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  • Dover College
    Effingham Crescent
    Dover
    Kent
    CT17 9RH
  • Head: Simon Fisher
  • T 01304 205969
  • F 01304 242208
  • E [email protected]
  • W www.dovercollege.org.uk/
  • An independent school for boys and girls aged from 3 to 18.
  • Read about the best schools in Kent
  • Boarding: Yes
  • Local authority: Kent
  • Pupils: 318; sixth formers: 85
  • Religion: Church of England
  • Fees: Day £11,589 - £20,661; Boarding £30,081 - £43,350 pa

    Fees last updated: 04/06/2024

    Please note school fees are subject to VAT from January 2025. During this transition period, please contact school for full fee information.

  • Open days: March
  • Review: View The Good Schools Guide Review
  • Ofsted report: View the Ofsted report
  • ISI report: View the ISI report

What says..

The school slogan is ‘think differently’, and from juniors up to GCSEs, teaching is delivered via themes eg ‘coffee, tea and chocolate’; ‘war and peace’ or ‘two thousand years ago’. What children learn across the subjects is therefore inter-connected, and they’re encouraged to debate and discuss. ‘The key thing in a school is creativity,’ says head, himself a devotee of all things artistic, ‘and I want to re-establish creativity at the heart of the curriculum.’ Regular productions – we looked in on an animated rehearsal of Scrooge...

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What the school says...

The school is dynamic and small enough to provide a disciplined and caring environment, with small class sizes giving pupils the opportunity to fulfil their potential within a friendly community. Most pupils achieve more than their potential suggests on entry.
'Dover College believes in developing confidence and individual talents'.

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Other features

All-through school (for example 3-18 years). - An all-through school covers junior and senior education. It may start at 3 or 4, or later, and continue through to 16 or 18. Some all-through schools set exams at 11 or 13 that pupils must pass to move on.

International Study Centre - school has a linked, international study centre for overseas students wishing to improve their English.

What The Good Schools Guide says

Headmaster

Since 2020, Simon Fisher. History degree from Exeter. His first teaching post was at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire, where he climbed the ladder to head of department then on to the senior management team. Thence to Worth School in West Sussex as assistant head then deputy head (academic). Governor on the board of Effingham Schools Trust and a member of its academic committee. Married to Abigail, with whom he has two young children who both attend Dover College Prep. As a keen amateur photographer, you’ll often find him with a camera in his hand in his spare time.

Entrance

Non-selective academically, and with every intention of remaining so – ‘It’s one of our great strengths.’ Instead, the school looks for potential, and a willingness to fit in to the school environment and contribute to its ethos:...

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Please note: Independent schools frequently offer IGCSEs or other qualifications alongside or as an alternative to GCSE. The DfE does not record performance data for these exams so independent school GCSE data is frequently misleading; parents should check the results with the schools.

Who came from where

Who goes where

Special Education Needs

In the Senior School, we have a small Individual Needs Department consisting of two staff specialising in mild dyslexia and literacy difficulties, maths anxiety/maths difficulties and dyscalculia. In the prep school, SEN support is provided by our SENDCo. A range of other needs may be accommodated, but each applicant is considered on an individual basis. Support in class is provided by the class teacher and small class sizes, we do not provide Teaching Assistants. Accessibility is limited on the main site, which has some historic and listed buildings that cannot be adapted easily. Dover College has an Individual Needs department, fully staffed by trained professionals, which provides one-to-one withdrawal lessons for pupils with not only specific needs (eg dyslexia) but also those who need a little extra support for self-esteem, organisational difficulties, etc. We are accredited by CReSTeD. We also have a fully staffed international study centre (ISC) which offers small class tuition for overseas pupils entering the school. Pupils in the ISC participate fully in mainstream lessons when they are competent English users, and are always full members of the school for all other activities.

Condition Provision for in school
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder Y
HI - Hearing Impairment
MLD - Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI - Multi-Sensory Impairment
OTH - Other Difficulty/Disability
PD - Physical Disability
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulty
SEMH - Social, Emotional and Mental Health
SLCN - Speech, Language and Communication
SLD - Severe Learning Difficulty
SpLD - Specific Learning Difficulty Y
VI - Visual Impairment

Who came from where


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