Cardiff Sixth Form College Guide: Results, Fees And More

Founded in 2004 as a small, private tutorial college, Cardiff Sixth Form College (CSFC) is dedicated to pioneering a new approach, combining small class sizes with individual attention and excellent teaching to nurture the potential of its students. Read our full Cardiff Sixth Form College review below.

Cardiff Sixth Form College Guide
Share This Article
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Table of Contents

Summary Of School

  • Type of school: Co-educational
  • Age range: 15-18
  • Pupils: 365; sixth formers: 340
  • Boarders: 95%
  • Fees: Day £20,600; Boarding; £48,800 – £53,600 pa
  • 2023 A Level Results: 94.7% A*-A
  • 2023 GCSE Results: 84.1% A*-A

Overview

Located in the heart of Cardiff City following two relocations, necessitated by rapid growth and development, CSFC now calls Trinity Court, Newport Road home.

The school also stands as a combination of learning philosophies, culminating in an East-meets-West approach to education, with equal emphasis on the Eastern style of rigour and discipline, yet retaining the Western style of individual creative cultivation and nurture.

This blends together for the school to form a haven for students who have had enough of being insufficiently challenged in their education. To cite CSFC’s website, the school is for students who “wish to win a place at the best universities to study courses which will provide fulfilment and challenge”.

Reaching for the heights of Academia

For CSFC, the academic has been and looks to always be the central focus. This is best reflected in the school’s recent results: an array of As and A*s totalling 94.7% of the school in 2022. This marks the most recent achievement of CSFC, who has topped the Times and Telegraph league tables for the last six years.

This begins from selection and screening, with the school noted as being particularly selective, requiring excellence in English as a prerequisite, with international students required to have a 6.5 in the academic version of IELTS. Applicants with GCSEs are required to have at least six A*/8-9s in total with A*/8-9 in all subjects chosen for A Level, as well as doing sufficiently well in college admission tests. All applicants also sit the GL assessment in verbal reasoning online and are interviewed, either in person or through video-conferencing.

Once enrolled, students are faced with committed and experienced teaching staff who do nothing but teach, as all extracurricular matters and administration is handled by a separate team. Small classes with an average of eight students per class also play a part, allowing teachers to offer their attention to students who need it over the 25 hours of taught hours a week. Teachers monitor students closely, fixing problems with one-to-one interventions, with peer one-to-one sessions common as well.

Graduates can look towards the G5 as University destinations: Oxford, Cambridge, London Imperial, LSE, and UCL, with 42 per cent of leavers heading on to these Universities with a heavy bias towards degree courses in medicine, engineering, and computer science. This is due to CSFC only offering A Level subjects that are identified as facilitating, totalling 15 subjects with an emphasis on STEM subjects and sciences that lead on to medicine, dentistry, or veterinary courses.

Fees for this school stand among the most expensive in the UK, attributable to the cost of leasehold buildings, the small classes, and the high number of teaching hours. Though the school does have some generous bursaries, with some going up to 100 per cent, and Welsh students receive a subsidy, it should be noted that the school does not have charitable status.

Cardiff Sixth Form College Courses And Programs

GCSEs

Cardiff Sixth Form College offers a distinctive educational opportunity for younger students who aim to advance to its acclaimed Sixth Form. Students can benefit from inspirational teaching, exceptional career development support, and a contemporary boarding environment at one of the leading schools in the UK.

A Levels

Cardiff Sixth Form College offers a wide range of A-level courses for students aspiring to join their renowned Sixth Form. With a focus on inspiring teaching, excellent career development, and modern boarding facilities, it is among the top schools in the UK.

The college provides students with 24-30 hours of scheduled class time per week, along with one-on-one tutorials. The teacher-to-student ratio of 1:7 ensures personalized attention and mentorship.

For specific details and the latest information on courses offered, it is recommended to visit the official Cardiff Sixth Form College website or contact us.

Cardiff Sixth Form College Fees

For international boarders, the fees range from £20,600 – £53,600 per annum, which includes the following:

  • Tuition
  • Group IELTS preparation (excluding exam fees)
  • Exam fees (excluding re-takes)
  • Use of all College facilities
  • Accommodation
  • Meals (catering is not included during the Christmas, and Summer holidays)
  • Complimentary bedding pack (one per year)
  • Weekly room cleaning
  • One complimentary airport pickup (on specific dates)

Cardiff Sixth Form College Application Deadline

Applications for boarding places should be submitted to the college by September in the year prior to the start of the academic year the student wishes to enter. For example, applications for entry in either September 2024 or January 2025 should be submitted before September 2023.

Cardiff Sixth Form College Boarding And Pastoral Care

Boarders are usually overseas and further flung students, with the boarding houses functional in design, mostly situated in two blocks in former university accommodation a short walk from the main building.

Students can choose between studios or cluster rooms, where 5 to 6 single rooms share a kitchen and common space. GCSE students have a communal dining table, and the kitchens in their quarters are only meant for snacks. All meals are provided in the school’s canteen, with dietary needs such as religious restrictions and allergies catered for.

Considering CSFC is located in the heart of Cardiff, the town offers its amenities to the students, among which are work observation placements, which lend a helping hand to a student’s university application. While the school’s library offers strong reference material, recreational reading is mainly obtained from Cardiff’s library instead.

In terms of pastoral care, the school serves very well as a bridge to University life, not only in terms of its lodging arrangements, but also in terms of preparing students for living alone and away from home. The multicultural diversity of its students also helps prepare them for social interactions away from home and in the wider world. Students are also expected to carry themselves as responsible adults, and this is shown in how the school treats disciplinary matters, with sanctions happening rarely.

The school places importance in the mental health care of its students. This has led to the Independent Schools Association nominating CSFC for an award in mental health.

Cardiff Sixth Form College Extracurricular Activities

The school continues to encourage healthy physical activities, with classes for yoga, fitness, dance, and swimming organised through local gyms and other providers. Traditional ball games take place on local pitches, with three hours of weekly sport compulsory for anyone below sixth form.

Their debating team, however, sees plenty of endorsement, as a means of developing eloquence, as well as to prepare for careers where the ability to string a forcible argument together is a necessity. Music is offered in Glee club, with performances and productions seeing more credibility due to the multicultural mix of nationalities among the students there. Other avenues include music lessons for 18 instruments, with CSFC boasting some very accomplished musicians.

However, even in the extracurricular, study comes first, with clubs limited in number and trending toward the academic in nature. A point of pride is the NASA Club, which participates in a worldwide competition where students propose detailed designs for a future human settlement in space. The CSFC club even made it to the finals in the 2018 iteration of this competition.

Cardiff Sixth Form College Reviews

Colin
5/5

I studied at Cardiff for two years. The school studied our successes, developed programs for participation in volunteer activities, taught how to seek practice and helped if we could not cope with this. All this contributed to the admission to universities. We had wonderful teachers. Definitely the education that Cardiff provides is at such a high level due to the teaching staff.

Juliet
5/5

My proudest moment at CSFC was receiving my UCL offer to study; coming to CSFC has been fantastic mental preparation for what awaits me at university. It is great to live independently in such nice accommodation but of course I miss my sister, parents and friends at home.

Phillipa
5/5

I found my first year at medical school rewarding, though also thoroughly challenging as the academic leap from A-level to university education was quite staggering. However, thanks to my time spent at CSFC I was no stranger to hard work, nor being pushed as far as I could go and so I was fairly well prepared to press forward and make the most of my year.

Aliza
5/5

I moved to the UK to begin my A Levels here (at CSFC). Now, two years later, I am due to study Medicine at Plymouth University in September and am really excited to find a direction to head towards in Medicine.

Augusta
5/5

Aside from the rigorous but rewarding academics at Cardiff, I have had plenty of time to form lasting friendships and have made friends from all over the world. This has been helped of course by my involvement in the Medical Society, Philosophy and Art clubs

Apply For Cardiff Sixth Form College

Join our UK Study newsletter and get helpful articles on UK study, admission tips, courses and more delivered to your inbox.




Apply For Cardiff Sixth Form College