LAE Stratford general queries :)

Hi! If you're a current student at LAES or an alumni, I would highly appreciate if you would answer a few of my questions, as someone who really wants to go in 2026.
1. I'm planning to take bio, chem, maths, fm- is this a lethal combo... will i get burnt out? if i do need to drop, can i drop fm?
2. I'm also heavily debating on using an ipad for content-based subjects such as bio and chem, am i allowed to use them in lessons for note-taking?
3. how do the extracurriculars work? i've been on their website but i have no idea how any of it works lol. i really wanna try volleyball but i have NEVER touched a volleyball in my life, would i still be allowed in? im also 100% sure i wanna do badminton. also theres clubs i believe, how does it work?
4. how does the enrollment process work? like enrollment day, uploading gcse results
5. would i be okay with grades rn of 99998887 for the sixth form application? (not sure what predicted are yet, they're probably coming out this friday)
6. how should i be organising my work? do i need a day folder, lever arch folders like everyones saying?
7. what are general uniform restrictions? are stuff like jumpers allowed? and do skirts have to be knee length (god im really short so i dont like knee length)
8.how does LAE do with medicine/dentistry support? im deciding between lae and ncs, really appealed to ncs for their med society and stuff but i DO NOT want to be travelling an hour to get to school
9. do they give out digital textbooks or do you have to buy them yourself?
10. is the work-life balance good? worried i might get too overboard with a-levels and start geeking
11.finally, what are some things that i need to know if i do get in?
thank you so much!! i may ask more questions when i remember what i was gonna ask lol

Hi! If you're a current student at LAES or an alumni, I would highly appreciate if you would answer a few of my questions, as someone who really wants to go in 2026.
1. I'm planning to take bio, chem, maths, fm- is this a lethal combo... will i get burnt out? if i do need to drop, can i drop fm?
2. I'm also heavily debating on using an ipad for content-based subjects such as bio and chem, am i allowed to use them in lessons for note-taking?
3. how do the extracurriculars work? i've been on their website but i have no idea how any of it works lol. i really wanna try volleyball but i have NEVER touched a volleyball in my life, would i still be allowed in? im also 100% sure i wanna do badminton. also theres clubs i believe, how does it work?
4. how does the enrollment process work? like enrollment day, uploading gcse results
5. would i be okay with grades rn of 99998887 for the sixth form application? (not sure what predicted are yet, they're probably coming out this friday)
6. how should i be organising my work? do i need a day folder, lever arch folders like everyones saying?
7. what are general uniform restrictions? are stuff like jumpers allowed? and do skirts have to be knee length (god im really short so i dont like knee length)
8.how does LAE do with medicine/dentistry support? im deciding between lae and ncs, really appealed to ncs for their med society and stuff but i DO NOT want to be travelling an hour to get to school
9. do they give out digital textbooks or do you have to buy them yourself?
10. is the work-life balance good? worried i might get too overboard with a-levels and start geeking
11.finally, what are some things that i need to know if i do get in?
thank you so much!! i may ask more questions when i remember what i was gonna ask lol

Hi omg I'm planning to take the same subjects( maybe econ instead of FM tho) and go into med too, also debating between NCS and LAE. I just wanted to wish you good luck with your applications! (Are you going to the NCS open evening tomorrow?)

1) This isn't something I can really answer since i do 3 humanities and maths and I'm already pretty checked out of politics, but you have ample opportunity to drop come December if the workload proves to be too much for you.
2) Yes.
3) We do sports in the first term and clubs in the 2nd & 3rd, I did volleyball this term and have never played before, it was completely fine.
4) You'll do most of the work for enrolment within your application, come results day it's mainly about confirming your grades and subjects.
5) Yes.
6) Depends entirely on you, I've personally never gotten any use out of day folders / ring binders.
7) The uniform is so insanely relaxed you don't need to worry. For the first week it's probably gonna be pretty business casual but after that everyone just wears what they want, teachers don't really care.
8) We also have a medsoc and we have some really good MDV (med dentistry veterinary) support, you'll probably see on the open day that we have really good outcomes for MDV applicants (comparable to bma and ncs).
9) They give you the textbooks online and then it depends on your subject if you get a physical one (e.g. for philosophy we all got given one but for maths you'd have to ask for one)
10) Work-life balance here is far and away the best out of bma ncs and lae, even brampton students will admit that. If A-levels start being too much we have a great mental wellbeing team you can go to.
11) Remember to have fun! You're a child first and a student second always remember that.

1) This isn't something I can really answer since i do 3 humanities and maths and I'm already pretty checked out of politics, but you have ample opportunity to drop come December if the workload proves to be too much for you.
2) Yes.
3) We do sports in the first term and clubs in the 2nd & 3rd, I did volleyball this term and have never played before, it was completely fine.
4) You'll do most of the work for enrolment within your application, come results day it's mainly about confirming your grades and subjects.
5) Yes.
6) Depends entirely on you, I've personally never gotten any use out of day folders / ring binders.
7) The uniform is so insanely relaxed you don't need to worry. For the first week it's probably gonna be pretty business casual but after that everyone just wears what they want, teachers don't really care.
8) We also have a medsoc and we have some really good MDV (med dentistry veterinary) support, you'll probably see on the open day that we have really good outcomes for MDV applicants (comparable to bma and ncs).
9) They give you the textbooks online and then it depends on your subject if you get a physical one (e.g. for philosophy we all got given one but for maths you'd have to ask for one)
10) Work-life balance here is far and away the best out of bma ncs and lae, even brampton students will admit that. If A-levels start being too much we have a great mental wellbeing team you can go to.
11) Remember to have fun! You're a child first and a student second always remember that.

hi, when you apply will they want you to use your january mocks or november mocks (the deadline is around the start of the feb and the january mocks will be another the end of january so idk if my skl will come w the reports quick enough?) so is using ur november mocks fine (first set of yr11 mocks)

1) This isn't something I can really answer since i do 3 humanities and maths and I'm already pretty checked out of politics, but you have ample opportunity to drop come December if the workload proves to be too much for you.
2) Yes.
3) We do sports in the first term and clubs in the 2nd & 3rd, I did volleyball this term and have never played before, it was completely fine.
4) You'll do most of the work for enrolment within your application, come results day it's mainly about confirming your grades and subjects.
5) Yes.
6) Depends entirely on you, I've personally never gotten any use out of day folders / ring binders.
7) The uniform is so insanely relaxed you don't need to worry. For the first week it's probably gonna be pretty business casual but after that everyone just wears what they want, teachers don't really care.
8) We also have a medsoc and we have some really good MDV (med dentistry veterinary) support, you'll probably see on the open day that we have really good outcomes for MDV applicants (comparable to bma and ncs).
9) They give you the textbooks online and then it depends on your subject if you get a physical one (e.g. for philosophy we all got given one but for maths you'd have to ask for one)
10) Work-life balance here is far and away the best out of bma ncs and lae, even brampton students will admit that. If A-levels start being too much we have a great mental wellbeing team you can go to.
11) Remember to have fun! You're a child first and a student second always remember that.

Hey, do you know for swuience and like economics, on the first day,
1. what equipment would you recommend bringing on the first day, please? Thank you!!
2. Also, when did you get your provisional offer ?
3. Are you allowed to go out for lunch and how long is lunch?
4. When do the mocks take place?
5. Roughly how many classes/people per class?

Hey, do you know for swuience and like economics, on the first day,
1. what equipment would you recommend bringing on the first day, please? Thank you!!
2. Also, when did you get your provisional offer ?
3. Are you allowed to go out for lunch and how long is lunch?
4. When do the mocks take place?
5. Roughly how many classes/people per class?

1) Can't really help you with sciences since I don't take any but for economics you just need a pen and paper / iPad / laptop for note taking and occasionally you'll need a calculator
2) I got mine around March
3) We're allowed to leave the school during break (20 minutes) and lunch (50 minutes)
4) We have HTAs in the first half term and the third half term, and then our first proper mock exams before the December half term and our end-of-year mocks in late April/early May
5) I can't answer this since it varies greatly depending on subject (e.g. my Philosophy class has ~16 people and my economics class has ~28) and since your cohort size will be ~50 students larger, don't worry about space though as the new building you'll be starting in is much larger than our current one
6) Yes

1) Can't really help you with sciences since I don't take any but for economics you just need a pen and paper / iPad / laptop for note taking and occasionally you'll need a calculator
2) I got mine around March
3) We're allowed to leave the school during break (20 minutes) and lunch (50 minutes)
4) We have HTAs in the first half term and the third half term, and then our first proper mock exams before the December half term and our end-of-year mocks in late April/early May
5) I can't answer this since it varies greatly depending on subject (e.g. my Philosophy class has ~16 people and my economics class has ~28) and since your cohort size will be ~50 students larger, don't worry about space though as the new building you'll be starting in is much larger than our current one
6) Yes

Thank you so much!! Are you able to print stuff there free of charge?

We got ring binders for all of our subjects in the first week and I've literally never used them once so if you really feel like it would help then go for it but otherwise it's not worth the hassle

Oh okay, thank you! The school supplied the binders?