Brighton College A GSG School Review

What The Good Schools Guide says

Head master

Since September 2024, Steve Marshall-Taylor, previously head of senior school. He studied French and German at Nottingham and did his PGCE at Cambridge. He joined Brighton College as deputy head (pupils) in August 2013 from King’s College School, Wimbledon, where he had been head of German, housemaster and head of middle school. He enjoys triathlon and open water swimming, and has completed several mountain marathons including the Biel 100km ultra-marathon. In 2017 he swam the English Channel in support of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. He is married to Mandy and has three daughters.

Entrance

Competition for places is very different from London pressures, says school, which is looking for pupils ‘on the bright side of average… Anyone in top two sets at [leading London prep] would stand a good chance.’ Potential counts – much is made of government data proving that pupils make more progress here than at top schools to achieve top A level results. Has 45-50 ‘main’ feeders, including school’s own preps – Brighton College Prep, Handcross Park and St Christopher’s. Thomas’s (Clapham and Battersea) and Fulham Prep feature among the London schools. Local schools in Surrey, Sussex and Kent include Sevenoaks Prep, Westbourne House, Windlesham House, Cumnor House, Bede’s Prep, Feltonfleet, Hazelwood School, Holmewood House, Marlborough House and Pennthorpe.

Always has some spare places put by, says school, ‘because we want a mix. We keep places aside for late developers, summer birthdays and anyone recommended by a prep or primary school who may not be good at a pre-test but is a lovely person or a real giver or good at maths.’

Pupils sit ISEB pre-tests and the school’s own exams (maths, English, NVR and VR) and have two meetings with member of staff. Prep school pupils take CE or CAS. At 11+ (when pupils join lower school) 50-55 places are available. Pupils are assessed in VR, NVR, English and maths – look for a standardised score just above national average (110). Main intake of 180 is at 13+ – pupils made conditional offers after sitting ISEB common pre-tests in year 6 (if not offered at current school, can take them at the school in year 7). Places confirmed after sitting Common Entrance. Potential sixth formers need a minimum of grade 7 average across their GCSEs (including a 6 in English language and maths) and sit reasoning, maths and a general paper, followed by interviews. Conditional offers (based on GCSE grades) made in December of year 11. For overseas candidates, arrangements can normally be made to sit assessments at current schools.

Exit

Once here, pupils are never asked to leave before their time. ‘We guarantee every 13-year-old a sixth form place.' Pupils agreed (other schools, it was suggested, were in the frame for rumour-spreading – references to ‘annual culling’, say the school and pupils, are completely inaccurate). ‘I do not know a single person to whom that’s happened,’ said sixth former. When they do leave (usually between five and 10 per cent), it’s from choice. Stay on into the sixth form and there’s no question that you’ll be helped to do well. However, they ‘do tell you what to do,’ said a pupil. While this undoubtedly adds huge reassurance to many families, it can feel like golden handcuffs to others who want something a bit less intense. Bristol, Imperial, UCL, Edinburgh, Bath, Durham, Exeter and Manchester all popular destinations, with 37 to Oxbridge in 2024. Lots overseas – most recently to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, UC Berkeley and Toronto. In 2024, 22 medics. Other popular subjects include mechanical engineering, political economy, economics and computer science.

Latest results

In 2024, 95 per cent 9-7 at GCSE; 86 per cent A*/A at A level (99 per cent A*-B).

Teaching and learning

You don’t have to arrive here as a fully formed boffin. ‘We’re definitely not as selective as top London schools,’ says school. Desire to do well, having a spark, being funny, quick and kind (mentioned repeatedly, something of a school mantra) can certainly help during the admissions process. That said, this is a fast-paced environment. ‘My mum says school is on speed, there’s so much going on,’ says a pupil. Laurels are added to, not rested on, a strong work ethic is a given and impressive turn of phrase a notable feature (not surprising that staff team includes a head of critical thinking). ‘Is there a direct correlation between economic growth and free will?’ we heard one a year 9 pupil ask another during a lesson. Self-starters have a definite advantage. ‘If a child is going to need to be pushed to get anything done, there will be years of strife,’ says parent. Levels of homework demand considerable weekend sacrifice, for example. Add in a few activities and working days can easily stretch over 12 hours.

Parents, similarly, expect great things. ‘Oxbridge is in many people’s sights,’ says one. Some express concerns about the pressure though school felt this could give the wrong impression. While pupils set their own goals, it says, ‘We don’t put pressure on the pupils if they do not have a goal themselves.’ Every pupil we spoke to felt that while you work hard, you do it for yourself. One stressed that she’d never felt overwhelmed and put it down to ‘an atmosphere of niceness which isn’t seen by other people’.

With GCSE results like these, nobody (unsurprisingly) has anything much but praise for the quality of the teaching – though parents did wonder how the staff coped with what must be a fairly high-pressure working environment. Class sizes are kept to maximum of 22 (halved for languages, arts and DT), but considerably smaller in the sixth form, with a low pupil-to-staff ratio (five to one). Helps, think parents, that many teachers (average age around 40, 21 who have been at the school for a decade or more) are young, including some fresh out of university, love their subject and are willing to put in the extra hours – fast response to emails, available to talk to during prep sessions and subject clinics laid on (maths probably the best attended). Ad hoc help also available if needed. ‘Asked if teacher would mind teaching me on Saturday morning and he was just so willing. It’s amazing to have teachers who are willing to arrange timetables to help you,’ says pupil.

Parents report that normally taciturn offspring ‘come home talking about what they’ve learned’. (Must be helped by the presentation skills lessons, compulsory for all). Stand-out subjects (English and chemistry feature on best of the best list) can be ‘beyond outstanding’ and vast majority of lessons are ‘lively and interesting’, often moving well beyond the curriculum essentials. The Creative Learning Centre is banked with cameras, so lessons and presentations can be filmed and shared (one history session which – we were told – used wheelie chairs to re-enact battle formations, surely deserves a wider audience).

Art and DT equally exciting. We watched year 10 pupils creating a group work in the long, light art room, chalking their response to music on a large sheet of paper while, in DT, year 9s created Easter egg holders out of cardboard, origami masterpieces that (bar one wonky lid) would have reassured the most anxious of Humpty Dumptys. ‘Everyone has a creative spark,’ insisted dynamic teacher, surrounded by entries for the Leonardo competition, which suggested that some might need to dig deeper than others – one entry (a gorgeous blend of kittens, rainbows, enhanced with a row of little lights) contrasting with another – a full size traffic cone. Interests, even if niche, are catered for. With linguists able to study up to three languages at GCSE including Russian and (of course) Mandarin and dance, photography, PE and computing are also on the menu, making that final choice can be agonising.

At A level (choice of almost 30), sixth formers follow their interests, leading to an eclectic mix of subjects – one had opted for biology, history and drama. All choose four subjects (unusually, can drop one from the second term onwards) and everyone studies school’s own history and politics course, Our Human Story (modified version, Story of Our Land, is taught in the lower school), which attempts to decipher impact of current events on pupils’ futures (and must have the fastest-changing content of any subject). Stunningly successful. At this stage lessons have a substantial input from pupils. ‘It feels very student led [with] the pupils involved in deciding where and what you do in addition to the curriculum.’ Reasons for choosing subjects many and varied (and occasionally tongue in cheek). Politics: ‘Get to have debates – great because I like the sound of my own voice.’ Drama: ‘Fun, awesome class.’ Economics: ‘Interesting how the logic and reasoning impacts on people’s decision making.’

Budding business innovators are currently supported with skills development and a Dragons’ Den style competition and the goal for the future is to up the number of more vocational sixth form courses so the school can appeal to ‘quirky, entrepreneurial children for whom doing three or four A levels is not of interest’, says school.

Learning support and SEN

Over 100 pupils have additional learning needs including profound hearing loss, others with ADHD, autism and specific learning difficulties. All will have IEPs (individual education plans). Much English and maths support, provided either by specialist teachers at the learning centre (timetabled small group lessons) or as add-on sessions with college teachers.

Ad hoc one-to-one assistance with study skills and organisation offered but pupils – who stressed that bright children who struggled shouldn’t be put off from applying here – felt that social skills support in particular stood out, making sure pupils ‘feel included, know how to respond… and don’t struggle socially.’ We also thought inclusivity was well served by making touch typing lessons compulsory for all younger pupils, not just those with SEN.

Previous rave reviews for dyslexia provision were backed up by a current pupil who urged others with specific learning difficulties to apply. ‘People should realise that as someone with learning differences who has struggled quite a lot you can thrive here.’

The arts and extracurricular

Outstanding range of activities spanning the conventional to the highly original. Two additional activity periods are timetabled each day, though much also goes on before and after school. With so much choice, the onus is on pupils to organise themselves with help from personal tutors if they’re feeling overwhelmed.

Music is high profile, with 25 ensembles and 680 music lessons each week (beginners to diploma level), 70 performances and events each year. Groups range from boarders’ rock group to swing ensemble (featuring sax-playing head of music), extra inspiration provided by masterclasses for top performers, and musician in residence, one a recent Young Musician of the Year winner. For rehearsals, there’s a recently added suite of 10 practice rooms, acoustically separate, music only audible in linked corridor. For performance, there’s an attractive hall, recently completed, with gorgeous lighting and flexible raked seating.

Subject-related clubs, dissection to drama, offer ‘options for everyone’. Pupils’ own initiatives are also encouraged, currently ranging from the appeal of conspiracy theories (understanding, not joining in) to crosswords (concise or cryptic). Other current highlights (with teachers, too) include ‘Werewolves’, involving deductive skills and hidden killers.

Many pupils are impressively motivated to give back. ‘An important statement of what we’re about, we’re part of society, not apart from it,’ says school. All pupils undertake some form of community work. This could be CCF or DofE, while others opt for volunteering programmes where initiatives range from involvement in Make a Difference (MAD) week (pays to avoid clashes with other schools as ‘communities can only take so much goodwill at once,’ says witty sixth former) to supporting the homeless and dementia sufferers, to teaching maths and English to Syrian refugees.

Pupils (boarders in particular) can become deeply involved, like the group of six who travelled to Calais to work with refugees. And when the school recruited a drama coach to boost new debating society’s success (they reached a competition final in the first year) one sixth former, realising that state schools could potentially lose out, was awarded a grant from the school to make free online resources available to all.

Sport

Games feature large – compulsory through the school and taking up around three hours a week. Onsite space isn’t huge so most pitches (rugby, netball and football) are a five-minute minibus ride away – not that it gets in the way of success. While the school doesn’t hand out special blazers to top teams as ‘they are part of what we do,’ says the school (and temptation to print DofE progress figures on the back might in any case be overwhelming), results suggest it’s doing just fine with the normal kit. Particularly strong in netball (top team holds regional and county titles) and rugby (last major title, according to school literature, was in 2016 – updates presumably on the way).

Ethos, says school, is ‘sport for everyone’, with 90 per cent of year 9 and year 10 pupils playing in school fixtures. With teams running A to F, anyone who loves a sport but isn’t a shining star should get a match but, mercifully for those who don’t, school will offer alternatives for anyone ‘who really [does] not want to play a particular sport’. Given that options span the gamut from athletics to Zumba, chances are that everyone can end up within (mobile) comfort zone.

Most teams, bar water polo and athletics, are single sex but ‘gender divide is breaking down – now part of day to day life,’ says pupil. There’s growing enthusiasm for dance, highly rated by growing numbers of boys (100 currently dance) and girls for combination of power and flexibility – and, under dynamic head of dance, it wins awards – recent ‘best choreography’ win at local dance festival.

Boarders

The number of boarders – vast majority weekly but can stay for Friday nights at no extra charge – has increased. Now up to six houses, all but one on site, with plans to open two more. About 40 per cent of sixth formers board – overall there’s a 50/50 split between day pupils and boarders. Every pupil is part of vertical boarding family (single sex), each with its own idiosyncratic name (Lellikelly and Hurricane Laura) featured in homemade posters up the stairs and become so close-knit that though sixth formers can opt for their own co-ed boarding house, most don’t.

While we only saw one boarding house (pressure of time), we’re assured by pupils and parents afterwards that its general gorgeousness and glamour is the norm, courtesy of rolling refurb programme. Bedrooms (maximum three beds, upper sixth have single rooms) have plentiful pale wood storage (termly room change ensures that social mix is given a regular stir). So coordinated is the look that duvet covers, boarders’ own, inject a note of almost shocking individuality. Near perfection marred only by slightly clouded appearance of main-road-facing windows but it’s sea salt, not traffic pollution, we’re assured. Communal areas boast floor-to-ceiling bookcases in oh-so-contemporary light greens and vast, custom-built sofas (none of your mismatching and end of range fill-ins here). Even the bowls of fruit look as if they’ve been curated. Instagram friendly? Not a doubt. ‘Very home like,’ says staff member (this reviewer’s home, however, several taster pots short of the full colour palette).

The boarding experience is a box of delights. Pupils have the run of the place, with weekend access to practice rooms, and activities spanning (over one weekend) yoga, water polo and Zumba to volunteering, a trip to the Harry Potter Experience and a cinema night (with hot chocolate). Pastoral care is sensible rather than overbearing, with a strong phone policy. Years 7-11 have free use of phones only between 4.30 and 9.30pm (not overnight). Any calls to parents during the day must be made from boarding parents’ office. Beyond desire to scrap compulsory breakfast and allow older pupils to make their own, little in the way of complaint. Nice additional touches include mentoring for new pupils and opening the school earlier for boarders to ease travel arrangements.

‘Excellent balance between standing on own two feet and right amount of pastoral care,’ thought one parent.

Ethos and heritage

One of what feels like a magic circle of schools exercising almost mesmeric effect over parents. Was one pupil really heard to say (as reported by parent) that, ‘The school is my destiny’? We wouldn’t be surprised, given pupils’ extreme positivity. ‘Nice and sunny even when it’s raining,’ says one. Even a cracked glass door (a rare imperfection) was cause for celebration and it’s catching. We found ourselves agreeing that, yes, the all-over crazing ‘actually does look better’.

It can all feel a bit cult-like – not that prospective parents are put off. ‘When you walk around the senior school you can just see interactions between staff and pupils, between pupils, the way they speak to each other, the language they use. I want my child to experience that,’ says one.

The college is a Victorian Gothic jewel designed in the 1840s by Sir George Gilbert Scott (of St Pancras station fame), in what we’d originally described as quite a gritty part of Brighton. (School, less than keen on our choice of vocab, agrees that while the bingo hall next door ‘can misleadingly give this impression… Kemptown is filled with boutique shops and local food suppliers’ and property prices are some of the highest in the city.)

Arrive at the school and you’ll instantly realise that you’re in the hands of branding experts when you’re greeted by the friendly front-of-house team sporting suits in can’t-miss-it school blue, yellow waistcoats and even shiny buttons with the school crest. Recently revamped – all staff are delighted. ‘Less security staff, more concierge,’ extolled one. And if that’s the goal, it’s been triumphantly achieved. The main entrance gives onto a lawned quad, a fine weather favourite at lunchtime, though there are plenty of other places to relax in, including Smith’s Café, which serves light snacks as a space filler before dinner (spring rolls and buns feature on eclectic menu).

The attention to detail is a marvel, tidiness at epic levels, original buildings like the library (galleries and Gothic window, well stocked and well used) and the chapel (where visiting former pupils search for their old seats) an attractive oasis of calm. But what makes the layout so pleasing is the way newer buildings have been thoughtfully integrated. Opened by politicians from varied shades of the political spectrum – Charles Kennedy and Ed Balls among them – they’re varied, gorgeous and all beautifully appointed, thanks to a one-in, one-out buildings policy (no Portakabins or 60s buildings rotting gently in the shade here). In addition to the Confucius Centre and the Yeoh Building, a focus for creativity, the current star of the show is the new sports and science building that runs, long and low, up the side of the sports field and is already a darling of the architectural press. Opens up activities quite literally – interior and exterior glass walls mean that everyone is on public view.

Pupils’ doubts about ‘doing Zumba and seeing rowing machines next to you’ are now banished. ‘Thought it would be odd but you can focus.’ Fitness suite, in so many schools a rather dark, uninviting place off to the side, is light, well laid out (equipment is thoughtfully placed, rather than squashed in) and – while currently attracting more boys – exponentially increasing appeal to girls. ‘Not hostile, a gym for everyone,’ says pupil.

Serious learning also goes on here, though science labs (purple and black) could be mistaken for ubercool cocktail bar. Other highlights include a sky garden (TellyTubby-ish bright green grass and flying saucer domes – actually for ventilation) and – very popular with boarders – a small cinema with super-comfortable chairs and stunning views (officially ‘an auditorium – connecting to universities across the globe’, a worthy purpose that, strangely, came a distant second to the prospect of hot chocolate and Netflix).

And there’s more, much more, other highlights including indoor sprint track, heated pool (delightfully tropical on day of visit owing to faulty thermostat), Camper Van café, and a sports hall that’s genuinely different (a first), ditching tyranny of the right-angle for geometric variety; you could have a great day out and never leave the building. University campuses, in consequence, are starting to feel distinctly underwhelming by comparison. ‘Older sister has warned me not to expect too much,’ says sixth former.

Next on the agenda is ambitious plan to be carbon neutral by 2030. Fleet of electric minibuses is on the way, food waste is already properly recycled (instead of the bin bags of shame, destined for landfill). Beef has disappeared from the school menu (biggest environmental despoiler) and a heat exchanger is reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Will it prove another headline grabber? We’d take a small bet on it.

Plenty of alumni from the worlds of sport and art, ranging from Sir Michael Hordern (actor) and David Nash (artist) to Matt Prior (England cricketer) and Marcus Smith (rugby player).

Pastoral care, inclusivity and discipline

Supportive vertical house system (separate houses for girls and boys and day and boarding pupils) works well, with housemasters/mistresses in charge of teams of tutors, each leading a 15-strong group of pupils. ‘Can’t fault it,’ says parent.

Small site a huge benefit. Room to get away if it all gets too much (‘It’s like having 80 sisters here – so many people you can rely on… Sometimes it can get a bit much but there’s always space to get away.’ However, if you’re struggling, it will be picked up, feel pupils, who cited head of house, matron – and older pupils (‘often the first to talk to rather than friends’) as first ports of call if they had a problem. Prepared to take direct action, too – one matron all set to protest, pupil reported to us, after she was shouted at during CCF training.

We met several pupils who had started off at other schools, moved here and were deliriously happy, as were others who had opted for the school over top single-sex alternatives. They felt listened to, able to be themselves and express this with an impressive maturity. ‘We’re encouraged to have beliefs and develop an understanding of the consequences,’ says pupil. In particular, they praise the absence of labels. ‘At other schools there’s someone who is the gay kid or the autistic kid… here there’s such a great awareness of what’s socially acceptable to say. Children are comfortable in their own skin.’ School recently asked a group of sixth formers ‘if there was anything they had done in their life that nobody knows about. One pupil came out as gay over dinner, got a round of applause, and conversation carried on as if nothing had happened.’

But while tolerance is a feature of life here, head stresses that the school’s approach is rooted in tradition – ‘Forward thinking but not liberal.’ So, while in theory there’s freedom of choice over uniform (trouser and skirt option available to all), the vast majority stick to convention. Rules overall aren’t harsh and are generally observed, though we heard, from parents, of the occasional infringement – school thought to turn the occasional blind eye. Pupils couldn’t possibly comment on whether, for example, they ever visited the beach, strictly out of bounds for all (though we’d hazard a guess that the school has a clear idea, whether acknowledged or not).

‘Good and prompt at dealing with bullying,’ say parents. Teachers make a huge difference – one parent felt there were many examples of ‘when they’ve intervened in situations, or personally looked out for a child and gone way beyond the extra mile’. Pupils look out for others, too. One teacher, who’d been on crutches, was ‘blown away by how many people offered to help’.

Pupils and parents

Families today are a mix of locals (Sussex, Kent and Surrey) and, increasingly, Londoners. Most have what the school describes as ‘a broad British background’, though they embrace many cultures and many pupils are ‘fluent in multiple languages’ – and, if the ones we met were anything to go by, highly articulate in all of them. A few expats (currently under 30), with around 160 overseas pupils from the USA, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Russia and Singapore.

Manners are universally good, praised by locals. ‘Always move off the pavement [for parents] walking with a buggy.’ Many of the girls – as so often in co-ed – looked as if they had spent hours on their appearance though the school stresses that girls can’t wear makeup unless they’re in the sixth form. Those we spoke to, however, stressed absence of pressure to achieve daily perfection. ‘There’s no expectation to look any way at all. The only makeup I wear is mascara and mostly I don’t bother,’ says one.

Expect greater diversity in the future as school’s ambition to widen access takes off, through the Opening Doors scholarship programme (currently reserves 20 free day sixth form places for local, disadvantaged children). Former pupils don’t (so far) include many big names from the world of business, but they undoubtedly will – many social entrepreneurs among them, if current pupils are anything to go by.

Money matters

Weekly boarders who stay on for the odd weekend aren’t charged for the privilege. All 11+ candidates automatically assessed for academic scholarships as part of the process. Sport, music, art, dance or drama choral and (unusually) a chess scholarship also offered.

Similar awards at 13+ (180 places) with the addition of DT, plus Millennium Scholarship for all-rounders. Sixth formers offered academic, sports, creative arts and scholarships for disadvantaged local children. Has recently supported two Syrian refugees with scholarships, one going on to Oxford.

The last word

Glowing with self-confidence and success but with a strong social conscience (and brilliant at self-promotion), this is a school that knows precisely what it’s about. Energetic, motivated and hard-working children will breathe in the ethos along with the ozone and feel instantly at home. Not the place for passengers.