Why Choose Us?
You’re our number one priority
It’s your life, your future, and we do everything we can to make sure you get where you want to be. There’s always someone available to discuss the options available to you. At every stage of your Sixth Form career, we’re here to listen, advise and support you in your choices. Everything we offer in our Sixth Form is to help you stand out from the crowd and to aim to be the best that you can be.
Loads of subject choice
As one of the largest school Sixth Forms in the county, our students have access to twenty-nine Level 3 courses. We’ve built up strong links with Higher Education establishments, which means we’re very successful at helping students gain entry to competitive courses. In fact, 80% of our Sixth Form students go on to Higher Education with the rest taking up employment, further training or apprenticeships.
The best teaching
Our teachers are some of the best in the business – friendly, experienced, full of ideas and real experts in their subjects. Above all, they are committed to helping you get the grades you need for whatever you plan to do next. You don’t just have to take our word for it, when Estyn visited the Sixth Form in 2018 they found that every single lesson they observed was good or outstanding. In fact, half of all the lessons they saw where classed as Outstanding which goes to show the lengths our teachers will go to make sure that you’re lessons are challenging, inspiring and help you make the best progress possible.
Plenty of New and Enriching Opportunities
Whatever your interests, there’ll be something for you on our enrichment programme. You’ll have the chance to study for extra qualifications, such as our Duke of Edinburgh Awards, or you might choose to volunteer for our Student Senedd, Eco Committee, Hear2Help or Apause SexEd programme. We also participate in a range of local competitions, where you can put your artistic or debating talents to good use.
A Guaranteed Great Time!
We have a range of extra-curricular clubs and activities for you to join. If you’re a linguist, we have conversation sessions, foreign language films. For our sportsmen and women, we have a vibrant Sports Department with a number of highly successful teams, who go on to win local, regional and national tournaments. For the expressive arts, we have choirs, ensembles, the school orchestra and of course our school drama productions. There are also the number of trips that you can take part in linked to our subjects, providing the chance to visit a museum, art gallery, law court, London musical or go skiing in the Austrian Alps.
Leaders of the Future
We offer lots of ways for students to develop their leadership skills. You might want to join the Sixth Form Committee and contribute to the running of the school. Perhaps you’d like to join the Eco Committee and contribute ideas to the eco improvement of the school, organize programmes, such as regular litter reduction, Fair Trade stalls, charity fundraising or help co-ordinate a student help programme. All our Year 12 students are encouraged to volunteer for a minimum of 30 hours to improve the life of the community as a whole, such as sports coaching or assisting with numeracy or literacy skills in the lower years.
A Sociable Place to Learn
Our Sixth Form Centre provides a social space to relax and chat with friends, as well as a dedicated work room for quiet study. The pretty market town of Crickhowell is a short walk from the school with its many cafes and park areas, and the school setting in the heart of the Brecon Beacons provides an extensive array of social spaces for students to enjoy during the summer months.
You’ll Get Where You Want to Be
We don’t want anything to come between you and your ambitions. Every year our students achieve outstanding sets of results and, combined with all the additional skills you’ll have gained from our enrichment programmes, you can be sure of a CV or UCAS personal statement that will help you go places. We have an exceptional success rate when it comes to getting students into their chosen universities – in fact 100% of our students headed to their first-choice university in 2021! Don’t worry if university isn’t your thing. Careers Wales attends school twice a week to help out students take that vital next step
We’re Easy to Get to
We’re located just off the A40 between Brecon and Abergavenny, so transport links are good. Some students drive themselves, whilst others use school transport by private arrangement with A+M Travel (Blaenau Gwent area) and with Monmouthshire county for Powys areas.