Sidcot School Review
Sidcot School is a non-selective co-ed day and boarding Quaker all-through school for ages three to 18 years. As well as offering an education based on Quaker values, Sidcot is one of only a few schools in the UK to offer a choice of three pathways at sixth form (A Levels, IB and BTEC). It also has an outstanding equestrian centre.
Located within easy reach of Bath and Bristol, Sidcot’s beautiful 160-acre countryside campus is home to over 500 students, including around 160 international students from 30 countries worldwide. Describing itself as international boarding school at heart” (around 25% come from overseas) Sidcot has the experience, resources and course offerings to make international students feel supported and welcome (even part of the school website is translated into over 20 different languages).
Founded in 1699, Sidcot is one of just seven Quaker schools in England (others include Ackworth, Bootham, Leighton Park, and Mount School York) and it continues to build its forward-thinking approach to education on Quaker values. Quaker practices are embedded within school life without feeling too overbearing; there are Meetings for Worship, student leaders are appointed as Elders, and teaching is steered by the ideals of Quakerism. It does welcome students of all faiths and none, though.
When the school talks about ‘What Matters’ it focuses on the personal qualities it believes make a great learners. So, while it is justifiably proud of its academic excellence, it is all driven by the school’s focus on being curious, living life to the full, making a difference, valuing others, being themselves, and surprising themselves. It feeds into the school’s motto ‘Live Adventurously’ which is clearly part of its DNA; this is a school where building confidence and resilience is a priority and where children are challenged far from beyond their textbooks, whether tackling the school’s impressive climbing wall or building a den.
As much as Sidcot wants its students to achieve academically, it wants them to be happy. Sicdcot has a fairly small community of students (about 350 in the Senior School and 150 in the Junior School), who are not only ‘well-known’ by their teachers but are given the support and space to be mentored, supported and listened to; the Wellbeing Hub is a popular place where students can socialise, take part in activities or simply “enjoy a hot chocolate in a safe and welcoming space”.
It’s also a very eco-friendly school – you’ll find car charging points, solar panels and even a windmill around the campus – and all students are encouraged to take part in green initiatives; day students can use the school minibus service to help reduce the number of cars too.
Headmaster Iain Kilpatrick comes from a banking background but retrained as a teacher. He worked at Strathallan School and Beaconhurst prior to his appointment at Sidcot in 2012. He’s a popular head with a strong presence in the school; he likes to teach an English lesson, walk the grounds, and he meets all students applying to the senior school to “discuss their motivation for applying, their subject interests and what they can bring to the school”. He says he is most proud of Sidcot students’ “boundless energy and a huge capacity for helping others”.
The curriculum
Far from being a pressurised exam factory, Sidcot is a school where children learn within a more relaxed and nurturing learning environment that focuses on preparing them for life rather than exams. There are no SATs tests in the junior school with the school saying that “we’ve long held the view that putting children through the stress of SATs exams is not an effective way of helping them grow and learn as people”.
As Sidcot says, “We don’t cram children at Sidcot, because we don’t have to”. Instead, the school has established very clear academic objectives in its own ‘Sidcot Learning Wheel’, which guides teachers towards focusing on developing internationally minded’, ‘proactive’, and ‘resilient’ learners. It’s a curriculum that feels very well-rounded and offers students plenty of choice, particularly in the sixth form when students choose between A Levels, the IB Diploma Programme or BTEC.
In the Junior School, Sidcot has developed an enriched curriculum that includes specialist teaching for music and languages (French, German and Spanish), as well as forest school, peace and global studies, art and sport. Learning in the Senior School prepares students for GCSEs, and the choice of subjects here is broad and balanced enough for students whether they are academic, creative, sporty, or an all-rounder; the school also offers the option of studying a BTEC in Sport. There’s also the option of a one-year GCSE course in Year 11 for international students who want to move onto the sixth form at Sidcot.
A Level students study a narrower range of subjects and can choose to specialise in the sciences, languages, humanities or the arts (and there’s a wide choice of subjects here). By comparison, IBDP students’ study six separate subjects covering two languages, mathematics, sciences, humanities and the arts – as well as a 4,000 word Extended Essay, a Theory of Knowledge course, and activities involving Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS). Alternatively, students can take a more vocational pathway and complete a BTEC in Sport or Business,
Sidcot offers pathways for students who are focused on a particular subject area, or have a clear idea of what they want to do after college, as well as those who want to maintain breadth in their choice of subjects (and perhaps those who need some extra time to decide what university degree or career pathway they want to follow).
Like many UK independent schools, Sidcot has expanded its A Level programme to prepare students with university-style study and research skills by offering the EPQ (Extended Project Qualification), which is an independent piece of research that’s similar to the IB’s Extended Essay. The EPQ fills a gap in an A Level education by introducing the key skills of independent research that universities are increasingly looking for, and it is now included in offers by some UK universities.
Sport and the arts
The school’s glorious campus is the perfect setting for its well-established equestrian centre with livery yard, floodlit arena, full set of BS jumps, horse walker, solarium, hot shower and off-road hacking. You’ll find both beginners and experienced riders taking lessons throughout the school week here, and the very best are selected for the school’s top-performing equestrian team.
The school also has some excellent sports facilities including 25m swimming pool, a 3G rugby/football training surface, tennis courts and a full-size all-weather pitch and an athletics field. Students use these facilities to full advantage for sports including netball, hockey, rounders, athletics, rugby, football and cricket, as well as swimming, badminton, gymnastics, free-running, and Ultimate Frisbee.
The school has invested in making Sidcot a hub for creativity. A Creative and Performing Arts Centre houses drama and music performance spaces, music practice rooms, six art studios, kiln room, classrooms, and recording studio. These facilities support the many arts courses offered through to IB and A Level, and an impressive choice of clubs and bands.
Every student learns a woodwind, brass or string instrument, and there are several concerts and plays every year. The arts are a popular choice at GCSE and Sixth Form, with students achieving impressive results,
Beyond the classroom
Wednesday afternoons are dedicated to PASS (Programme of Activities for Sidcot Students), when students choose from activities as varied as bushcraft, caving and skateboarding to stargazing, ceramics, chess and hockey. Outdoor education is huge here, and on any day students can find themselves studying in a yurt, an Iron Age mud hut, looking through the telescope in the observatory, sat around the firepit, digging in the allotment or performing in the outdoor amphitheatre. If life beyond the classroom is important to you, and you want your child to get plenty of fresh air, then Sidcot has plenty to offer.
There is also a vast programme of over 100 extra-curricular activities ranging from archery to trampolining, maths club to hill walking.
Academic results
Sidcot students perform well in both GCSE and IB exams, and the level of academic excellence is all the more impressive as this is a non-selective school with students of all strengths and abilities. Typically, over half of its students go to Russell Group universities.
2022 GCSE results: 39.4% of grades were A*-A and 92% were A*-C.
2022 IB results: Average score of 35.2 points and 100% pass rate.
2022 A Level results: 38.5% achieved A*-A and 76.7% A*-C grades.
2022 BTEC: 100% pass rate. 100% Distinction and above (BTEC Sport), and 67% Distinction and above (BTEC Business).
Commenting on the 2022 results, Mr Kilpatrick said,
“These results will be their passport to life beyond school and I am delighted that nearly 94% have secured offers from their preferred choice of university. As a school we have long been focused on far more than just exam results so it’s especially pleasing to see our students depart to such a diverse range of destinations.
“They have demonstrated the very best of Sidcot’s values and we hope that they live adventurously and peacefully in the years that lie ahead.”
Boarding
Students can board from Year 7 through to Sixth Form, and the school has five boarding houses on campus each with shared rooms (Year 13 students can choose to have their own room) common room and kitchen. Students move up from smaller, family-orientated houses into larger houses where they are given more independence in preparation for university.
As well as full boarding, there are options for both weekly and flexible boarding.
Boarders are kept busy during weekends and evenings, and Sidcot Saturday features a morning programme of activities ranging from cooking club to sailing, beekeeping to golf. By living on campus, boarders are within walking distance of facilities including the Sports Centre, the Arts Centre and Equestrian Centre which is a huge benefit of boarding life.
Admission and fees
UK students comes from across Somerset, including Bristol, and there are international students coming from across the world.
It’s a non-selective school so there’s no need to take the Common Entrance; instead students applying for Year 3 upwards sit informal assessments in English and maths.
International students sit an assessment test in English and maths. For entry to the Senior School, students need to speak and understand the English language to a minimum of B1 on the Common European Framework. Entry into Sixth Form to study A Levels requires a minimum of B2; for IB, a minimum of C1 is required.
Annual fees for day students range from £9,000 to £20,220; fees for boarding students range from £30,510 to £36,510.
Our view
Good for: Sidcot is a good choice for parents looking for a non-selective school that offers a values-driven education as it certainly has the potential to bring out the best in children of different abilities and with varied interests. Its down-to-earth feel and love of the outdoors create a learning environment which is more relaxed than some other independent schools, and as a smaller school that many your child can certainly feel “known” within what comes across as a very family-friendly community. The boarding options give parents plenty of flexibility, and the choice of courses at sixth form means that students can follow an academic or more vocational pathway that really suits them.
Not for: Some families may not want an education that is so deeply rooted in Quakerism, although it is not a school exclusively for Quakers. It may feel too relaxed and not academically rigorous enough for some families (and the lack of testing will not suit everyone), and its rural location may feel simply too remote – and the focus on extra-curricular and outdoor activities simply won’t appeal to every child either.
If you are the owner or the principal of the school and note any inaccuracies, or would like to update data, you can now open an account with us. You will also be able to add admissions availability per year group, and advertise current job vacancies. This is a free service. Please help us keep prospective parents up to date with your latest information.
Are you looking for a place for your child, and want help from our school consultants? If so, click on the link below, and we will forward your request for information to the school or schools of the same type that we are confident have availability. This is a free service for our readers. Request Information
