Sixth Form

What can you expect from life in the College Class at Bootham?

College is the name we give to the Sixth Form at Bootham; College One is the first year, College Two the second and final year.

First and foremost the College Class is ideal preparation for your life at university. You’ve moved on from GCSEs to learning how to develop your analytical and research skills and how to take responsibility for your own learning.

Bootham is a community where staff and students know each other well. The style is not as formal as you may find in other establishments but it is none-the-less extremely effective. The expectation is of good academic results coupled with many opportunities for personal development through the wider curriculum, be it music, sport, drama or outdoor pursuits.

There are over 150 students in the College Class and all are part of the wider school community.

How the Quaker environment works for you

The majority of teachers and students are not themselves Quakers but the atmosphere clearly reflects Quaker attitudes of acceptance and encouragement.

This is especially so in the area of tutor-student relationships. Small groups make it possible to care for the needs of each student. Special care is taken in placing students with a tutor. He or she will have pastoral responsibility for you, monitor academic progress and sort out difficulties should any arise.

Personal tutors also help guide you through applications for university, the next stage of your life.

Study Facilities

You will have your own study which is shared with a number of other students. Students who share often take different subjects and so use the study at different times. You may also wish to use the Common rooms where snacks and drinks are provided every day. The library and IT facilities are also available.

The wider curriculum

Information Technology

The Bootham ICT department makes the latest equipment and facilities available to all students, including:

• a filtered campus-wide 100mbps wireless and wired network with access to the Internet
• two dedicated suites of computers, together with smaller computer clusters in departments and in the boarding houses
• a school library with an open access resource of 22 laptops available for short term loan

• dedicated professional quality colour laser printers, scanners and a large format photoprinter which can reproduce up to 42” poster size high resolution images
• Students who have their own laptops are able to connect to the wireless network both in and out of lessons

In addition, most departments have some form of specialist IT equipment or dedicated software, including interactive boards and projection facilities which are available throughout the teaching areas of the school. The ICT Support team are available during working hours to provide on the spot help and advice.

Click here to download the College Curriculum Booklet

University and Career Guidance

As you would expect, Bootham School has a long tradition of successfully seeing students off for the next stage in their young lives. It gives us enormous pleasure to know our students have been expertly prepared and will go on to pastures new filled with confidence, much as past pupils followed the CUBS (Cambridge University Bootham Society) path in past decades.

Bridging the gap between Bootham School and the world

Aside from our excellent teaching staff and wonderful facilities, the school has a number of other ways to help students bridge the gap between us and the waiting world:

• students are encouraged to research career options
• they should take advantage of the expert guidance on offer from careers staff
• students are encouraged to try work placements which can give them valuable experience
• parents and pupils should attend a briefing on Higher Education and the challenges ahead. Click here to see the presentation about Introduction to Higher Education given to College One students and parents by ISCO in April 2013.
• coaching advice is available prior to interviews
• we recommend drawing up draft UCAS applications and working with tutors to get your message across
• students can use ISCO (Independent Schools’ Careers Organisation) membership to take tests which help determine academic potential and suggest possible careers. 
• dedicated advice will be available for any student who hasn’t found a university place by the time the exam results are published