Worksop College scraps testing to ease stress levels for students

Both Worksop College and Ranby House School have seen a significant spike in enquiries and projected admissions following the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, which head teacher Dr John Price says is in part down to its controversial stance on testing.

He said: “We don’t believe in testing our young people and measuring them against a ‘one size fits all’ set of criteria, which is why, unlike so many independent schools, we don’t have an entrance exam.

"We don’t do SATs, we don’t test for testing’s sake.

“The pandemic has thrown into sharp relief the immensely daunting reality of rising stress levels amongst young people in our country, which have certainly been contributed to by an outdated reliance on extensive exams throughout every year of their education.

"Employers today are interested in what young people can bring to the table in terms of creativity, imagination and passion for a cause – not just whether they got three A’s at A level.

“We are thrilled to be fielding more enquiries than ever before, although we don’t welcome the startling circumstances in which they are happening.

“Our colleagues in the state sector are faced with an Herculean task of managing huge classes with minimal resources, so there is absolutely no criticism coming from us in their direction.

"Yes, an education at Worksop College and Ranby House is not free.

"However, given the alarming and complex challenges faced by the state sector, we are seeing more and more parents coming through our doors who are considering private education for their children.”

“We believe in nurturing the individual, which is why we are not a harshly selective school but a broad-ability family.

"Our teachers know every student by name and we pride ourselves on always putting our students first.

"We glow with pride about the results we achieve at our school and we’re delighted to be seeing more families looking to learn more about what we offer here.”