Abingdon Boarders' Handbook

What support is there for my academic studies? GCSEs and A Levels At Abingdon you will be studying for GCSEs (or iGCSEs in some subjects), and A level exams. These are tough qualifications and will  require you to work hard. Before you arrive you should look at the school website and see what you will be studying in your subjects.  You can then do some additional preparatory reading and research to make sure you are ready for the start of your time at Abingdon.  You may want to look at the course syllabus on the exam board website. It is often a good idea to email the heads of department for  the subjects you are studying in order to get some details about what to prepare. Their email addresses can be found on the Staff List.  Teachers Obviously one of the best places to go for help with your studies is to your teachers. They will be teaching you lessons during the week  so will know you well. At Abingdon the teachers are very  friendly and willing to help. They actually want you to come and  speak to them if you don’t understand anything. They certainly  won’t think that by asking them questions then you are  criticising their teaching (they want you to ask questions). Your  teacher will recommend extra reading if you want to learn more  and will also arrange extra time to meet you and help you if you  ask for it.  Tutors Another person who can help you with your work is you Tutor.  These teachers have a special responsibility for helping you.  Your Tutor may not be a specialist in the subject you are finding  difficult but they will be able to arrange help or tell you how to  find it. Your Tutor is a very sensible place to go for help.  Other pupils and Prefects Sometimes the other pupils in your house might be a good source of help. They might be studying the same thing as you and may be  able to help you out. Another place to ask is the house prefects; they will be the older pupils in the house and will have studied your  work in a previous year. Even if they can’t help you themselves, they will be able to tell you where to go to find help. If you get help  from another pupil you should make sure that you do not copy them. You can ask them to explain something so you understand but  you are not allowed to copy their work or let them do it for you. This wouldn’t be any real use in helping you develop your own  knowledge and understanding!  Learning Support Department At Abingdon we also have something called the Learning Support Department. The staff in this department specialise in helping pupils  improve the way the work by teaching them organisational, study and revision skills. If you have a special educational need then they  can also help you with that. If necessary they can arrange for you to be allowed to type your exams or for you to have extra time in  your exams.  English as a Foreign Language Department We recognise that pupils who come to Abingdon from a country where English is not the first language might need extra help. The  English as a Foreign Language Department specialises in teaching English to pupils who do not speak it as their first language. You will  need a good level of English to do well in GCSEs and A levels so you may well need extra lessons from EFL. The department also  helps prepare pupils for the IELTs exam. Many universities will require a particular IELTs score from pupils who do not speak English  as their first language before they will offer a place.  Applying to University The system for applying to University is called UCAS in the UK. There is a dedicated UCAS department at Abingdon that assists  people applying to university in the UK. You will be given advice by the UCAS department at certain points in your years in the sixth  form. Your Tutor, working with the UCAS department, will help you with your UCAS application. There is also a special programme for  pupils who are interested in applying to Oxford or Cambridge Universities (Oxbridge for short). If you are interested then you can speak  to the member of staff in charge of Oxbridge applications and to your head of department who will run special 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 Triff, who is in charge of  Careers Guidance and applications to American Universities. We do not teach SATs (the entrance exams for US universities).  16