St Richard Reynolds is a comprehensive Catholic College which opened in 2013. This is the fourth cohort of students completing A Level study within our Sixth Form which opened in 2018. We offer A Level qualifications only, with most students opting to study three A Levels. Our entry requirements are aimed to be inclusive to enable as many as possible to enter the course who wish to do it; therefore, we are not selective in terms of access to A Level courses beyond a basic minimum level to ensure capability. However, we determine our entry requirements to ensure that students have the appropriate foundations for academic success. We require students to have a minimum of 5 GCSEs including Maths and English Language with additional subject entry requirements. Any student may elect to study the EPQ which they complete within the space of one academic year and a small minority of the more able students choose to study four A Levels.
Within the Sixth Form, 4% of students are in receipt of the 16-19 Bursary this academic year which is below the average annual level for our Sixth Form.
An increasing percentage of students progress to higher education from our College; it was 84% starting university in 2022. 41% of these students are now studying at Russell Group or top 20 universities. Last year we had our first successful Oxbridge applicants; three students studying Chemistry, Modern and Medieval Languages and HSPS. Thus far we have successfully supported three students to gain places on Medicine degrees in their second year of application. We have not had any dentistry applicants to date and have only had one applicant to veterinary science (she was unsuccessful for the 2022 intake).
Our class sizes vary from two students in some subjects up to 25 in the more popular subjects. Our students are full-time students with 250 minutes given to timetabled teaching of each subject per week. Beyond this, students complete their studies working independently on guided activities set by their subject teachers.