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extension lessons.
The important thing to remember is that you need to be
exceptionally good at a subject (one of the best at the
school) and very passionate to even think about applying.
This means you should be doing lots of extra work and
reading to develop your knowledge and understanding
well beyond what you do in class. It is important to
remember that not everyone is suited to Oxbridge and
there are many other excellent universities in the UK that
may be a better match for you.
A number of boys from Abingdon have also been
applying to American Universities in the last few years.
To find out about this you would need to speak to Mr
O’Doherty, the Head of Sixth Form. We do not teach
SATs (the entrance exams for US universities).
Academic Lessons
Clearly much of your time during the
day will be taken up with academic
lessons. You will have a lesson during
every lesson period (see the weekly
timetable) if you are in the middle
school. In the lower sixth you will
have some free periods. During this
time boarders are allowed to work in
their rooms while day boys need to go
to supervised study sessions.
At Abingdon we try to make academic
lessons as interesting as possible. Your
teachers want you to ask questions
and will try to design activities that
will make you think. They will not just
tell you the answers. They will help
you work out the answer for your self.
The idea is that this will allow you to
become independent in the way you
learn so that by the time you go to
university you will be able to cope
with the freedom you will be given.
Academic Extension
Opportunities
There are a large number of
academic societies and clubs as
well as extension lessons that you
can join. These will aim to stretch
your understanding beyond what
is required to do well at A level.
You will need to be selective about
which subjects you are interested in
because many of these classes take
place at the same time.
Prep
For boarders there is a supervised prep
session from 7.00pm – 8.30pm every
night of theweek. Every boardermust be
working during this time and teachers
will be checking that you are. For middle
school boarders then there is a choice
of three supervised prep sessions (one
on Friday night and two on Saturday
morning) and you must do at least one
of these over the course of a weekend.
Sports
There are loads of sports available at
Abingdon. You will have a choice about
which sport you wish to do. However
you will have to do at least two hours
of supervised sport a week. The range
of sports is huge. Some traditional
English sports like rugby, cricket,
field hockey, and football, and some
more international like golf, sailing,
shooting, swimming, tennis, cross
country, athletics and badminton. To
see the details of the sports available
look on the school website (www.
abingdon.org.uk/sports)
Music
There is a lot of music that takes
place at Abingdon. You can arrange
individual lessons and also join a big
range of orchestras and bands. There
are regular performances, some in
front of small audiences and others
in theatres full of people. For more
details look on the school website
_
music)
Drama
If you are enthusiastic about drama
then Abingdon is the school for you.
Not only can you study drama at
GCSE and A level but there are also a
huge number of plays for all ages that
take place. You can audition for the
plays regardless of whether you are
studying drama or not. However you
should be aware that drama is popular
and the standard is high!
WHAT IS THERE TO DO DURING
MY TIME AT ABINGDON?
