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Consistency is key to becoming the top independent school for A-levels. When you see a school nurturing pupils year by year to reach for the best results, each fuelled by a sense of joy and fulfilment, much of that boils down to the environment. A perennially bright, positive space to live and learn has the power to transform good pupils into great pupils.
For years now, Brighton College has done that. They prioritise kindness in their pupils, embracing each individual for what sets them apart. The pupils are encouraged to explore subject interests in and out of the classroom. And the dedication of faculty and staff here has paid off — the school was named the United Kingdom School of the Decade by The Sunday Times. And this year Sixth Form pupils earned 99.3% A*-B in A-levels, leading to Brighton College earning the title of the best A-level results at any independent school.
Now, they’re heading to the very best universities across the world.
Emily is a 2024 graduate set to study law at the University of Oxford, realising a dream since she was a child, discussing and debating with her mother. She watched cross-examination scenes in legal dramas and witnessed the pinnacles of crime like Gideon vs Wainwright and the trial of OJ Simpson. For her, it’s all about giving a voice to the voiceless and making a difference.
“Underlying the, admittedly, often insufferably long trial documents are the lives of ordinary people the law vows to protect,” Emily says. “It is motivating to see the law as a flawed yet constantly improving instrument for progress and empowerment.”
She was an active pupil at Brighton — participating in what she described as chaotically funny and rewarding literary discussions in English lessons and was a percussionist of school productions like Into the Woods. She is eyeing up the orchestra at Oxford, and the boxing club.
Space and policy is an area she wants to explore, as she reaches her goal to enter the Inns of Court and a potential postgraduate law degree in the US.
For pupils like Emily to grow and thrive, Brighton College has a plain and simple approach to their culture: kindness. To treat each other with respect, and create an environment where pupils feel comfortable in their own skin is its utmost priority. And for their pupils to see their Sixth Form academic life as being more than just a focus on their grades. They are encouraged to develop a deeper love of learning through independent study, reading and research.
Through fostering a positive environment, Brighton College students grow into bright, young individuals ready for the next step of their journey. Source: Brighton College
What better way to flourish in a Sixth Form that’s known for offering the very best of all worlds? While A* is the most common A-level grade at Brighton College (45% this year), getting great grades is by no means the school’s sole preoccupation. And rightly so — the College is nestled in the colourful city of Brighton; packed with culture plus a seafront and countryside landscape. There are 27 A-level courses to choose from; facilities where you can study photography in a dark room or conduct scientific research in a laboratory that is on a par with universities. Sixth Formers here are busy, fulfilled, and have the right amount of challenge.
What enlivens living and learning here is how experiential it is. Pupils build argumentative skills in the Critical Thinking programme. In the Entrepreneurship programme, they are mentored by Old Brightonians, parents and entrepreneurs, then craft their own original project to market before industry experts. The school hosts many educational trips, like going off to America to check out their best universities, visiting the Jurassic Coast for some geographical fieldwork, and flying to Iceland to study a wide range of volcanoes and waterfalls.
At Brighton College, learning surpasses the doors of the classroom. The school creates opportunities for students to get a glimpse of the greater world. Source: Brighton College
For Daniel, a 2024 graduate, one of his most cherished memories of Brighton College is the economics trip to Prague at the end of Lower Sixth. He got to see the gears of large companies like Škoda, and was able to compare that to more niche industries like the glass factory they visited. He loved strolling the streets of Prague, trying new foods and delving into a new culture.
These are core memories he will take with him as he moves to the US to attend Duke University. He’ll be majoring in Economics and Computer Science, and getting a certificate in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics.
“I am interested in the interdisciplinary nature these subjects have with data science, finance, and machine learning,” Daniel says. “The interplay between economics and philosophy is something that I’ve also been interested in.”
Daniel has a few other things up his sleeve. He wants to play the violin for the symphony orchestra, compete in the rugby team, and watch a live basketball game. Among the list of electives at Duke, he’s keen on studying the influence of supernatural beliefs on religion and science in a history course. A class on building a social media presence through information science comes as a close second to that.
But the first of his passions has always been economics.
“My interest in economics is largely due to my parents’ careers as economists,” Daniel says. “It’s enriching, albeit humbling, to have family members who are in academic fields which I aspire to be, keeping me grounded amid my journey.”
He’ll likely meet some Brightonians along the way. Last year, 450 Brighton College pupils received offers from the top 100 universities globally. In the past two years, nearly 50 pupils have taken up places at the best North American universities, and pupils are going to almost every one of the global top 30 universities, including Stanford, Duke and NYU. In addition, this year an incredible 22 pupils are heading to medical school. To learn more about them, and how they’ve managed to do just that — click here.
