subjects that it offers. For the International Baccalaureate it offers for example Classics and World Religions, as well as mother-tongue Chinese, which cannot be offered by most other schools due to the lack of teachers. The teachers themselves mostly studied in Oxford or Cambridge and have great teaching experience, as well as social skills. The school has a great amount of equipment to support their students in the learning process, so that experiments in the sciences can be done thoroughly and often. For languages regular trips to the countries as well as cinema and theatre trips are offered. The art and drama department has invested a lot of money into its facilities in the past years, thus art and drama and performance students have a great basis for their work. Sevenoaks School is a very competitive school, but the student body is friendly, as many people are boarding and thus their friends in the school have become their 'families'. The student body is as competitive as one wants to make it. Most students academic ability is excellent and there are always some competitive students, but the academic atmosphere is mostly friendly and collegial. The school demands a lot of its students. Essay writing for example is a skill that is quickly learned, so is the skill of working efficiently. The school encourages the use of computers and special programmes to do calculations and write up scientific experiments. Those skill in my opinion are ver important when going on to university. The teachers managed to be part of a discussion group during lessons while still having the students' respect. Classes are mostly interactive, giving the students the opportunity to question concepts, bring in own ideas and listen to other students' opinions. The courses are very structured and the time schedule was tight and by giving the students an awareness of that, the pace was well chosen. The class sizes were rather small fluctuating between about 8 to 14 people, with some courses consisting of 1 person doing them, thus bringing the class size down to 1 person only. The campus library and computer rooms on the campus as well as prescription to many magazines such as the new scientist, the economist and the times made needed information needed very accessible. The work load given was intended to take up 2 hours of the free time every day. The amount differed though, with some days being more or less free and others being a bit busier.

College Counseling

One of the school's greatest achievement is to send many students to prestigious universities, such....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

I joined the school in sixth form and I had to do a written test....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

I lived in boarding house which had a high quality standard, offering about one toilet and one shower for 5 people, full furnished living rooms and kitchens. The school's dining hall offered a great variety of food, offering up to 5 different options for primary meals. The food quality was very satisfying, having fresh salads, soups and vegetarian options if needed. The school has its own sport centre, a theatre building, a music building and its own library. The school was located in a town with no noticeable crime, giving a feeling of great safety. The school regularly offers social....

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