Milton Abbey School

Milton Abbey is a boarding school for boys and girls in the UK, founded in 1954. The school is located in the village of Milton Abbas near the town of Blandford Forum in the county of Dorset in the south-west of England. Heathrow and Gatwick International Airports can be reached in 2 hours. Distance to London 196 km, about 3 hours on the road.

Milton Abbey is one of the most beautiful schools in the country; it covers an area of ​​89 hectares. The school captivates with an ancient abbey with a 1000-year history. It belongs to the Diocese of Salisbury, but the school makes full use of it.

Milton Abbey School does not publish the results of its exams. Given that students have such a wide range of abilities, the school understands that their achievements will not be accurately represented in what Milton Abbey calls the “rough mechanism” of league tables.

Pupils of the school range from a boy who received the three highest marks A * on the A-level course and went to Oxford to study archaeology and anthropology, and to those who consider formal academic training “really difficult” and choose a more professional path.

The school talks a lot about “parallel learning paths” and is proud to have developed an individual academic program for those students who need it. The school is small, which provides greater involvement in school life, a huge opportunity for students to represent the school and learn the chosen subject or lesson.

The school has about 220 students.

DIRECTOR (stand 2023)

James Watson, Education - University of Edinburgh, First Class master's degree in Ancient History and Classical Archaeology; University of Buckingham, PGCE.

Famous school graduates

• Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Director of the Royal Academy of Music.
• Harry Hook, photographer, screenwriter and television director.
• Oliver Gladwin, restaurateur.
• Robert Rattray, sculptor.
• Anthony Geffen, creator of documentaries.
• Professor Alastair Bruce, commentator for Sky News on Kingdom, Religion and Constitution.

Key factors

• The school has a unique culture of educating and promoting entrepreneurial talent among students.
• Music is a vital part of life at Milton Abbey.
• The school has close relations with the University of the Arts in Bournemouth, which specializes in art, design, media, and creative industries. There are also close links with international catering colleges such as Glion and Les Roches in Switzerland.
• Milton Abbey has the largest department of training support - 4 teachers and 6 teaching assistants.
• Class sizes are small - on average, from 12 students in the GCSE course and up to 6 students in the A-Level course.
• Milton Abbey school has its own farm with different animals, produces its own honey and grows flowers, fruits and vegetables.
• The school has a diverse range of scholarships for ages 13+ and 16+ - academic, artistic, in the field of technological design, theatre, music and more sports (including individual sports: golf, shooting, cycling, sailing, etc.).

EQUIPMENT

The school has excellent equipment: a gym, a 25-meter pool, a shooting range, a 9-hole golf playing field, a theatre for 320 seats, an art department and a design block, an astro turf hockey area, an outdoor training area. Here is the 15th-century dining room Abbot's Hall, the abbey chapel (whose history dates back to the 10th century), and the territory designed by Lancelot “the skillful” Brown (an English landscape architect, the largest representative of the English park system that dominated Europe until the mid-19th century) .

Recent developments include: a cyclist training centre and an interactive golf simulator.

The main building, built by Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester since 1780, houses an administrative centre, classrooms, a common staff room, a royal room, two boys 'houses (Athelstan and Hambro) and a girls' house (Hodgkinson). In two new buildings built in 2013, the rest are houses for girls (Damer) and boys (Tregonwell).

The school has a library of 9,000 books. Students are encouraged to read both for pleasure and for study.

In 2009, the school began developing a farm in which employees work to raise awareness of the environment. The farm grows ordinary vegetables, herbs, cut flowers, fruits and some other crops. The estate also has a small number of pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks.

PROGRAM

Milton Abbey School offers a unique one-to-one education. She maximally develops the skills and talents of each student in such a way as to achieve the best results. The school encourages individual work, be it sports, academic subjects, creative activities or outdoor activities and practical subjects.

For international students for whom English is not their native language (EAL), individual or group support in training is provided (for an additional fee).

GCSE program (certificate of secondary education) - compulsory subjects and 4 elective subjects are studied.

The Sixth Form offers many traditional A-Level courses, as well as sought-after BTEC professional courses. From history to hospitality, from theater to design and from countryside management to chemistry, Milton Abbey can tailor an academic program for every Sixth Form student.

A-level course is a two-year preparation program for university entrance. Students choose 4 or 5 subjects for in-depth study. Courses available at Milton Abbey School range from traditional subjects such as economics, history and science, to more modern subjects, including communication and culture, modern foreign languages ​​and photography.

Milton Abbey also supports students who want to complete advanced project qualifications along with their levels. This allows them to complete an independent research project that will allow them to develop excellent skills - and earn extra useful UCAS points - for any future university studies.

ACCOMMODATION

There are five houses in the school — four for boys and one for girls. The houses are well equipped and have underfloor heating. Each house has a housewife, a permanent mentor, and two guardians who do laundry and cleaning, offer support to students and help them prepare for life outside of school.

The common rooms in the houses are equipped with televisions, which, however, are prohibited for viewing during the day. In most of the territory there is no mobile phone signal, so telephones are less of a problem here than in other schools. Pupils use landlines in their homes to call home.

SPORT

The school has a serious attitude to sports, but the main emphasis is on getting pleasure from sports. Rugby, hockey, cricket and football are the most popular. There are also golf courses (the school has a golf trainer - a member of the professional golf association that helps train students), sailing and polo.

The list of matches and the results show that school athletes are achieving significant success. Some girls represent the school in hockey, netball, lacrosse, tennis and rounders.

Mountain and road biking is becoming increasingly popular (two teams regularly participate in road racing competitions from the school).

Milton School has BTEC level 2 and 3 sports courses that provide the opportunity to study sports in both practical and applied ways (level 2 is the first award in sports and level 3 is a diploma and an advanced diploma in sports).

Additional classes

Art is a popular subject. All students spend one and a half semesters studying art in Third Form (13 years old), and one and a half semesters study photography. After that, they can choose a course in fine art or photography in the GCSE course. Both fine art and photography are offered in the A-Level course.

Art at Milton Abbey aims at developing imagination and developing creative abilities and practical communication skills and the expression of ideas and feelings through art and design. The department organizes trips to UK galleries and museums throughout the year, as well as various tours to European cities and sometimes North America for Sixth Form students.

At school, music is an academic subject, and everyone has the opportunity to study and create music throughout their studies at school. In the Sixth Form, students have the opportunity to study music technology (Music Technology) at the A-Level course or receive a BTEC diploma in music with a professional bias. Students also have the opportunity to take a one-year course and receive an auxiliary diploma in music.

Every year the school puts on a big performance in its theatre, and there is a huge amount of music in it. Anthems are sung in the abbey chapel every Friday, when the whole school gathers here. For musicians, Milton Abbey has individual instrumental lessons and singing.

Students are also encouraged to join various music clubs or create their own groups that can rehearse in their free time. Concerts and musical performances are held regularly throughout the year, demonstrating the talents of school musicians. Often visiting artists come to school with concerts.

The school offers a wide program of side events. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, everyone plays games, but the most athletic ones do much more. The environment is intended for CCF (cadet corps) or community service (including visiting the elderly, walking dogs and cleaning the local church).

There are all types of out-of-town activities, such as fishing, hunting with a ferret, skeet and hunting with hounds. You can achieve high results in equestrian sports and easily combine this activity with school life.

Other activities include the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE), the Agricultural Club, and the Ten Tors expedition through Dartmoor.

In the evenings, the school offers many classes: from cooking courses and mechanics to textiles and School Farm Club - there is something for everyone. In addition, there is a school curriculum for fun competitive events in which students participate, such as sports, debate tournaments, music and theatre contests, quizzes, and pizza baking.

Weekend classes

Full board students are also busy during the weekend. There are regular sports competitions between houses and non-sports competitions, as well as social and social events with other schools.

Events such as going to cafes, cinema, shopping, as well as visiting water parks, sports match or country shows are popular. The school organizes visits to galleries, exhibitions, music and theatre performances every half semester. For the most adventurous young people, a weekend can be spent on training and participating in the annual Ten Tors Challenge.

COST, 2023-2024

£16,545 per semester.

Included in cost

• Teaching
• Accommodation and meals

Extra paid

• Registration fee - £ 200
• Deposit - the cost of 1 semester
• Flights
• Transfers to / from the airport
• Visa
• Services of the company "Paradise"
• Guardianship (as required by British law)

SERVICES OF THE EDUCATIONAL COMPANY INCLUDE

• Selection of 5-6 schools that best meet the individual characteristics of the child, further goals, talents, with the desired environment. Help in the correct interpretation of school ratings, an explanation of why the school occupies one place or another. Help in obtaining reliable information about schools that are not included in the ratings, with an explanation of the reasons for non-participation in it.
• Admission to 1-3 schools, selected from the proposed. Which includes the preparation of the necessary documents, school reports, characteristics, recommendations. Selection and submission of tests to prepare the student for exam testing, assistance in preparing essays. Preparation for an interview with the teacher / principal, registration for the exam. The necessary list of recommendations when attending school for passing entrance examinations. Correspondence with the school (not all schools enter into correspondence with foreign parents, treat them with caution, trust only a trusted agent).
• Assistance in paying registration fees, deposits, bills. Clarification of school rules, including disciplinary and legal aspects.
• Filling out the required medical forms.
• Selection of guardians required by UK law.

Student supervision during the first month of training is provided as a gift: assistance in resolving issues related to resettlement, billing, informing parents about the child’s health status, assistance with understanding of academic programs, organization of ext. classes for the child in a particular subject, help in choosing the program most suitable for the child, transfer to another class, etc.

Impressions from a school visit

Natasha Strein
Founder of ‘’Paradise’’

Prince Rostislav Romanov, a relative of the royal family and now a citizen of Great Britain, studied at Milton Abbey! If it suits him, then it will suit us.

The school is on the TATLER list (prestigious), but EVERYONE MAY GET HERE! Children who study in their country as three-fours and sometimes flickering twos will gain respect here and start like rockets!

Unusual: here you can get a scholarship (discount) for success in golf or mountain biking!

They also sing here. If the child has a voice - he is here! If not, you can study music technology: a rare and difficult subject, very much in demand, and in Hollywood too!

Friends! Not everyone can afford an English school, and not everyone is ready to let their children go. But you can do what many German and Chinese families do: send a child for a year. Or what Spanish families do: SEND THE CHILD TO ENGLAND FOR 1 SEMESTER.

In a year, the child will master the English language and find himself, discover his true hobbies, which can develop into a profession. On the territory of one school up to 150 clubs and sports! Try and drop, move on until you find your passion. During this period, the child will acquire self-discipline skills.

For 1 semester, the child’s English will improve dramatically. The child will expand his / her horizons, make many discoveries! He will have WISHES in addition to video games and material acquisitions. He will be surprised: learning can be interesting!

And certainly wants to keep studying  English. You won’t have to force them to learn. How much nerves and effort you can save yourself from a relatively small investment: from 7,500 pounds per 1 semester.