• by MIT Ivy League and Oxbridge Educated Insiders
  • Trusted by over tens of thousands online subscribers

Leys School

School rating 3 / 5 by

Trumpington Road Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB2 7AD United Kingdom
Boarding
6th to Sixth Form
Day
6th to Sixth Form
Gender
Coed

Academic

Leys School review by .

The Leys is one of the most reputable secondary schools in Cambridge. It is reasonably successful in league tables for grades but this is likely due to not have extremely difficult tests or grades needed to get into the school. This is however offset by the high quality of sport that is played. In regards to preparation for University, there are many sessions in preparation. These relate from student loans, budgeting and any other ideas from staff with past experiences and better knowledge than you to best prepare you. These sessions were very useful as you could ask any questions you had. If you fail your exams however, little was covered about cleaning (getting a placement at not one of your main choices). Also doing personal statements, help depends on how experienced your tutor is so if you are assigned with a tutor that isn't very experienced in your field, it can become very difficult. Teaching focused through class discussions, lectures, videos and games. Some areas of teaching were poor including teaching who some were hired straight from University or recently been made redundant rather than been hired from some of the best schools. Too much was spent on other areas rather than teacher training and the best teachers which is essential for a good school. Class size is around 18 between year 7-8, While year 9-11 is usually 14-20. While VI Form varies anywhere from a few for less popular subjects to 14. Teachers are usually available for clinics but some can be too "busy" to make time. Weekly workload varies. In LVI with 4 AS Level subjects, you can have huge amounts of work, but that does depend on whether your subject is essay based which can be difficult to handle and extensions are needed. There is extra help for those with learning difficulties and those who need extra time in exams. They can help you organise your schedule and also improve techniques. If you are very advanced you usually get you're work done quickly and may have too little to do as everyone gets same task for homework.

College Counseling

When choosing my university I didn't have that much help in what university would best....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

To get into Year 7 or 9, you get involved in admission tests to get....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

The Leys is a reasonably friendly place for a school. There is a fair amount of strictness towards pupils which cause an underlying anger in typical rebellious teenagers. This does mean that there are less issues involving suspensions and expelling students as rules are set in stone. The pastoral system is at times flawed but generally very good until VI Form where it is most needed and lacks deliverance as tutors have "better things to do" when your final two years are the most important and the reason all exams are taken. However, any issues unrelating to exams and college are....

Popular Comparisons