Based in Shropshire, England, Concord College is an award-winning independent international school for day and boarding students. The College is both academically selective and adaptable to students’ own background in the selection. It is also holistic, ensuring that students are nurtured as whole individuals. Girls and boys between the ages of 13 and 18 from around the world are embraced into Concord’s vibrant and varied community dedicated to rigour, kindness, and creativity.
“Our academic standards are unashamedly high: Concord students love to learn and are ambitious for their futures. Here they can pursue their dreams in a safe, calm and supportive place where ideas can be shared and inquisitiveness and independence of thought are celebrated. Our students’ hard work is rewarded with outstanding GCSE and A-Level results, and Concord ranks highly in UK school league tables annually. More importantly, however, Concordians go on from here equipped to thrive at the best universities in the UK and worldwide,” shares Dr Michael Truss, Principal of Concord College.
State-of-the-Art Infrastructure and Facilities
Concord College is spread across 73 acres of lush green and serene campus adjacent to Acton Burnell Castle, offering a perfect backdrop for an international community of like-minded people to study and grow. The campus houses a new 22-laboratory state-of-the-art science building, the Hawkins Building, including a special projects lab. Also, it has group discussion / social spaces and a range of interactive science exhibits. There are bright, well-equipped, and inspiring studio spaces for Concord’s Art students, allowing their creative potential to be supported by experienced staff and students to produce exceptional work.
The historic Main Hall (Acton Burnell Hall) houses the Principal’s office and the offices of many of the Senior Management Team. It is home to two grand pianos in public spaces where students practice or play for fun to share their musical talents with the College. In the Jubilee Block, there is a modern, well-equipped, purpose-built library comprising books, periodicals, and digital materials and places for both silent and collaborative work for all the different study needs of Concord’s students and their courses.
Apart from this, there are two sports halls, two gyms (weights/resistance and cardio), a swimming pool, squash courts, tennis, badminton and basketball courts, and an athletics track. Additionally, there are beautifully maintained soccer pitches, a climbing wall and a high-ropes assault course. The modern theatre building, Morris Building, provides a hub for the performing arts, housing the main theatre, classrooms, and practice spaces. It is also home to the Music School, with individual and group practice spaces and a superb recording studio. Furthermore, students can access popular purpose-built social spaces such as the “West End” common room, an outdoor amphitheatre, and the student kitchen.
Expert Team of Faculty
Concord College has a highly capable faculty of professionals who have a true enthusiasm for their subjects and many of whom hold advanced degrees in their relevant fields of interest. They are dedicated individuals who combine academic theory with real-life industry knowledge, providing quality learning experiences and sharing their knowledge with the students.
Regarding teacher professional development, Concord College supports and encourages its faculty to further enhance their skills and experience.
What Sets Concord College Apart from Other International Colleges?
Concord College is a uniquely joyful place and creative school where young people can pursue their studies in an atmosphere where academic success is celebrated. They live and learn in a diverse, vibrant, truly international community supported by outstanding academic and pastoral staff. They have daily opportunities through Concord’s extensive co-curricular, sporting, arts, social and cultural programmes to develop important communication, teamwork, and social responsibility skills.
Furthermore, excellent results allow Concordians to continue to access the very best opportunities when they move on to the next stage of their lives. “The result is that Concordians are overwhelmingly confident, empathetic, respectful, and tolerant. Most importantly, it means they are happy: you will find many smiling faces here,” shares Dr Michael Truss, Principal of Concord College.
Nurturing Creativity in Students
At Concord College, creativity is given importance in every subject, from performing arts and traditionally creative subjects to problem-solving in science and mathematics. Moreover, through Concord’s super-curriculum of activities, clubs and clinics, students are encouraged to explore their studies beyond the syllabus to enhance their breadth and depth of understanding and develop their creative and critical thinking skills. By following their academic interests, students begin to appreciate that learning is a process over which they take ownership rather than something which is ‘done to them.’
Likewise, Concord’s Art School offers a tranquil yet hardworking environment where students are encouraged to explore their creative potential and develop the ability to communicate their ideas and ultimately succeed in the creative industries and beyond. Similarly, music plays a central role in the life of the school. Every year, Concord College hosts a concerto competition for young musicians and numerous concert nights, many of which its students lead. Concord’s Concerto Competition 2023 was conducted in March 2023. The Music Department presented top instrumentalists from across the county with the unique opportunity to perform a movement from a concerto with an orchestra.
Involving Parents in their Child’s Educational Journey
Since most students are from outside the UK, Concord College has a wealth of experience in helping families support their children at a distance. The results of the weekly tests that students sit are made available to parents so that they stay just as much in the loop academically as if they were at home. There are dedicated boarding parents who focus on providing boarders with the emotional and practical support they need when they are away from home and liaise between home and school. Similarly, many major school events are videoed, live-streamed, or made available afterwards so parents can share them.
Moreover, Concord College also offers support to students via Heads of Year in the Lower School and its House system in the Upper School. If parents are visiting from overseas, the College can specially arrange a weekend exeat for the students.
A High College Acceptance Rate
In 2022, 81% of A-level grades were A*/A, and with 136 students getting AAA or better (60 A*A*A* or higher), students left Concord bound for some of the world’s top universities. Last year’s leavers headed to Cambridge, Oxford, and UCL; others are now attending Imperial College London, the LSE and King’s College London. Outside of Oxford, Cambridge and London, students are going to St Andrews in Scotland, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Southampton, and Warwick, to name a few. Similarly, Concord College has a solid record of placing students into Engineering, Economics and Maths courses along with Medicine. In 2022, 29 students gained places at medical, dental, and veterinary schools.
In order to secure these top university destinations, students need valuable contact time with staff that have the necessary knowledge and expertise. A team of dedicated university coordinators provide support for specific degree subject areas such as Law, Engineering, Architecture and Health Sciences. There is a school wide Student Futures programme, which includes careers advice and annual events such as Futures February, when the college’s university support is introduced, and Pre-University Week in June, focussing on applications, admissions tests and interview skills. The provision is truly global in nature, with staff assigned to give one-to-one support on applications to the USA, Hong Kong and Europe. However, the college also realises the importance of drawing on external experiences and expertise. Every year the college takes students to visit UK Universities, including, this year, Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick and Birmingham. Universities also come to the college and representatives of many medical schools attend the college’s annual Medical Futures Conference to advise students. The college’s widening alumni network provide another valuable resource and help students to choose undergraduate courses, prepare university applications and secure relevant work experience.
Life at a Campus Boarding School
Over 80% of Concord College’s 40 or so nationalities students are boarders. The College becomes a home away from home for international students with the potential to study hard but also to enjoy their time and use Concord’s many facilities to develop as rounded individuals. In addition, a vast array of activities, clubs and societies are available at Concord as are opportunities for rest and relaxation around the school and in the boarding residences. All of this is within a walk or a short-cycle ride for students, meaning they can make the best use of their time within a safe and healthy environment.
Another tangible benefit of boarding life at Concord College is the sense of belonging. Students and staff live alongside each other in an atmosphere of mutual respect and learn from each other in this safe and beautiful environment. Therefore, boarding at Concord often leads students to forge friendships that can last a lifetime.
Concordians Bringing Laurels to the School
Students at Concord College (known as Concordians) regularly enter national and international competitions to test their skills and understanding against a wider cohort. Recently, Concord students have participated in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, History and Philosophy competitions with many notable successes. In 2022, a team of 6.2 students were awarded First Place in the ‘Science at Heart and Lung School Teams Prize’, a competition hosted by the National Lung and Heart Institute at Imperial College London. Concord students also won 55 gold certificates in Senior Maths Challenge, and one F5 (y11) student won his second British Mathematical Olympiad gold medal with a perfect score placing him at the joint top in the country.
Likewise, one of Concord’s sixth form students is an ambassador for the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme – he is one of just 30 young people in the country working with DofE to promote and develop the scheme.
Prestigious Awards and Accreditations
In February 2023, for the twelfth consecutive year, Concord won an award recognising the College as one of the country’s top five co-educational boarding schools by Best Schools in the category for Independent Co-educational Boarding Schools by A Level. Moreover, Concord was consecutively awarded a Microsoft Showcase School status for two years (2021-22 & 2022-23), having graduated from Microsoft’s Incubator Programme. The College was also a finalist in the Independent Schools of The Year awards in 2021 for its innovative and effective Student Careers Programme. It was a Sunday Times Schools Guide 2021 Top 20 Independent Secondary School and was a finalist in the European School category in the Study Travel Secondary School Awards 2022.
Concord College is a member of the Boarding Schools Association, Society of Heads, and Independent Schools Council and is an ESU oracy affiliate school. It is also a member of the Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands.
Moving Ahead
As a world-class institution, Concord College will continue to strive for excellence without compromising its ethical values of the importance of kindness or its academic standards to become a world leader in the education of bright children.
For More Info: https://concordcollegeuk.com/