Welcome to the Sixth Form

The Sixth Form is a very exciting time to be at Sherborne Girls, for current pupils and new entrants alike. This is because, in the Sixth Form, girls have more opportunity than ever to make individual decisions about what they study and how they spend co-curricular time.

In consultation with girls and their families, the Sixth Form team guides pupils as they approach this new phase. We help them to make these important choices so that each girl is stimulated to become the best version of herself and develops her ambitions for future study or work. We monitor each girl’s progress at every point of her two years in the Sixth Form, responding to her needs as she matures. And we continue to offer guidance for as long as girls need it, sometimes years after they have taken their last exams. Perhaps partly because there is always plenty of help available at every stage, our Sixth Formers tend to become more and more confident and self-reliant, volunteering for challenging roles and taking responsibility for themselves and others.

There are hundreds of combinations of subjects available, so each Sixth Former has a bespoke programme to suit her interests, talents and plans. Academic work is complemented by a vast range of activities outside the classroom: some to develop girls’ creativity, some to hone their minds, some to keep them fit or enhance teamwork skills or selfreliance, and some that build confidence to lead others, both in public or in a quieter arena. Some of our most popular clubs in the School are founded and organised by Sixth Form girls themselves, while others are supervised by staff who are experts in their field. Sherborne Girls sends pupils to a wide range of challenging university courses each year, including those at Oxford and Cambridge, Imperial, Exeter, Bristol, Kings, UCL, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Durham. They also take up places at prestigious colleges abroad, often in the USA, Europe, Asia and Canada. It is to the credit of our teaching staff and to the girls’ curiosity that every year our pupils are awarded places in an array of subjects, from Engineering to Fine Art and Medicine to Linguistics. Central St Martin’s is a popular successful destination for Art and Design courses. The academic topics our pupils are encouraged to find out about, over and above their A Level courses, ensure that our Upper Sixth cohorts have the courage and knowledge to make outstanding applications to university and then settle down quickly and happily to work in their chosen fields when they get there.

We want the girls to develop into outward-looking adults who are eager to challenge themselves and aim high in whatever spheres of life they find themselves. Because they enter the Sixth Form as the most senior pupils in mixed-age houses, they have plenty of opportunity to establish themselves as role models from the start: overseeing prep, saying ‘goodnights’, directing and acting in House Drama, and organising Sports Day. Our Sixth Form girls are at the heart of everything we strive for as a School community.

Mrs Florence Corran Director of Sixth Form