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Withington Girls' School

School rating 3 / 5 by

100 Wellington Road Manchester Manchester M14 6BL United Kingdom
Day
2nd to 12th
Gender
Girls only

Academic

Withington Girls' School review by .

All in all, the school's (Withington Girls' School) academic program was fantastic, its only weakness being the restriction of subjects available for GCSE and A-Level. For GCSE (back in 2004), drama had recently been introduced and was not taught to a very high level, and courses such as D.T/F.T.T were not available. Maths, English, Double/Triple award science, French and I.C.T were obligatory, and a student then had the option of choosing 2/3 additional subjects. Due to there being only approximately 90 students per year, option combinations were fairly restrictive, despite ardent attempts to keep students happy. However, the small year size (90) benefited the class sizes, which at GCSE level were relatively small, and students were setted in French and Maths. This was a particular strength of the school, as students were able to work to the best of their abilities. Teaching was good and teachers were generally very willing to help students out of class hours. My only criticism as for the academic side of Withington Girls' School was the overly strong emphasis on examinations, and lack of focus put on learning in more general terms rather than learning merely to pass an exam. This did not hold for all subjects, arts teachers seemed particularly keen with higher sets to go beyond exam requirements, and not for the sake of the exam. Whilst extra curricular activities were available, they were most certainly not encouraged by the intensely academic nature of the school.

College Counseling

I left the school post GCSE due to being unable to do my chosen A-Levels....

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

I attended the school for the duration of junior years (England yrs 3-6) so the....

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

I feel that this section is where the school lets itself down. Being set in the centre of a council estate of a relatively rough part of Manchester, students were often faced with discrimination from surrounding residents/children. The school was also the victim of an arson attack, possibly resulting from its position in the neighbourhood. There was no boarding option and many students, including myself, travelled approximately 50 mins to get to the school - the bus services were very efficient and the school recognised issues resulting from transport difficulties, such as getting into school late due to....

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