Music
Music makes an enormous contribution to the holistic development and wellbeing of all our students. The department offers a wide range of musical activities for every level of ability, every instrument and in a variety of performance styles, aiming to develop fully each student’s musicality and love of the subject.
In Key Stage 3, our students have the opportunity to develop performing, appraising, composing and notation skills through a curriculum which embraces a wide range of music throughout the course of history. Students develop the ability to evaluate and form aesthetic judgments, enhance numeracy through rhythm and analysis and literacy through a focus on written music, including its history, language and development. Music enhances our students’ attention to detail and develops confidence through performing their work in public. The subject encourages students to collaborate and to think laterally and creatively; all vital to their holistic development, wellbeing and future careers.
We have an outstanding record at GCSE and A-Level. The KS4 and KS5 curricula have a strong practical focus and, with 60% being weighted towards coursework, there is the opportunity for keen composers and performers to shine. The academic assessments at both levels encourage an in-depth study of a wide variety of musical styles and genres, from Haydn symphonies to contemporary works by living composers. Music qualifications are very highly regarded by universities and many of our recent Sixth Form Music students have gone on to obtain first class degrees from Oxbridge. Several have also gone on to obtain choral or instrumental scholarships. Music A-Level works well alongside a broad combination of A-Levels; many of our Sixth Form Music students have subsequently studied Maths, Medicine, Physics, Law and History of Art at Oxbridge and leading Russell Group universities.
