Our goal at the Priory Academy LSST is to see every student achieve their academic potential and reach their chosen destination after leaving our school community. For many of our students this means moving on to further study on competitive courses at competitive universities. This might be anything from studying Medicine at Newcastle, Engineering at Cambridge or Japanese Studies at Oxford. It is our aim to support and prepare each individual to ensure that they have the best chance of being successful in achieving their dreams.

For more information about Early Entry and the support offered at The Priory Academy LSST, please contact Miss M Bush - mbush@prioryacademies.co.uk

For those who are already interested in these competitive courses, our guidance starts in Year 8, when our advice to pupils and parents helps to ensure that appropriate GCSE subjects are selected during the options process.  In Years 9 and 10 we start to broaden the outlook of our students, with study days and activities in less well known subject areas.  Recent events have included Russian studies at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and a Classics, Archaeology and Ancient History Day delivered by Oxford University lecturers here at school.

In the first few months of Year 11, students and parents are encouraged to attend the Sixth Form Open Evening, where they can discuss subject choices with teachers from all the different subject faculties in the Academy.  At that time we also give a presentation to parents giving more details about the Early Entry process, which enables them to support their children in making decisions about their future direction. Further trips and visits are organised to Oxford or Cambridge and, just before Easter, those who express an interest are invited to the Lincolnshire Schools’ Oxbridge Conference. 

At the start of Year 12 all students will be asked if they wish to join the Early Entry programme, and those who do will take part in weekly meetings to discuss extra study opportunities (including Massive Open Online Courses – MOOCS), to conduct independent research and to prepare and deliver presentations to one another. Those students who are pursuing the Medicine and Dentistry route will begin a weekly lesson with specialist staff, in order to be prepared for the United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) the following summer. In addition, we support these students in securing work experience and voluntary positions and our close links with several universities allow us to organise a wide variety of extra-curricular activities to support the needs of our students, whether that is Interview Practice Sessions with Newcastle University or Physics workshops at Lincoln University.

The Early Entry applications process begins in earnest on the first few days of Year 13.  Applications need to be complete by October 15^th, by which time all the accompanying information, including school references and personal statements, must be finished. Alongside their UCAS applications, some Medicine applicants will be preparing for the Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT), with teaching and supported study during registration time in the Autumn Term. All students are offered a programme of practice interviews once they have made their application.

Each year our students win places on Medicine, Veterinary Science and Dentistry courses, and we are very proud of their achievements. Although not all of our Early Entry students can be successful in their application to Oxford and Cambridge, the majority of the group end up going to other first class institutions, including places such as Durham University, Imperial College and The London School of Economics, where they ultimately achieve success. A couple of our students have even been selected for the Sutton Trust United States programme, potentially leading to a full scholarship on a degree course at a prestigious American university.

The whole Early Entry support programme at The Priory Academy LSST is focussed on helping our students find subjects about which they are passionate, so that they can study those subjects at world renowned universities and ultimately realise their dreams.