Senior School FAQs

How long is the school day?
Super­vi­sion begins from 8am and pupils can stay until the boarders of the same age go to bed. If you are inter­ested in your child board­ing occa­sion­ally, or on certain regu­lar nights, this can be arranged with the house staff if we have space.

How well do pupils do academ­ic­ally?
Pupils do very well academ­ic­ally across the full range of subjects. Typic­ally they achieve almost a grade better at GCSE than their results on entry suggest. We have achieved this level of attain­ment consist­ently over the last five years. In public exam­in­a­tions high achiev­ers get the top results expec­ted, but also those with more modest abil­ity achieve A*– B grades at GCSE, demon­strat­ing that Friends’ School adds academic value.

How do I know how well my child is progress­ing?
Grades are produced half termly which will keep you in touch with your child’s attain­ment and approach to lessons. You will receive regu­lar full writ­ten reports and there is also at least one occa­sion each year when you will be able to meet your child’s teach­ers. In addi­tion to these formal reports there are oppor­tun­it­ies for regu­lar contact.

What can pupils do when lessons finish?
Each term we publish an extra-curricular programme show­ing the range of activ­it­ies avail­able both at lunch­time and after school. After tea at 5.45pm, day schol­ars can join boarders for prep. For Year 7 this is one hour, rising to two hours for the Sixth Form.

What happens if my child is taken ill at school?
We have a Medical Centre staffed by qual­i­fied nurses. There are regu­lar Nurses’ surger­ies and there is a Doctor’s surgery once a week for boarders who are registered with a local prac­tice. Day pupils enjoy the bene­fits of the Medical Centre during the day but they remain registered with their own GP.

How do pupils travel to school?
We currently provide trans­port for over 33% of students to and from School, with a vari­ety of bus routes. Click here for details. Pupils who live locally walk to school, others will use the excel­lent train services from Cambridge and London.