Duchy College
Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
Duchy College
Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England
Overview
Following a decision to go fully co-educational Duchy College is the new name for Harrogate Ladies College. The School is set in a 22-acre site within walking distance of the centre of the delightful Victorian spa town of Harrogate. The school aims to deliver the best aspects of a traditional British education with the skills, qualifications and modern outlook required for today's world, enabling its students to become confident, accomplished young people. The friendly and supportive community encourages students to achieve highly and to ‘Be the best they can be’.
At a glance
Academic
The curriculum is designed to provide pupils with depth of understanding and includes around 20 GCSE subjects, 24 A Level options and the EPQ. Small class-sizes ensure each student feels valued and supported, whilst their learning is enhanced by museum and gallery visits, guest speakers and interactive experiences. Pupils consistently achieve 1 grade higher than predicted at GCSE whilst over 60% of A Level results are at A*/B and on average around 80% of leavers receive offers from Russell Group universities.
Boarding
The school has 3 mixed-age boarding houses with shared bedrooms in Years 7-12, along with a dedicated Upper Sixth Form house with individual study bedrooms. Each house has a resident houseparent and assistant who promote a caring, family atmosphere. Boarders and day pupils are fully integrated, with meals and supervised prep taken in school by all, and an evening and weekend programme of activities ranges from theatre trips to ice-skating, hill-walking and even shopping!
Sports
Sport is the life-blood of the school, guided by a team of specialist teachers and coaches, who emphasise a healthy lifestyle. Timetabled and extra-curricular sports range from netball and rounders to gymnastics and golf, with lacrosse, or 'Lackie', being a school favourite. Inter-house and inter-school competitions are frequent and many students represent the School at County or National level. Modern facilities include a £½ million re-developed swimming pool complex, tennis and badminton courts and a large indoor sports hall.
Creative arts
Art, Photography and Textiles are all offered as academic subjects and many facilities are open outside classroom hours. The Music School's 20 practice and rehearsal rooms host over 100 individual music lessons a week whilst the Theatre, Chapel and 350 seat Assembly Hall offer great performance spaces for the Gallery and Chapel choirs and the wide range of instrumental ensembles, as well as staging the junior and senior inter-house drama competitions and major annual theatrical productions.
Did you know?
- Harrogate town centre surrounds the unique 200 acres of parkland known as 'The Stray'. Protected by Act of Parliament it's a wonderful place to unwind and relax on sunny days.
- The Chapel Choir is amongst the top school choirs in the UK, reaching the semi-finals of the BBC 'Songs of Praise' School Choir of the Year competition in 2015.
