Courses in the English and Modern Foreign Languages Department combine rigorous preparation for exam success with the opportunity to venture beyond the syllabus. Recognising how concepts taught in class can be related to the world around us is central to making courses relevant and dynamic.

We offer a wide range of enrichment opportunities to students. Out of college, these have included trips to Aix-en-Provence and a French Conference in London, and to Madrid for Spanish students, an outing to the British Library to promote creative writing, a trip to see The Importance of Being Earnest in a West End Theatre, and Open Days at the universities of Oxford and Liverpool. In college, students took part in a poetry flash mob for National Poetry Day, ran the Advanced Literature Society, Writers Club and Debating Society, acted as roving readers on World Book Day, and organised the International Day of Languages. There were visiting graduates in all subjects. Teachers in the Department run activities such as Debating, World Cinema club and Netball.

Courses in English and Modern Foreign Languages are extremely well-respected, hence their status as ‘Facilitating Subjects’ (subjects which universities particularly wish to see in prospective university applicants), and they therefore act as a superb springboard to higher education for courses such as Journalism, Law, Business, Drama, Film, and Speech Therapy as well as, of course, English and Languages. They also complement Medicine and Dentistry by demonstrating strong communication skills. In recent years students studying in our department have gone on to a wide variety of Universities, including Oxford and Cambridge.               

Subjects Offered:

English Literature

Fantastic, enthusiastic, helpful teachers.

Teachers are very encouraging and show a lot of passion for their subject. They carry out lessons in a dynamic and engaging way and they offer students the necessary help they need, even outside of lessons.

What Ofsted say

Teachers and Managers are highly skilled at monitoring learners’ progress.  Advice, guidance and support are outstanding.