Academic Courses Programme

This seminar course explores loss, grief, resilience, memory and female experience in two of Isabel Allende's most significant works through close reading of selected Spanish extracts. Students will develop advanced analytical skills by examining Allende’s narrative voice and magical realism, interpreting the texts within their broader cultural and social contexts. The course offers an engaging introduction to literary study, encouraging critical thinking and intellectual curiosity.

This course introduces key works and authors in French literature from the classical period to the present day. Through novels, plays and short stories, it explores major themes such as love, identity, society, history and justice. Each seminar focuses on a different author and cultural context, encouraging close reading and discussion of how literature reflects and shapes society.

An introduction to Economics beyond the syllabus. The sessions will provide students an ability to explore our chosen book and link the concepts covered to theoretical economic concepts and global affairs.

What is the essence of ancient Greece and why does it matter?

This course explores many aspects of the ancient Greek world, from art and architecture to literature and philosophy, and in particular why it is still relevant to us today.  Since the classical world is the foundation of Western culture and thought, this course will be valuable for anyone considering degrees in humanities, law, social sciences and more.

A chance for L6 and U6 students to extend their sixth form studies with curious practicals, interesting talks, challenging questions and two competitions.

This 12-week academic extension course explores sustainability as a political challenge rather than simply an environmental concern. Using the Action for Climate Empowerment framework developed by Wellington and UN Sustainable Development Goals as a starting point, students examine power, sovereignty, legitimacy, justice, development, global governance and collective action. The course builds towards a professional COP-style policy recommendation and presentation, requiring students to design a credible, evidence-based sustainability proposal for policymakers.

The Drama Department is taking part in the National Theatre’s New Views project this coming year — a unique opportunity for aspiring playwrights to develop their own original play with professional guidance. This is a year-long programme designed for students who are passionate about writing and storytelling. Over the course of the year, you’ll take part in 8–12 writing sessions between Sept and April. You’ll also have the chance to work with a professional playwright mentor in two special sessions.

What does it mean to study the past — and how do historians decide what counts as evidence, truth, or interpretation? This short seminar course uses John Arnold’s History: A Very Short Introduction as a guide to some of the discipline’s most fascinating and challenging questions, inviting students to explore history not simply as a body of knowledge, but as an active process of debate, analysis, and argument.

Across seven discussion-based seminars, students will engage with striking case studies drawn from Arnold’s book — from medieval murder and ancient historiography to archives, migration, cultural difference, and the problem of historical truth. Along the way, the course will explore how historians work with sources, interpret silences, construct narratives, and explain change over time.

Rather than presenting history as a fixed record of “what happened”, the course encourages students to see it as a dynamic and contested discipline: one shaped by evidence, perspective, and the questions we ask of the past. It is designed for curious students who enjoy discussion, big ideas, and the challenge of thinking critically about how knowledge of the past is created.

This 8-week short course provides an engaging introduction to Linear Programming and Game Theory, two powerful branches of mathematics used to solve decision-making and optimisation problems. Students will learn how to model real-world scenarios, identify optimal solutions under constraints, and analyse strategic interactions between individuals, businesses, or organisations. Through a combination of practical examples, problem-solving activities, and mathematical techniques, the course explores applications ranging from resource allocation and scheduling to competitive strategy and economics. By the end of the programme, students will have developed valuable analytical skills and a deeper appreciation of how mathematics can be used to make smarter, more effective decisions in complex situations.

An extension club focused on preparing pupils of all ages for various external and internal mathematical competitions, university entrance exam preparation and other extension and enrichment around the subject. The sessions will be flexible, and you do not need to commit to attending every single week. There are also opportunities for pupil leadership within the society for L6th Form pupils. Any pupil can plan and deliver a session for Maths society, speak to Dr Basra for more information.

Night after night, I went around recognizing myself in an idea that suggested general disintegration and, at the same time, new composition. -- Elena Ferrante, The Story of the Lost Child (2015)

You do not create a style. You work, and develop yourself; your style is an emanation from your own being. -- Katherine Anne Porter

How do literary works help us to understand and create ourselves? Through a series of creative-critical encounters with contemporary writings and critical voices, this course will explore questions of self-fashioning and identity, deliberately dissolving the distinctions between the ‘creative’ and the ‘critical’ in our responses. Five seminar-style sessions will examine diverse traditional textual forms in which the self is performed and articulated – memoir, dramatic monologue, song lyrics, manifestos – as well as the curating of a digital self or selves online. Actively engaging with a variety of materials, students will be guided towards dialogic exploration and creative tasks. For their group research project, students will be encouraged to draw on the productive continuum of critical-creative work across a range of media to develop their own original ‘unessay’ response.

Image Attribution: Poem by Georgiana, OW, Orange. Illustration by Scarlett, OW, Hopeton

This course explores the hidden geographies of artificial intelligence, examining how data centres, resource extraction, global supply chains and technological power are reshaping the planet. Through seminar-style discussions, case studies, GIS mapping and collaborative enquiry, pupils will investigate the environmental, economic and social impacts of AI across different places and scales.

At the heart of the course is the key question: Is AI creating a more sustainable and equitable world, or reinforcing existing inequalities? Pupils will critically evaluate whether AI is helping to solve global challenges or deepening existing patterns of environmental damage, uneven development and social injustice.

Biomedical Society offers an exciting program of talks, workshops, and practical experiences designed to inspire students interested in medicine, dentistry, veterinary science, and biology-related careers. Throughout the course, students will engage with healthcare professionals, conservation experts, and industry leaders, while developing key laboratory skills.

Art That Moved Me is a course for students interested in art, art history, architecture and visual culture. Spanning the ancient world to the present day, it explores not only what art is, but why it matters - examining the history, philosophy, and aesthetics that shape it. From works that inspire wonder to those that challenge and provoke, the course considers how art has the power to transform our understanding of the world.

A rigorous extension club focused on tackling challenging physics problems. Students will develop advanced problem-solving skills through structured discussion, independent thinking, and exposure to demanding questions, building the depth and confidence required for competitive university applications and entrance assessments.

Physics and Maths at AL or IB are essential.

Psychology has uncovered extraordinary truths about human behaviour, but some of these discoveries came from experiments that crossed deeply disturbing ethical lines. This short course explores the unsettling history of psychological research: children deliberately traumatised, prisoners psychologically broken, patients manipulated without consent, and ordinary people pushed to inflict apparent harm on strangers. Through infamous studies involving obedience, isolation, mind control, fear conditioning, and social conformity, pupils will examine how scientists pursued knowledge at the expense of human welfare. Alongside the shock and controversy, we will ask the difficult question: can harmful research ever be justified if it leads to important knowledge?

What does it mean to be human in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence? This course explores one of the most urgent and complex questions of our time through an interdisciplinary lens. Drawing on perspectives from philosophy, science, economics and literature, pupils will examine how AI is reshaping identity, creativity, relationships, and society. Following four seminar-style sessions led by staff, pupils will design and undertake their own small-group research project, culminating in a short academic presentation and a creative “unessay” response.

Each week we will look at seminal journal articles in the field of Economics. Many of these provide the building blocks for the A-level and IB courses so it will help students understand the subject at a deeper level.

What is the essence of ancient Rome and why does it matter?

This course explores many aspects of the ancient Roman world, from art and architecture to literature, oratory and leadership, and in particular, how it developed from the Greek world and why it is still relevant to us today.  Since the classical world is the foundation of Western culture and thought, this course will be valuable for anyone considering degrees in humanities, law, social sciences and more.

ESS Spotlights is designed for students who are already studying Environmental Systems and Societies, or who are interested in exploring the subject further. The course uses engaging real-world case studies to examine some of the most pressing environmental issues facing the planet today. These may include climate change, biodiversity loss, overfishing, human impacts, sustainability, conservation, resource use and many more.

Each case study will be linked to key ideas from the ESS curriculum, helping students deepen their understanding of the subject while exploring how environmental systems and societies interact in practice.

A rigorous extension club focused on tackling challenging physics problems. Students will develop advanced problem-solving skills through structured discussion, independent thinking, and exposure to demanding questions, building the depth and confidence required for competitive university applications and entrance assessments.

Physics and Maths at AL or IB are essential.