Abbots Bromley School

[Dancergirl]

Does anyone have any personal experience of this school? Dd is considering a Sixth Form boarding place.

No personal experience other than a girl several years older than dd went there.

My dd is thinking of applying.

DD has a few friends there. It seems to be split 50/50 with their parents. At least 4 girls are heading to Denstone for 6th form but we know 3 or 4 who are going to apply to Abbotts Bromley for 6th form.

Its very sporty but not very academic when compared with other similar schools. I quite like it being multinational, there are children from countries all over the world.

We have had a look and visited but DD prefers Tettenhall while DS prefers Repton but thats a different thread.

For us it will probably be a choice between Nuls, SOT 6th Form College, Hammond, Tring or Abbots Bromley (but we can't afford Tring without a whacking great scholarship which are rare)

odins what do you mean by not very academic? I thought their exams results seemed quite good...?

The parents I know who chose AB have all said in one way or another that they didn't send their DD's there for the academic achievement, it was the all round feel of the place that they liked.

If you have narrowed it down because it offers the all round education with wonderful sports provision (up to professional levels) and a good academic level (still above national average for A Level results) of achievement then its the right school for you. If you have an academic child who just enjoys sports but doesn't want to be a professional dancer/equestrian etc then you may find another school offers a different experience.

Heres the A Level results for last year : www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/124470?tab=ks5-16-to-18

The average grade is a C+ at Abbots Bromley.

If you compare this with Repton School their average A Level grade was a B+. www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/113009?tab=ks5-16-to-18

Abbots Bromley is a good school but as with every school they all offer something completely different. Go and have a look round if you can and get a feel of the place. Its wonderfully multicultural and they have a lot to offer but their focus isn't on academic achievement. Its the whole person. (I got that from their website )

Is that partly because the performing arts students do A levels alongside the Btec diploma?

Both myself & dancergirl have aspiring professional dancer dd's.

It might be. They do academic exams alongside Dance/Performing Arts so less focus on academics but lots of input on dance/drama/music.

They put on some fabulous shows in the local community (Its my nearest village).

If you have aspiring Dancers then that's the ideal place. It wasn't clear that you weren't looking for academic achievement. Most queries are about the A Levels etc

Our local 6th form college is average C- but has quite a minus progress score.

Local private school is B but you'd expect that as it is selective (dd turned a place down there aged 11 to go to full time dance school)

Yes, dd is a dancer and we are looking at a dance place. So 3 A Levels plus the BTEC in Dance. BUT we (and dd) also want a good academic standard so options are kept open.

So I'm saying the academic side of things is very important to us as well.

Same here.