Honours Programme
What is the Honours Programme?
The Honours Programme is bespoke to The Sixth Form, offering our students a distinctive set of opportunities for academic achievement and personal development and giving them the competitive edge they need when applying for the highest quality courses and the most prestigious universities in the country.
University Preparation
The Honours Programme is open to students with a strong academic profile, typically students will achieve mainly GCSE grades 7,8 or 9s. The programme will appeal to students who have an interest in exploring the option of attending one of the country’s top universities. Our aim is to work with students to boost their skills and confidence, give them early access to university style learning and enable them to make a more informed decision about applying for their chosen university course.
All of these activities form part of the Honours and Raising Aspirations Programme:
Prestigious Universities Programme
This programme offers students an excellent range of support to enable them to make high quality applications to top universities. The support includes workshops on completing applications and talks from visiting academics and former students. Currently, there are a high number of former students studying at Russell Group Universities and the 1994 group of universities, including: Cambridge, Manchester, Durham, Warwick and Liverpool.
The Sutton Trust – Summer Schools
The Trust funds week-long Summer Schools each year which offer high achieving students a taste of life at a leading university; giving students the knowledge and insight to make high quality university applications.
Cambridge University Higher Education + Programme
Students complete extension classes and spend a day at the University of Cambridge shadowing undergraduate students. They will also attend extra masterclasses and discuss personal statement writing and interview techniques.
Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
The Extended Project provides the opportunity to work on an individual research paper with expert support from an experienced member of the The Sixth Form’s teaching staff. It allows you to explore an aspect of a subject you are studying or choose a topic in which you have an issue that concerns you. While completing this project you will increase your academic toolkit and develop those research skills which are so highly valued by universities.
The EPQ can be particularly helpful to students wishing to pursue a career in Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary Science. It will demonstrate you are a student who is motivated, organised, imaginative and driven. The EPQ carries 70 additional UCAS points and is highly valued by universities.
University Access Programme
All Honours Programme students are invited to take part in university led schemes such as the Manchester Access Programme, Access to Leeds and Access to Newcastle. The aim of these programmes is to support entry to the above universities through the completion of a portfolio of work demonstrating specific knowledge and skills. Participation in Access Programmes can result in more favourable offers from university.
Preparing for Prestigious Universities
Honours Programme Tutorials
Honours Programme tutorials are designed specifically for our gifted and talented students. They will increase your cultural understanding as well as offering you opportunities to think in different ways. Through our sessions on Politics, Philosophy and Economics you will learn to think critically about current affairs. You will also progress your personal characteristics, from social etiquette and engaging with employers to presentation skills and effective communications. You will become more resilient and resourceful by developing your emotional intelligence and develop key strategies for problem solving and independent self-developments.
Pre-Professional Courses
A step in the right direction. Our Pre-Professional programmes are innovative, targeted courses which you can take alongside your regular studies. They are aimed at helping you to make an informed choice about your future, whilst encouraging breadth and depth of study and research in your chosen career path.
Entry onto medical related degrees such as Medicine, Veterinary Science, Dentistry and Pharmacy, and degree programmes such as Law, and Teaching is extremely competitive and therefore only the brightest students who can demonstrate passion and enthusiasm for their subject plus an indication of dedication by undertaking work experience, will gain the top places.
For further information, contact Simon Christian at The Sixth Form Bolton:
Telephone 01204 846215
schristian@bolton-sfc.ac.uk
Parents’ Information