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Our view of Ardingly College
There’s a real magic to this creative,
all-through school in rural West Sussex where an idyllic setting is matched by fabulous pastoral care and excellent academics. With the nursery and prep on the same site, Ardingly College offers a compelling one-stop education from age three to 18 with a real focus all the way through on equipping pupils with skills for now and for life.
Where is Ardingly College?
The school sits in the sleepy village of Ardingly off an unassuming country lane that gives no hint of the wow factor awaiting you when you pass through the gates. Sports fields stretch as far as the eye can see, with stately red-brick buildings overlooking the 240 acres and the uninterrupted West Sussex countryside beyond. Ardingly College and the prep buildings sit around a quad, while the pre-prep complex, The Farmhouse, is located 200 metres away on the site of a former working farm where all the original buildings have been refurbished. The two girls’ and two boys’ boarding houses, and sixth-form house are all centrally located on the campus.
The school is very accessible – less than 40 minutes by train from London, 12 minutes from Brighton and 10 minutes from Gatwick. The school runs a number of bus routes taking in Hove, Oxted, Lewes and Tunbridge Wells among other places.
School headmaster
A seasoned head, Ben Figgis has led Ardingly College for 10 years and has never stopped innovating, from ensuring co-ed is on point to building on his vision for the school’s World Ready Programme which seeks to lift pupils’ horizons and help them become good global citizens of the future. The trusting environment he’s helped nurture is very special. He tells us, ‘There’s a stick of rock through the school which is not for touching – this is the warmth, friendliness and family feel.’ And it feels like it’s this close community that enables the school to honour traditions while always looking forward to how they can do things even better.
Admissions process
The main entry points are Year 7 and Year 9, with most international boarders coming for
GCSE years and sixth form. There are some assessments: ‘We want to give our pupils a breadth and balance,’ says Mr Figgis.
Academics and destinations
At the heart of the academic curriculum sits the school’s values-driven World Ready programme, which includes weekly sessions to develop workplace skills such as collaboration and classes where pupils learn about society and difference, among other things. ‘It’s about prepping for future life,’ says Mr Figgis. From Year 7, pupils are streamed in maths, science and some languages, with mixed-ability classes for all the other subjects, and most work is carried out on devices rather than paper.
Results are impressive: over the past few years,
A-level performance has been the best since records began at the college – and the broad range of
IB (which is popular among European students), A-level and BTec courses (in psychology, business and sport) on offer reflects the spectrum of academic ability of the pupils. At the top end, STEAM subjects are very popular and the science block and D&T workshops are state-of-the-art.
Nearly all pupils leave for university, with around six a year gaining an Oxbridge place. Edinburgh, Bristol, Bath and Exeter are all very popular, and a dozen or so head off to international universities,
mainly US ones.
Co-curricular at Ardingly College
Sports facilities are very good indeed, with countless playing fields, two sports halls, a swimming pool, tennis courts and Astro pitches. Pupils play hockey, netball, football, cricket, basketball, athletics and do swimming all year round. There are also elite sports programmes which talented pupils are invited to join.
Art is very strong, with students specifically joining the school to take the subject at A-level. ‘We let them spread their wings and find themselves,’ the head of art tells us. Pupils can do fine art, painting, photography, 3D art, fashion, design… the list goes on. Lots of leavers head off for foundation courses at Central Saint Martins and Brighton, or go on to do architecture, history of art and fine art degrees.
School productions are imaginative – pupils recently put on a ghostly play in the crypt – and ambitious. Next year will see them stage Les Misérables and recent shows include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and High School Musical.
Clubs are plentiful and wide-ranging, from rambling and dog walking to solar car SUV building. The big house event of the year is the Steepo, a 4km cross-country race which is energetically prepared for and more competitive than sports day.
Boarding at Ardingly College
Pupils can pick between full, weekly and flexi boarding, which sees them stay in school for three nights a week. All the boarding houses are within five minutes’ walk from the main school building and are modern, light and spacious. The co-ed upper-sixth house Godwin Hall is for day pupils and boarders alike with a massive basement complete with common rooms, pool tables and a kitchen where the whole year can mix. Weekly and flexi boarding are mainly taken up by the UK-based pupils, while international students make up the main cohort of full boarders. There’s always a healthy contingent of pupils staying in at weekends, when a packed schedule of socials and outings is laid on.
Ardingly College school community
A health and wellbeing hub is open 24/7 with a mental health nurse and counsellor on hand, and beds for any child who’s unwell. At the back is a peaceful new garden with a wildflower area and lots of spaces to sit. Tutors are the first port of call if a pupil needs to talk to someone, followed by the head. There are also student health and wellbeing reps on the 100-strong student council, as well as diversity, equality and inclusion reps, boarding reps and a food council. ‘The pupil voice is heard,’ one Year 9 told us.
Pupils get involved in outreach work with two service trips a year, one to Kenya to help in a local school and one to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands to help with conservation in the rainforest. Students fund-raise themselves for the trips, as well as spearheading their own ideas – one current Year 12 pupil has been helping to convert a double-decker bus into a practical science lab with the aim of delivering science sessions to local primary schools.
And finally....
This is a school that believes and invests in its pupils, doing everything for them to nurture them through their education, as well as prepare them for life beyond school. Values are strong as is the community, which one Year 11 pupil described as great, continuing, ‘I am genuinely really happy here.’ What more could you ask for?