WELCOME
STUDENT RESULTS
STUDENT DESTINATIONS
ASSESSMENT, FEEDBACK AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT
PREPARATION FOR FUTURE STUDY AND EMPLOYMENT
AIMING HIGH
welcome
Whatever courses you choose, and whether you’re studying A levels or applied general courses, New College Doncaster will support you to achieve exceptional results. The grades our students achieved at A level last year given their start points from GCSE placed the college the top 15% of all schools and colleges in the country. For applied general courses, such as BTEC courses, the college ranked in the top 10% of all schools and colleges in the country. This comes down to the hard work of students and staff, the high quality of teaching and learning, the ethos and culture of the college and the academic support we provide.
Our students make outstanding progress and the grades they achieve are significantly higher than national averages. This helps students to realise their aspirations, progressing to great universities or securing places on highly competitive degree apprenticeships. New College Doncaster is not just about securing fantastic results. It’s also about the wider opportunities and experiences you will enjoy, and the way you will grow and develop as a young adult. But we are proud of our strong focus on excellent results and we know it’s your number one priority.
Brendon Fletcher, Principal
My role in college is to work closely with teachers to ensure we are continually developing our teaching practice, drawing on the latest research and evidence to ensure we are using methods known to lead to the best results. I also ensure we are providing students with the study skills you need to thrive during your time at college: strategies for organisation and revision which have proven success. I am an English teacher and feel very fortunate that I will get to share my love of literature and language with some of you.
Ceri Boyle, Assistant Principal
My main role in college is quality and standards, working to ensure that teachers have high expectations of all students, and that they put in place effective support and intervention to help you meet and exceed these expectations. In addition, I also co-ordinate the college’s careers strategy to ensure that you are well supported in preparing for your next steps after college, through a range of activities that includes speakers from a range of universities, employers and apprenticeship providers. I am a Chemistry teacher, and look forward to sharing my passion for the sciences with those of you who choose this route at New College.
Dan Wood, Assistant Principal
welcome
Students at New College Doncaster experience a culture of very high expectations, which supports them to maximise their potential and achieve their aspirations.
Ofsted, December 2021
We are extremely proud of the outstanding results our students achieve at New College Doncaster.
Results in 2023
99.6%
A Level Pass Rate
56.9%
A Level A* - B Rate
+0.17
A Level Value Added
BA Level Average Grade
99.5%
Applied General Pass Rate
73.5%
+0.49
Applied General Value Added
Applied General Distinction/Distinction* Distinction
Applied General Average Grade
STUDENT DESTINATIONS
Our central mission is to help students to progress to the very best universities, apprenticeships and jobs when they leave us at the end of Year 13, with the outstanding results, skills and confidence they need to succeed.
70% of our Year 13 students last year progressed to higher education.
Whether you want to progress to university, into a high-quality apprenticeship, or move straight into work, New College Doncaster will help you make well-informed decisions about your future. You will be supported through the weekly tutorial programme, by your progress tutor, by your teachers and by our careers team.
Throughout your time at college, you’ll have lots of opportunities to talk to universities and apprenticeship providers. We’ll support you to make decisions about where to apply and what to apply for, and we will help you with your applications. We’ll also help answer questions you and your parents may have about issues such as student finance, the university admissions process, or where to find vacancies for the best apprenticeships and jobs.
We participate in a significant number of outreach and widening participation programmes with universities. Additional support and programmes are available for students interested in highly competitive courses such as medicine, dentistry and veterinary science, for courses and universities that have additional entrance tests, and for particularly selective universities such as Oxford and Cambridge.
MOST POPULAR UNIVERSITY COURSES FOR 2023 NEW COLLEGE ENTRANTS:
- BUSINESS / MANAGEMENT
- PSYCHOLOGY
- LAW
- ACCOUNTING / FINANCE
- SOCIOLOGY
- ENGINEERING
- CRIMINOLOGY
- MATHEMATICS
- PE / Sport & Exercise Science
EXAMPLES OF RECENT NEW COLLEGE PROGRESSION TO HIGHER OR DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS:
- ACCOUNTANT - ERNST & YOUNG
- CIVIL ENGINEER - VOLKER RAIL
- ECONOMIST - DEPARTMENT FOR WORK & PENSIONS
- POLICE OFFICER - SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE
Leaders have a very clear intent to provide a curriculum that includes a wide range of high-quality A level and level 3 general applied programmes for young people living in Doncaster and the surrounding area. They aim to raise the aspirations of young people, provide high-quality provision and increase the number of students progressing to higher education, apprenticeships and employment. Leaders successfully achieve this aim.
Ofsted, December 2021
OUTSTANDING TEACHING & LEARNING
As a specialist 16-19 provider which delivers only A levels and A level equivalent courses, we are able to recruit and train teachers with the particular skills and subject knowledge needed to teach effectively at this advanced level.
What can you expect in terms of teaching and learning?
- Regular assessment and feedback
Because recall deepens learning, and assessment helps students to focus their efforts in the right places.
- Extra help and support
Helping to guide your next steps, and providing extra support if you need it.
- High standards and a culture of learning
Our students take pride in the quality of their work and behaviour. Punctuality and attendance are exemplary.
- Carefully designed courses
Introducing content in manageable chunks, gradually building knowledge and skills towards more complex concepts and topics, regularly revisiting older topics.
- Regular teacher training
So that your teachers use ideas and techniques that deliver the best possible results.
- We help students understand how to be effective independent learners
Because it’s not just about what happens in the classroom.
Students benefit from very high-quality teaching. Teachers demonstrate a very comprehensive knowledge of their subjects and communicate this well to students. They successfully develop students’ understanding of the technical terminology used in their subject areas. As a result, students quickly develop the new knowledge that they need when they leave college.
Ofsted, December 2021
ASSESSMENT, FEEDBACK AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT
Regular formal assessments help our students develop a good understanding of their strengths and areas for development throughout their 2-year journey.
Assessments cover wide-ranging topics, helping students to reinforce their knowledge and skills across the full breadth of the course, preparing students well for the final exams.
Alongside formal assessments are small, helpful mini-tests, quizzes and retrieval activities to help check knowledge and reinforce learning. Students also complete an initial assessment early in Year 12 which helps to identify any support needs, and to check that students have made good course choices.
Students, parents and teachers track how students are performing in relation to each student’s minimum target grades – challenging but achievable targets based on the range of grades each student achieved at GCSE.
Our Teacher Access Periods on Wednesday afternoons provide additional small-group support for students that teachers feel would particularly benefit. Students at New College Doncaster use their independent study periods very effectively, using the many study spaces available within the college. But we know that some students also benefit from having some of their independent study periods timetabled into our supervised Intervention Support Centre, providing structure and quiet focus.
Teachers work hard to provide detailed feedback following assessments, signposting additional resources, identifying additional support where it’s needed, and providing students time to self-reflect on their next steps.
Students benefit from excellent pastoral and academic support. This includes targeted interventions to ensure that any students who are behind target very quickly catch up. For example, ‘teacher access periods’ are added to all curriculum plans. Teachers use this time well to support individual students to improve specific aspects of their learning.
Ofsted, December 2021
PREPARATIONS FOR FUTURE STUDY AND EMPLOYMENT
We want to make sure that students have the independent study skills, the confidence and the wider social and personal skills needed to thrive at university and in the work place.
All of our courses are designed to include at least six opportunities to enrich learning and to support progression. For example:
- ECONOMICS STUDENTS THIS YEAR HAVE:
Visited the Bank of England and the Houses of Parliament.
- BTEC SPORT STUDENTS HAVE:
Visited Wembley Stadium and the Olympic Legacy Park.
- POLITICS STUDENTS Have:
Taken part in a talk with a Russell Group university about studying International Relations.
- HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE STUDENTS have:
Taken part in a talk with the NHS about different careers and visited the Thackray Museum of Medicine.
These wide-ranging opportunities help to inspire students, to understand how their courses link to future study and employment, and to inform students about future options. These opportunities at course level sit alongside an extensive extra-curricular programme outside of lessons. Our teachers actively promote key employability skills through their teaching – organisation, problem-solving, team work, initiative and communication. Our teachers help students become increasingly independent learners and ready for university and the work-place. Directed Independent Learning, which is the next level of homework, is a key part of being a student at New College Doncaster.
A dedicated Careers Advisor and Work Experience Coordinator help provide individual guidance and assistance organising valuable work placements.
Teachers challenge students to be the best that they can be, to have very high levels of attendance and punctuality, and to develop strong, independent learning skills. This culture prepares students exceptionally well to progress to their next steps.
Ofsted, December 2021
AIMING HIGH
Critically, able students need to be confident that they will achieve outstanding results in order to progress to the most competitive universities. We are proud that gifted and able students at New College Doncaster make exceptional progress.
Across the ability range, including students with high GCSE points scores, students outperform students nationally with similar GCSE point scores. Students that achieve 7, 8, 9 results at GCSE achieve better results and make better progress at New College Doncaster than nationally and are more likely to achieve A* to B grades than nationally.
We are delighted to be the lead provider for South Yorkshire for ‘HE Plus’ – a project working with schools and colleges to support students applying to elite universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. This project complements the college’s existing work to support students applying to elite universities, to support students applying for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science, and to support students interested in Oxbridge.
Alongside their studies, students have the opportunity to take part in a research skills extra-curricular programme which can lead on to the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) – an opportunity for students to research, prepare a paper and deliver a presentation on an academic subject of their own interest, whilst achieving a qualification that is particularly helpful for students progressing to elite research universities. Our extra-curricular programme also includes a number of subject programmes through which students can start to explore introductory university level content, or subject content that sits beyond the scope of their current courses.
New College Doncaster has a strong track record of supporting good rates of progression to Russell Group universities and to Oxford and Cambridge.
Most students progress to higher education, including to prestigious universities. The number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds who progress to higher education is particularly high.
Ofsted, December 2021
MOST POPULAR COMPETITIVE
UNIVERSITY DESTINATIONS 2023:
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
IMPERIAL COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
STUDENT PROFILES
LUCY MAE DIXON
THE HAYFIELD SCHOOL
SUBJECTS TAKEN:
ENGLISH LANGUAGE - A ENGLISH LITERATURE - A* MATHS - A*
DESTINATION AFTER NEW COLLEGE
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
COURSE: ENGLISH LITERATURE
SUMMaRISE YOUR TIME AT NEW COLLEGE
I loved the independence and I felt really in control of my progress.
DAWID LUKASZEWSKI
Astrea Academy Woodfields
SUBJECTS TAKEN:
BIOLOGY - A MATHS - A*
CHEMISTRY - A
DESTINATION AFTER NEW COLLEGE
Hull York Medical School
COURSE: MEDICINE
SUMMaRISE YOUR TIME AT NEW COLLEGE
My experience at New College Doncaster has shaped me into the person I am today.
STUDENT PROFILES
JAKE EDWARD SAYERS
South Axholme Academy
SUBJECTS TAKEN:
MATHS - A*
FURTHER MATHS - A*
BIOLOGY - A*
CHEMISTRY - A*
DESTINATION AFTER NEW COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
COURSE: ECONOMICS
SUMMaRISE YOUR TIME AT NEW COLLEGE
I really enjoyed my time at New College Doncaster. The great teachers made a big difference.
BETH CHESSMAN
THE HAYFIELD SCHOOL SUBJECTS TAKEN:
SOCIOLOGY - A*
CRIMINOLOGY WJEC - A*
PSYCHOLOGY BTEC - DISTINCTION*
DESTINATION AFTER NEW COLLEGE
GAP YEAR BEFORE UNIVERSITY
SUMMaRISE YOUR TIME AT NEW COLLEGE
I have had an amazing experience at New College with amazing teachers and friends.
STUDENT PROFILES
ISMAEEL AHMED
THE HAYFIELD SCHOOL
SUBJECTS TAKEN:
HISTORY - A BUSINESS - A LAW - A*
DESTINATION AFTER NEW COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
COURSE: LAW
SUMMaRISE YOUR TIME AT NEW COLLEGE
A lot of hard work and dedication but it was all worth it!
STEPHANIE HOWAT
Rossington All saints academy
SUBJECTS TAKEN:
BIOLOGY - A*
CHEMISTRY - A*
PSYCHOLOGY - A*
DESTINATION AFTER NEW COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
COURSE: MEDICINE
SUMMaRISE YOUR TIME AT NEW COLLEGE
So amazing!! I am going to miss it. I hope that University is as much fun as New College Doncaster.
STUDENT PROFILES
JAKE POWELL
HUNGERHILL SCHOOL
SUBJECTS TAKEN:
MATHS - A*
FURTHER MATHS - A*
PHYSICS - A*
CHEMISTRY - A
DESTINATION AFTER NEW COLLEGE
Degree Apprenticeship in Engineering & Manufacturing Technologies with Volker Rail.
