Sixth Form is a time of transition from GCSEs to adult life, and provides exciting opportunities for focussed learning and personal development.
The Girls' Division Sixth Form experience encompasses academic, extra-curricular and social activities. Our aim is twofold: to help you achieve the best possible academic qualifications whilst giving you every opportunity to develop as a person.
In short, we aim to give you the best possible preparation for the future.
The range of subjects on offer is vast, enabling students to choose from a hugely diverse range of combinations. Class sizes are small and students are taught by subject specialists. Sixth Form students here also benefit from a joint Sixth Form Centre (the Riley Centre) whilst retaining single-sex lessons, thus enjoying the best of both worlds.
In addition to the focus on academic development, the variety of extra-curricular activities on offer through our Horizons Programme is exceptional. Leadership opportunities are a particular feature of Sixth Form life and students are also supported in a range of volunteering activities. Pastoral care is second to none, as is our Futures guidance, and students are supported with the challenges of Sixth Form life and with preparing for applications and interviews which will determine their next steps after A Level with skill and expertise.
You will find this a warm and friendly place and you will quickly settle into the Sixth Form. Our students are a lively and diverse group of people, and drawn from a wide range of backgrounds. Each year the vast majority of pupils in Year 11 of the Girls' Division move into the Sixth Form, and we also welcome around twenty new students from other schools, bringing new perspectives and a particular vibrancy into the Sixth Form group.
Regardless of what your chosen path after A Levels will be — whether it be further study at University or elsewhere, a Degree Apprenticeship, the world of work or a Gap Year — the skills you acquire during your time at Bolton School will equip you for the next step.
Our experience, knowledge and targeted guidance enables us to provide our students with the best possible preparation for the challenges that lie ahead. We are certain that these will be two of the most important and memorable years of your life, and we would be delighted if you would choose to spend them here.
Our Sixth Form Structure
The Girls' Division's Sixth Form prepares young women to make a difference for good in the world. In depth expert teaching, with a generous allocation of time, allows not only for comprehensive knowledge of the examination specification and exam technique but also to create the necessary interest and intellectual curiosity about the subject itself, to underpin choices for further study and future careers.
Students generally select four subjects at the start of A Level study in Year 12. Most students will move to focus on three of these subjects during the first year of A level study. Each year, a small number of students choose to undertake four full A Levels, notably those who wish to study Further Mathematics. A few subjects offer the AS Level qualification.
Each subject is studied for 11 periods each fortnight, with each period lasting 50 minutes. Subject groups are usually no larger than 16, with most groups being much smaller.
Every student’s weekly timetable includes ‘free periods’, for independent study and leisure time.
Further time each week is dedicated to personal development, in a bespoke Horizons Programme tailored by and for each student.
The Sixth Form Curriculum
After taking GCSE examinations at the end of Year 11, most Bolton School students move up to the Sixth Form for a two-year A Level course. Each year our Sixth Form also welcomes about 20 new students from other schools. There is a good atmosphere in the Sixth Form and throughout the whole of the School and new students are welcomed and find themselves quickly settling in.
We offer a wide range of A Level courses and every effort is made to cater for individual subject selections, provided that these are sensible, and clearly lead somewhere worthwhile. Our aim is to design a programme which offers the greatest flexibility and opportunity for individual success. On occasion, subjects are taught jointly with pupils from the Boys' Division to facilitate wider subject choice.
Learn More About our A Level Courses
The Horizons Programme
Alongside studying your A level courses, the Horizons Programme helps you to develop the character and skills you will need for adult life, preparing you for your future.
This programme can include additional academic study, for example the EPQ that promotes independent research and working, as well as well-chosen online courses and other certificated courses that promote individual interests and deepen studies.
It also includes a whole variety of activities and experiences to develop life skills. We know that success in future life hinges on how you interact with others as well as academic outcomes and we aim to explicitly provide the opportunity to develop these, though leadership, activity, discussion and input from external agencies.
The Horizons Programme also provides the space and resource for in depth work on Future plans: whether those be for Higher Education in the UK or abroad, degree apprenticeships or the world of work. We provide detailed preparation for assessment tests and processes, as well as advice based on many years' experience supporting university applications and interviews.
Learn More About the Horizons Programme
The Riley Centre
Sixth Form girls share the Riley Sixth Form Centre with Sixth Form students from the Boys' Division, where there is a shared common room and dining area as well as joint study areas. It is a warm and welcoming place equipped with the very latest technological features. Wireless internet and network access is freely available. The common room is the focal point for social activity, and the atmosphere is good humoured and dynamic. It is an ideal space for students to relax, read or play music.
The Sixth Form is a time when you will deepen existing friendships and forge new relationships to sustain you for the rest of your life.
Our Alumni Network
Alumni Support — from the School’s network of 11,000 Old Girls and Old Boys — is plentiful in the Sixth Form.
Our Alumni live and work across the globe, and are keen to help current pupils. Girls take part in the Year 12 Entrepreneurship Scheme and International Women’s Day Sixth Form speed mentoring sessions, and can have 1-2-1 conversations with Alumni offering their advice for the future.
At the end of Year 13, pupils automatically become members of the Bolton School Alumni Network, and through this they are able to connect with hundreds of former Bolton School pupils in their chosen field, thus providing them with unparalleled networking and career opportunities.
For young Old Girls, the Steps to Success mentoring scheme offers access to a wealth of advice, knowledge and experience from Old Girl mentors who have walked the path ahead of them.
