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Woodhouse, LEA or Hills Road???

If you were to rank them from best to worst what order would you put them? (I want to do maths, bio, chem) my predicteds are 999988887

Reply 1

Original post
by Minnie8
If you were to rank them from best to worst what order would you put them? (I want to do maths, bio, chem) my predicteds are 999988887

I don't know about the others, but Hills Road is a very very unique experience, and with that comes a cautionary tale. They have a very different style of teaching that's much more close to what you get at uni, this is of course a double edged sword, as if you're very mature and responsible, and you can organise your own revision and keep up with extra work at home, obviously this makes the transition from A-level to uni almost none-existent, and you barely notice it often. That being said, because there are far fewer contact hours per subject, (1) lessons are often more demanding, and (2) you need to do work outside of lessons often. That being said, it also gives you a lot more flexibility with how you arrange your learning. For instance, I basically don't do any work on maths and chemistry outside of lessons, since they're dead easy for me, and that leaves me with more time for further maths (my beloved) and comp-sci theory (my behated), so it is really really helpful. Generally, they'll treat you like a responsible adult unless you prove otherwise, since some of us are actual adults.

The other big thing with Hills is that there are nearly 3,000 students, all of whom study A-levels, so you're very likely to find some group to gel with (and student societies help with this), also people tend to actually mind their own business, it's very much live and let live, instead of the very imposing social hierarchy and pressure towards 'normalcy' (looking at my secondary school in particular, but it's present in a lot of places). So I can also have room to breathe socially without having to constantly watch my back (although this may be more or less important for others)

For your subjects, I can personally say the chemistry department is absolutely phenomenal, and the maths department is great (not sure about biology, since I don't do it).

TL;DR - Hills Road has absolutely no rivals if you are organised and responsible (if you aren't, you're kinda screwed and I'd recommend anywhere else).

P.S. the situation has improved a lot if you needed study or wellbeing support (something mildly infamous at Hills), it used to be pretty dreadful, but is a lot better now, the wellbeing team is pretty active, although if you need study support, you'll still probably need to actively seek it from the teachers

Reply 2

Original post
by The :3
I don't know about the others, but Hills Road is a very very unique experience, and with that comes a cautionary tale. They have a very different style of teaching that's much more close to what you get at uni, this is of course a double edged sword, as if you're very mature and responsible, and you can organise your own revision and keep up with extra work at home, obviously this makes the transition from A-level to uni almost none-existent, and you barely notice it often. That being said, because there are far fewer contact hours per subject, (1) lessons are often more demanding, and (2) you need to do work outside of lessons often. That being said, it also gives you a lot more flexibility with how you arrange your learning. For instance, I basically don't do any work on maths and chemistry outside of lessons, since they're dead easy for me, and that leaves me with more time for further maths (my beloved) and comp-sci theory (my behated), so it is really really helpful. Generally, they'll treat you like a responsible adult unless you prove otherwise, since some of us are actual adults.
The other big thing with Hills is that there are nearly 3,000 students, all of whom study A-levels, so you're very likely to find some group to gel with (and student societies help with this), also people tend to actually mind their own business, it's very much live and let live, instead of the very imposing social hierarchy and pressure towards 'normalcy' (looking at my secondary school in particular, but it's present in a lot of places). So I can also have room to breathe socially without having to constantly watch my back (although this may be more or less important for others)
For your subjects, I can personally say the chemistry department is absolutely phenomenal, and the maths department is great (not sure about biology, since I don't do it).
TL;DR - Hills Road has absolutely no rivals if you are organised and responsible (if you aren't, you're kinda screwed and I'd recommend anywhere else).
P.S. the situation has improved a lot if you needed study or wellbeing support (something mildly infamous at Hills), it used to be pretty dreadful, but is a lot better now, the wellbeing team is pretty active, although if you need study support, you'll still probably need to actively seek it from the teachers


Thank you so much! I pride myself in being very organised and mature so I’d love to get in. I am still working towards improving my grades.
This was very helpful xx

Reply 3

Original post
by Minnie8
If you were to rank them from best to worst what order would you put them? (I want to do maths, bio, chem) my predicteds are 999988887


Fully agree with what was said above about Hills.

If you plan on doing maths bio chem there will be so many other people in the same boat (there is every year), which is great for study groups and advice from peers. There is a very active chem soc, bio soc, med soc, etc.

Only thing I would say is hills as a college is tailored towards uni. Whilst they do advertise other paths, their expertise is in university (and they have the stats to back it up), so I would say if you are considering alternative routes then maybe hills isn’t the ideal place. If you’re planning on going to uni then you’re in good hands!

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