Eastbourne College

About Eastbourne College

Eastbourne College promotes quality in every facet of education. We celebrate academic aspiration in healthy balance with all else, and every child’s interests are nurtured equally. Our pupils are good people, developing to adulthood based on values.

Encouraging and teaching ‘bold learners’ is our academic cornerstone. Their future-fit intellectual development needs to come from empowering them as independent and free-thinking, as well as being teachable, receptive, and open minded. Hence ‘bold’, enthusiastic, and ambitious are parts of this guiding value.

Education at Eastbourne College

Academic excellence is delivered through stretching departmental targets which embed bold and innovative teaching and learning practices. But also, with renewed focus for 2023-2028, differentiation for us means more than just doing the best for those with specific learning needs. It focuses on what our teachers have always been known for, individual attention to get the best out of every pupil, embedding our Covid-keepers and innovative mindset in providing modern, technology rich, blended learning to support every child.

At the heart of our offer is the confident assertion that we are authentically all-round, and this informs how we design and improve the curriculum and how we ensure that all our children – not just a few that ‘fit’ – are well prepared for an uncertain future with a variety of skills.

Our values and our care, nurture young people on a journey from when the family first meets us, through to later life through the Eastbournian Society. Our pupils learn to ‘find their own superb’ and most of all be good people empowered by their education with us to achieve remarkable things, so we confidently say ‘extraordinary starts with Eastbourne’.

Boarding at Eastbourne College

Eastbourne College welcomes applications from pupils all over the world and all educational backgrounds.We ensure an international spread by exercising care over the number of pupils accepted from any one country. Overall, we tend to limit the number of our international pupils to 20 per cent of the total intake. Applications from pupils for whom English is an additional language are welcomed provided they have the aptitude and ability to cope with being taught in English.

 

Contact

Type of School Co-educational
Number of Pupils 650
Pupils Boys 380
Pupils Girls 270
Number of Boarders 184
International Boarders 117
Age Range 13-18
Religious Tradition Christian
Distance from Airports

Gatwick – 47 miles; Heathrow – 78 miles
Distance from London

80 miles
Contact
School Links

St Andrew’s Prep

Educational Programmes

Our curriculum is rich and diverse, offering the pupils the chance to try everything and excel in their choices. We offer a very broad choice of GCSE and A-level, including music technology, dance, photography and textiles, as well as more traditional niche subjects such as German and Greek. Unlike other schools, we write our timetable after the subject choices are made by pupils and parents, so almost always all combinations of subject are possible. All pupils in the Sixth Form have a ‘fourth stream’ of activities including the Extended Project, Arts Gold award, IT qualifications, debating, driving lessons or all manner of things bespoke to the pupil in question.

Our skills passport provides an online method for rewarding pupils for breadth as well as acknowledging a wide range of success in any of the skill areas identified by the World Economic Forum as key skills for the fourth industrial revolution.

Pupils are taught by highly skilled and qualified teachers who make the most of our world-class facilities to inspire and encourage those in our care. Class sizes are small, ensuring that all pupils have the specific stretch and support they individually need.

The extended day means that pupils have considerable access to their teachers both within and beyond the classroom. It also means that academic excellence can be achieved without compromising the opportunity to shine in the creative arts, games or other co-curricular activities.

Indeed, we firmly believe the breadth of activities, beyond the classroom, in which pupils participate strongly complements their academic studies. These activities build camaraderie,  confidence and resilience; traits that help children succeed academically.

Co-Curricular Programmes

The unique structure of the College day allows day pupils to work a full day and then leave school between 6.00pm and 8.00pm. It means that there is time for co-curricular breadth and depth built into each day for all pupils, enriching their lives in the process.

Academic priority is unquestioned at Eastbourne College. The provision of co-curricular activity is a vital cornerstone in the development and education of pupils. As well as the arts and sport, there are endless opportunities for pupils to participate in a variety of activities and schemes. These opportunities extend to the holidays too, in the form of trips and expeditions ranging from academic trips to arts visits and sports tours which all contribute to broadening pupils’ horizons.

Eastbourne College has calibrated the timetable to cater for the needs of boarders and day pupils in today’s society. Our whole-of-learning approach ensures a healthy balance of academic, co-curricular and sociocultural opportunities for the pupil community. The co-curricular programme is designed to be fun, friendly and flexible so that it fits around the demands of modern day living. The programme is always changing, adding new activities that challenge and inspire.