Battle Abbey School
An Independent Co-educational Day School for ages 2 – 18, Boarding from 11 to 18, 230+ pupils, County of East Sussex
About the School
Located in the historic market town of Battle, near Hastings, and set in the stunning surroundings of Battle Abbey overlooking the famous 1066 Battlefield, Battle Abbey School is a thriving co-educational school. The School welcomes international students and provides for the educational and cultural needs of pupils from all over the world. Battle Abbey is uniquely small it has a real family feel and an ability to concentrate on the individual, so that he or she can be nurtured, monitored and tutored closely. School vision is for all pupils to develop their potential, in the belief that all have strengths and however different the strengths may be they are all equal in value. Pupils at Battle Abbey are justly proud of their school, and many quite simply love it.
Admissions
Overseas boys and girls applying to Battle Abbey School take a Placement Test and for Year 12 a short telephone interview to assess their speaking level. Pupils can enter at any age, with the school's approval. In most cases the Admissions like to see the prospective pupil and consider records from previous schooling.
School Facilities
Situated in the magnificent and historic surrounding of the Abbey, the children enjoy a wide and diverse selection of activities that go far beyond the standard National Curriculum. In this way, every child can be introduced to a broader range of intellectual and physical pursuits so they can identify those that they most enjoy, and those at which they most excel. Battle Abbey facilities include: a newly opened performing arts centre (2005), a multipurpose Astor pitch, wireless network; sports science lab; two football pitches; three tennis courts, a multi-purpose hall, a dance studio, interactive whiteboards throughout, a dedicated sixth form centre, a junior and senior boarding common room, swimming pool, state of the art IT facilities.
Boarding
Battle Abbey School welcomes international students and provides for the educational and cultural needs of pupils from all over the world. At one time or another the boarding house has accommodated pupils from virtually every continent, and for the benefit of all students, the school has a policy of maintaining a good balance of British and International students in both classes and in the boarding house. The school recognises the need to be particularly sensitive and responsive to newcomers during the familiarisation period and a warm welcome is guaranteed from both staff and pupils. Battle Abbey School is always delighted to welcome international students as they are so well motivated and keen to learn. Many go on to study at top universities in the UK and abroad after obtaining excellent GCSE and A level results at the school. In general Battle Abbey accepst overseas students whose English is sufficiently advanced for them to learn alongside other pupils whilst they improve their English.
English as an Additional Language
About 10% of the students at Battle Abbey School study English as a Foreign Language. They take Cambridge ESOL examinations (English for Speakers of Other Languages) KET and PET Key/Preliminary English Tests FCE and CAE First Certificate English and Certificate in Advanced English and in the Sixth Form IELTS, the International English Language Testing System required for university entry. English as Foreign Language pupils should be at the following levels at the start of each school year: Pupils can enter the school in years 7 & 8 with Elementary English and Year 9 Low-Intermediate. For Year 10 their English should ideally be Upper-Intermediate and for Year 12 Advanced. Pupils should aim to leave the school at Level 6.5 or 7.5. Overseas pupils applying to Battle Abbey School take a Placement Test and for Year 12 a short telephone interview to assess their speaking level. Lessons are individual or shared, with normally just two students. The number of weekly lessons required by each student is decided at the beginning of each school year. This year the boarding community includes students from Hong Kong and mainland China, Russia, Germany, France and Slovakia. Each year EFL pupils leave the school at the end of Year 13 to study at the University of their Choice, for example Medicine, Architecture and Computer Science in Hong Kong, London and Cambridge, and Japanese Studies in Hong Kong. EFL students also take GCSE and A Level in for example Chinese and Russian, with lessons taught by Cantonese/Mandarin, and Russian teachers.
Location
By air – Gatwick airport 1 hour 15 minutes drive, London Heathrow airport 1 hour 45 minutes drive. By rail – Battle Station to London, Charring Cross – 1 hour 20 minutes.
Visit the Battle Abbey School website.
